Her eyes teared up as a North Korean soldier gripped her hand in the hardest handshake she’d ever felt. “We’re going to destroy you, America,” he said.
Over the past year and a half, American traveler Cassie DePecol has visited every country in the world, and the greetings she received weren’t always gracious. She had set out to promote peace in her own small way, by meeting people from every country in the world — and she did so at a record pace.
Traveling to all the world’s 196 sovereign nations in 18 months and 26 days, De Pecol made the trip in less than half the time it took the previous Guinness World Record holder.
She recalled telling the North Korean guard about her mission: She was there to show that, even if their governments couldn’t be friends, the two of them didn’t have to be enemies. “I just like to show that we can be friends and we can kind of coexist,” DePecol said.
DePecol, who majored in environmental studies in college, said she felt she couldn’t travel the world without having a larger purpose. She embarked on her world tour in July 2015, promoting sustainable tourism everywhere she went as an ambassador for the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism.
The nonprofit was founded in 1986, the United Nation’s “Year of Peace,” to promote cultural understanding after terrorist incidents sparked tensions between Eastern and Western countries.
Over the course of her trip, she met with mayors and ministers of tourism, presenting them with the institute’s “Declaration of Peace.” SKAL International, an association of tourism professionals with chapters all over the world, considered her a peace ambassador and helped De Pecol arrange meetings with dignitaries in more than 50 countries.
The 27-year-old spoke before more than 16,000 students
(Excerpt) Read more at kfor.com ...
