California 18-year-old becomes youngest to visit every European country
Last updated on: 06 April,2023 01:05 pm
Matsuoka said he used trains to reach most Western Europe countries.
CALIFORNIA (Web Desk) - A teenager celebrated his 18th year by becoming the world's youngest person to visit every country in Europe.
Rio Matsuoka started his European tour on his 18th birthday in Iceland and finished 101 days and 44 countries later in Malta, Guinness World Records announced.
"It was a real coincidence that I decided to attempt this world record," Matsuoka told GWR. "I was telling my family that I would like to travel to Europe after I graduated high school and, while doing some research, I remembered that someone had beaten the world record for youngest person to visit every country in the world."
"I realized I could do something similar with Europe and found out I had the opportunity to," he said.
Matsuoka said he used trains to reach most Western Europe countries, and buses to visit Eastern European nations. He said he only took planes a couple of times, to visit Britain and Russia.
Matsuoka, who is now working as a volunteer for multiple nonprofits in Ukraine, said he plans to take on more world records in the future.