NomadMania
Travel Awards

NomadMania Awards 2023

NomadMania
Travel Awards

NomadMania Awards 2023

NomadMania
Travel Awards

NomadMania Awards 2023

Only registered NomadMania users can vote.

To be eligible for voting in the final round, voters must have registered with NomadMania until November 15th and must have 20 or more NomadMania regions marked as visited.

You have to be logged in on NomadMania website in order to vote. Meet all the nominees below.

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Best Digital Travel Creator 2024

The content creator whose videos, posts or podcasts excite, motivate, entertain and educate in terms of travelling globally

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Palle Bo, the creator of The Radio Vagabond, is a seasoned radio producer and full-time traveller, bringing listeners along on immersive audio adventures to 124 countries (so far). His unique podcast combines rich storytelling, field recordings, and sound design that make listeners feel like they’re right there with him, exploring new cultures and connecting with locals. Palle’s innovative content has earned him recognition, including “”Travel Podcaster of the Year 2024″” by LuxLife. His high-quality storytelling also shines through impactful episodes, such as his NomadMania trip to Ukraine, where he highlights the human impact of war. The Radio Vagabond is a nominee for “Best Digital Travel Creator” for its dedication to producing captivating, thoughtful, and ethically engaging travel content.

Matt Bowles hosts The Maverick Show podcast where he interviews today’s most interesting world travelers, remote entrepreneurs, and digital nomads. Ranked the #1 Digital Nomad Podcast by Web Work Travel and the Top 1% of all podcasts by Listen Notes, each episode draws out epic travel stories and delivers actionable tips and advice you can implement in your own life each week. You’ll meet diverse travelers from every continent who share their personal journey to location-independence as well as their reflections on identity, the power dynamics that shape our world, and how we can be more thoughtful, conscious travelers as we move through it. In 2024 The Maverick Show hit the Top 100 on Apple Podcasts and was ranked the #1 “Places and Travel” podcast on Apple.

Chloe Jade has been travelling since 2015, never intending to build a community of over 800,000 subscribers across her Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok channels. She maintains the ultimate balance in her content, showcasing first-class flights and fine dining menus while contrasting that with Couchsurfing, local culture, history, and street food. Some of her most exciting content includes sleeping on a roof in Burkina Faso, hiking 100km in the Peruvian Amazon to stay with the Maloca Matzes tribe, an Independent solo trip to Iraq, and a 3-week journey in Afghanistan shortly after the Taliban takeover. There is always an emphasis on respecting the local communities she visits, and she does not shy away from serious conversations about race, religion, politics, and reality.

Omar Nok is a passionate traveller and storyteller whose modern-day odyssey from Egypt to Japan without flying showcases the beauty of diverse cultures and the spirit of adventure. Starting the journey with just 1,400 followers, in just a few months, he has captivated an audience of over a million across different platforms, creating one of the most encouraging corners of the internet. Through his engaging videos, Omar inspires others to appreciate the journey as much as the destination. His focus on authentic experiences and local interactions highlights the transformative power of travel and the connections that unite us all, restoring the faith of many in humanity.

Luca Pferdmenges 🇩🇪

Luca Pferdmenges 🇩🇪

23-year-old Luca is trying to become the youngest man in the world to visit every country, and he only has less than 10 left to complete the goal. A well-known juggler, he holds at least 4 juggling world records while creating humorous and informative content about his world travels for his more than 2 million followers on various platforms.

Mateo / Lisanna Pomba 🇦🇷 / 🇪🇪

Mateo / Lisanna Pomba 🇦🇷 / 🇪🇪

Mateo from Argentina and Lisanna from Estonia explore the world on a budget sharing their many adventures with their countless fans. With their story that combines love, travel and learning, they remind us that the best adventures happen when we dare to step out of our comfort zone. Whether it’s moving to a country they found on Google or learning a new language, life always has surprises in store for those who dare to dream. Their more than 1 million followers on YouTube are treated to long videos of the couple’s travel lives, with colour, comments and a lot of human content.

NomadMania Awards 2023

Best Digital Creator – Country Specific 2024

The content creator whose videos, posts or podcasts excite, motivate, entertain and educate in terms of a specific country.
Note: The flag refers to the country that is the focus of the digital creator’s content.

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Matt / Karla Bailey 🇨🇦

Matt / Karla Bailey 🇨🇦

Matthew Bailey is the head of Must Do Canada, a media company focused on sharing the best of Canada from coast to coast to coast through travel guides, videos, and Canada’s #1 local travel newsletter. He and his wife are also the hosts of their popular Must Do Canada YouTube series, which takes viewers all over the country, including deep into the Arctic. When not promoting Canada, Matt loves travelling the world, playing hockey, skiing, and being the best dad he can be to his new twin girls.

Alex Durand / Tom Carles 🇫🇷

Alex Durand / Tom Carles 🇫🇷

Alex and Tom are two native Parisians on a mission to make French accessible and enjoyable. Through their amusing and light-hearted content, they share their love for the French language and culture with a global audience. Alex is the enthusiastic and energetic of the two, with a good energy that is contagious, while Tom is the thoughtful and calm one of the duo. Having appeared in videos often satirising the complexities of French with the likes of President Macron and Trudeau, they have more than 1.5 million followers on Instagram alone.

Harutyun Hakobian 🇦🇲

Harutyun Hakobian 🇦🇲

Harutyun is an avid video creator focusing on the culture and beauty of his native Armenia. Already an author with his book ‘Unexplored Armenia’, published this year, his videos uncover the richness, complexities and contradictions of his country aiming to showcase it to a global audience.

Qupanuk Olsen 🇬🇱

Qupanuk Olsen 🇬🇱

Qupanuk Olsen, born and raised in South Greenland, is the founder of Q’s Greenland. She is the biggest content creator from Greenland with more than 1.5 million followers across her platforms. She has travelled to around 35 countries and realised that people around the world know nothing or have a misconception about Greenland. This is the reason why she makes informative and positive videos about Greenland to educate the rest of the world about her culture, language, food, nature and many other aspects of being a Greenlander. Apart from being the biggest content creator of her country, she is also the first and only mining engineer from Greenland.

Zoe	Stephens 🇰🇵

Zoe Stephens 🇰🇵

Zoe has visited North Korea 30 times and aims to both expand the North Korea narrative away from politics and nuclear weapons, and re-humanise the North Korea issue through her multiple social media platforms. Her photos and videos show various aspects of daily life in North Korea with a focus on tourism, and aim to showcase what the country has to offer – from its well-known monuments and museums to its lesser-known mountains, hikes, beaches, coffee shops, spas, and bowling alleys. She started working as a tour guide in North Korea in 2017 with the belief that tourism has a positive impact both inside and outside the country, and hopes to promote this through her content.

NomadMania Awards 2023

Best Travel Book 2024

The book that takes readers on new adventures, sparking the love for travel with every page

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John Elledge 🇬🇧

John Elledge 🇬🇧

A well known columnist and author, John Elledge has always been fascinated by cities, maps and borders, so it should come as no surprise that his most recent book is dedicated to the latter. ‘A History of the world in 47 borders’ is a fascinating voyage into the world of humans’ obsession for drawing lines, and what these may mean for the history of the planet. From the Roman attempts to define the boundaries of civilisation, to the secret British-French agreement to carve up the Ottoman Empire during the First World War, to why landlocked Bolivia still maintains a navy, this is a fascinating, witty and surprising look at the history of the world told through its borders.

Flavio Ferrari Zumbini, an Italian adventurer and former professional gambler, completed a nine-year journey to all 193 countries from 2014 to 2022, funding his travels with poker winnings. His book offers a candid account of life on the road, blending vivid storytelling with insights into the places visited and associated risks. Readers are invited to connect with locals, embrace the solitude of long-term travel, and realise that what feels like a remote location is simply home for those who live there. For fellow travellers, the book rekindles the best memories of their own journey, and the worst moments become lifelong stories. More than a travel memoir, it’s an invitation to understand that travel is mainly an education, not just a reward for a hard year of work.

Carla Mota /  Rui	Pinto 🇵🇹

Carla Mota / Rui Pinto 🇵🇹

Pangeia is the latest of six books written by travel couple Carla and Rui. It chronicles their circumnavigation of the world in 2022-2023 which they successfully completed after 417 days of travel. Writing with a humanism, a deep respect for the cultures and peoples that they encountered, this book is an exploration of the whole world which included many undervisited corners, lesser known islands and places that are certainly off-the-beaten track.

Michael Mackay Richards, otherwise known by his alias The Travelling Ape, is an author and global economic and political research analyst from London, UK. He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Politics and International Relations from the University of Bristol. His passion for global affairs is reflected in his extensive travel, having visited 155 countries, which he’s documented on his website (thetravellingape.com) and in his bestselling book, ‘The Travelling Ape: What Travelling (Nearly) Everywhere Taught Me about Humanity, Geopolitics, and Happiness’.

After graduating from university, Lily West decided to drop out of society, leave England and take the hippy trail. Her book “West Goes East” tells the story of her lengthy 1972 overland trip to India on local buses and trains via Syria, Gaza, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh. Not so much about her, but more about the people she met, Westerners and inhabitants of those countries, both good and bad. From India, she eventually reached Japan, which she used as her base for visiting all 193 UN members. At times humorous, at times serious, this book will take you on a time-travel journey to a world which sadly no longer exists. She hopes you’ll enjoy reading the book as much as she did writing it!

NomadMania Awards 2023

Most Trusted Local Fixer 2024

The go-to person who turns common trips into unforgettable local experiences with their know-how

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Amadou Cisse 🇲🇱

Amadou Cisse 🇲🇱

Amadou Cisse is from Mali, born and raised in Djenne and a tour guide since 2007. He was dreaming of guiding since childhood as he wanted to meet new people from different countries speaking different languages and different cultures. As a guide, he strives to put everything in its historical, religious and cultural context. His aim is to highlight the different landscapes of Mali, the desert , the river Niger,the Dogon contry, the Sahel , the forest to the south and the diverse cultures – Touareg, Peul, Bambara,Bozo Dogon, Bobo.

Murad Ovlyakuliyev 🇹🇲

Murad Ovlyakuliyev 🇹🇲

Starting as a freelancer guide in 2013, Murad offered his first tour in 2018 and so far has organised over 200 trips for travellers aged 5 to 78 all over the world, from Japan to Chile. He organises tailor-made tours and guides them himself, thus dropping off middlemen between the travellers and the fixer. He doesn’t advertise or promote his services in social media or on the net, his trips run exclusively on word of mouth. Because Murad roams the broad expanses of his country almost nonstop due to his job and is well-informed about the destinations and road conditions throughout the country, he can create unusual and interesting itineraries, no matter whether it’s an individual or a group tour.

Emil Pashali 🇦🇿

Emil Pashali 🇦🇿

Emil is a highly trusted and experienced travel fixer, known for his deep knowledge of Nakhchivan and its surrounding regions. With years of experience in guiding and organising tailored trips, Emil has built a reputation for providing seamless, authentic travel experiences. His expertise ranges from handling logistics for individual travellers to supporting larger tour groups, always ensuring that every detail is taken care of. Emil’s passion for his region and his commitment to offering unique, local insights make him a standout figure in the travel industry. He is dedicated to helping travellers discover the rich history, culture, and natural beauty of the places they visit, all while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism and trust.

Vacarmoh Varlee Sarnor 🇱🇷

Vacarmoh Varlee Sarnor 🇱🇷

Vacarmoh Varlee Sarnor is from Liberia and currently lives in Monrovia. He spent half of his life as a refugee in Guinea Conakry due to the Liberian Civil War. When he returned to Liberia, he worked for many Humanitarian NGOs including the UNHCR. After quitting his job to complete his university education, he helped two stranded tourists at the Liberia/Sierra Leone border who later introduced him to the manager of Lupine Travel, Dylan Harris in 2015. Since then, he has made himself an ambassador (fixer) to all tourists coming to Western Africa. He decided to rebrand tourism in Western Africa to ensure that no tourists experience cheating dealing with him. Now he covers over 20 countries where he organises safe tours for all his travellers.

Abdoul Wahab 🇳🇪

Abdoul Wahab 🇳🇪

Abdoul Wahab is a tourist guide from Niger, who loves to meet foreign travellers and show them attractive and interesting places in his country. He has been working in the tourism field for a while in Niger. He is an ambitious and dynamic person who plays an important role in this sector. He speaks French, English and other local languages of his country with which he communicates during his work. Ben Abdoul as he loves to be called, stood out because of his frankness, his modesty and his great consideration towards travellers. Let’s say that he plays the role of an ambassador of Niger and particularity the people who travelled with him have proved it through recommendations for other people who would like to visit Niger.

NomadMania Awards 2023

Most Intrepid Traveller 2024

A traveller whose travels in the last year have required considerable courage, risk-taking and craziness

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Born in the Tyrolean Alps, mountains are embedded in the DNA of Andreas. As a courageous and responsible adventure traveller, he seeks to stand on the highest point of every country in the world, a goal that nobody has accomplished. He is deeply dedicated to the cultural and environmental context of each country he visits. In Syria he reached the country’s highest point, Mt. Hermon, one of the most fiercely contested military areas of the world. He also narrowly missed being taken into custody in Bahrain, and clawed his way through the malaria-infested Amazon to reach the Brazilian highpoint, helped by the indigenous Yanomami tribe. His daring climbs include K2 (8611m) and the highest point of Uzbekistan as the second team on an unprecedented mixed and ice route.

Nicolai Bangsgaard 🇩🇰

Nicolai Bangsgaard 🇩🇰

Nicolai is a Danish anthropologist and adventurer. In 2023-2024, Nicolai completed a 34.500 km human-powered solo journey by bike, kick scooter and on foot. For 575 days, he crossed 30 countries on 4 continents. Named ‘The Global Triathlom’, Nicolai biked 20.000 km from Denmark to Singapore, flew to Perth, then across Australia and New Zealand on a kick scooter (a record-breaking 7.100 km), then cycled across the USA. Then he biked from Porto to Bruxelles, from where he ran/walked the final 1.000 km back to Copenhagen where he had taken off 19 months prior. Nicolai likes extreme physical challenges, has cycled solo around the world in 2006-2010 (62.000 km 53 countries). With The Global Triathlon, Nicolai is the first person to circumnavigate the globe by bike, kick scooter, and foot.

Mike Corey 🇨🇦

Mike Corey 🇨🇦

From an early age growing up in Canada, Mike’s lifetime of curiosity has sent him searching out cultures, creatures, and locations that most people avoid. This intense passion has led him to grow his YouTube Channel Fearless & Far to 1.5M+ Subscribers, receive 2 Emmy Nominations for his Adventure Travel TV program “Uncharted Adventure”, and an Ambie Nomination for his podcast “Against the Odds”. As he claims, he helps people conquer their fears, so they can travel the world.

Lakshmi is a 33-year-old adventurer who is the first known American to independently travel across Somalia by land and stay in Mogadishu without security since the civil war. She lived with a local family for 6 weeks, went viral on Tik-Tok and was featured on Somali TV before getting detained and deported. Somalia was the final stop in her 1.5-year long epic journey from India to the Horn of Africa. She often hitchhiked and wild camped, sometimes solo and other times with fellow travelers she met on the road. From escaping war in Sudan and meeting rebel militia to hitchhiking Saudi Arabia and climbing Ethiopia’s highest peak, Lakshmi’s story is a tale of adventure, struggle, breaking stereotypes and receiving the kindness of strangers.

Charline Ribotta 🇫🇷

Charline Ribotta 🇫🇷

Charline quit her job in 2019 and started an amazing overland adventure through Africa. This was just the beginning – three years later she invested in a Toyota Hilux cab and so ‘Rafiki’ was born which would be her vehicle companion of her solo overland expedition in Africa where she overlanded for 18 months through 11 countries; not content with that, she continued in the past year with another solo expedition in the MIddle East. There are not (m)any solo women out there who have done what Charline dared to do, solo!

Catalin Stanciulescu 🇷🇴

Catalin Stanciulescu 🇷🇴

36-year-old Catalin, known as ‘BackPack your Life’ has gained popularity for documenting his daredevil global travels focusing on affordable, off-the-beaten track places. His adventures include being deported from Belize; but the more he has difficulties, the more popular he has become, especially in his native Romania given his style differs from the usually glamorous travel profiles promoted in his country. He has more than a million followers across his platforms and his main aim is to show that one doesn’t have to be rich to have worthy global adventures.

NomadMania Awards 2023

Most Purposeful Traveller 2024

The one whose efforts to create community, help local communities and, in general, travel with a purpose

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Christian Clauwers 🇧🇪

Christian Clauwers 🇧🇪

Christian Clauwers is a Belgian documentary photographer, explorer, speaker, and author. For more than a decade, he has visually documented the consequences of global temperature rise and the loss of biodiversity on the front lines of climate change.He shows what is at stake and the consequences of the human footprint, within his mission to bridge the gap between science, industry and policy. Christian has lectured on every continent, including Antarctica and already has 7 book publications to promote awareness and understanding of the effects of climate change, biodiversity decline and the impact of sea level rise on islanders. Christian is an ambassador of the European Union Climate Pact, a fellow of The Explorers Club, a member of Rotary Club.

Ian Cumming 🇦🇺

Ian Cumming 🇦🇺

Ian Cumming is the founder of Travel Massive, a world-wide community that connects tourism professionals in cities around the world to freely meet and share ideas about the future of travel. In the past decade, Ian has travelled to over 50 countries to help foster international connections in tourism — including in Nigeria, Kenya, Myanmar, Vietnam, and Thailand. Since its humble beginnings as a casual meetup on the rooftop of a hostel in Sydney (in 2010), Travel Massive has grown to become a free international resource that helps people discover and build their careers in travel. Travel Massive also helps travel startups and social entrepreneurs around the world to receive recognition for their projects, get access to funding, and develop partnerships that help to make travel more sustainable for the future.

Professor Andrew MacLeod travels to peruse justice for some of the most vulnerable women and girls. Sadly, sex tourists and some aid workers abuse underprivileged women and girls in the developing world, leave them pregnant and vanish. MacLeod takes DNA from the child born of the abuse, isolates the paternal side of the DNA, compares that DNA to commercial database and identifies extended paternal genetic relatives. He then triangulates the relatives to find the father – even without the direct DNA. He coordinates a network of pro-bono lawyers, contacts the fathers, and obtains child support and nationality rights for the children. He is working with victims including in Philippines, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and fathers in Australia, UK, Canada, the US and others. He is a former humanitarian offical of the Red Cross and UN.

Samuel Weidenhofer 🇦🇺 / 🇺🇸

Samuel Weidenhofer 🇦🇺 / 🇺🇸

Samuel (itssozer) used his time during covid to build genuine connections through humour, understanding and appreciation of strangers. In each of his videos, filmed around the world, Samuel’s manages to surprise people by being true and sharing his honesty with them that has allowed those he comes into contact with to share their own truth. His secret is to share kindness but he stresses the need to be genuine to do this. He aims to make a worldwide impact, not to gain followers or make money even though he has a combined 8 million followers on his platforms. People really respect him for his authenticity, and he’s realised that so many people around the world need a simple hug or some flowers/chocolate. You never know what a stranger is going through.

Born and raised in Muharraq, Bahrain, Rasha Yousif is a full-time Bahraini photographer and traveler passionate about documentary photography. Capturing moving objects or vibrant colors is what keeps her photos alive. Rasha has been to 190 countries and aims to visit all countries of the world. Rasha aims to become the first Bahraini and first Muslim hijabi woman to visit every country in the world, thereby emphasising her role in empowering women to travel independently. Her visually stunning travel diaries showcase hidden gems and cultural treasures, aiming to ignite wanderlust in others, encouraging them to embark on their own adventures and discover the beauty of the world.

NomadMania Awards 2023

Biggest LPI Traveller 2024

The one who doesn’t let the bureaucracy and passport nor nationality issues stop him/her in their travelling.
To be eligible for this, travellers have to be from one of the countries that rank the lowest on Henley Passport Index Ranking. Full list is available on the LPI ranking page.

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Driven by a thirst for adventure and a deep fascination with the world’s diverse cultures, this passionate husband and father of a 7-year old daughter embarks on a relentless quest to visit every country. Refusing to be deterred, he wishes to prove that he can do it with an Algerian passport while still maintaining his home there. He is helped by being fluent in six languages, including Chinese and Portuguese, as his ability to seamlessly adapt to new environments and connect with locals through shared tongues allow him to forge meaningful connections that enrich his travels. This tenacious Algerian remains undaunted by visa rejections, driven by an unwavering conviction that every stamp in his well-worn passport represents profound personal growth and a deeper understanding of the human experience.

Kazi has traveled to 150 countries with one of the weakest passports, using her platform to raise awareness and break social norms. In 2010, she spent 23 hours in airport immigration jail in Vietnam, due to not having a return ticket and hotel booking. Undeterred, she committed herself to traveling the world, setting a goal to visit 100 countries, which eventually expanded to a mission to see all 193 countries. As a social activist, she uses her journeys to learn and bring back lessons to Bangladesh, speaking up against gender inequality and opening dialogues about social welfare and taboo topics. Her mission statement, “traveling is a fun way to learn,” resonates with her desire to live a life that not only sees the world but also learns from it.

A travel addict with 180 countries under her belt, travelling on a Thai passport, Peak’s incessant wanderlust is just one of her travel passions. She is also a very avid foodie as well as a passionate photographer. This all-rounder is working towards becoming the first Thai woman to visit every country.

Coming from a small town in Karnataka, India, Vishal has always been curious about the world especially from the geography classes and the world map. At some point of time, he wanted to take a break from daily life, and started to travel to run away from problems, and for some time it actually worked. He has been solo travelling all his life because very rarely from his social circle do people travel. Crossing the country was a big achievement for most; getting visas was a reason for parties and there are even temples where, if you pray, you will get the visa. He gets overwhelmed every time he plans a trip but is happy trying to achieve his travel dreams…

Geanuel Tayone 🇵🇭

Geanuel Tayone 🇵🇭

Gean travels only on a Philippine passport and has been traveling non-stop for more than a year. Over this time, he has journeyed to fascinating destinations including Iran, Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire. This brings his total to 35 countries and territories explored in his lifetime. Some of his highlights were : experiencing the thrill of riding the longest Iron Train in the world; giving back by volunteering for 10 days at an orphanage in Mauritania, leaving a lasting impact on the local community ; overcoming the challenge of being denied entry at the Senegal border, enduring a 5-hour trek back to Nouakchott in scorching 52-degree Celsius heat.

NomadMania Awards 2023

Biggest Traveller 2024

The one and only, whose travels in the past year, in terms of both quantity (days on the road and number of trips) AND quality (difficulty and variety of destinations), render them a truly big traveller even by the standards of the NomadMania Community.

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Earlier this year, Maryam became the first Arab woman to visit every country. During her 18-year journey, she jumped into an active volcano, has been to war zones, witnessed an epidemic and a pandemic in Africa. But most importantly, she considers meeting locals along the way the greatest gain of her trips. Adventure, photography, and storytelling illustrate her personality. She is interested in capturing people’s moments and stories around them that reflect their lives from her own angles. Warzones and conflict areas had a great portion of her attention in photography. Despite her share of visa challenges, she never gave up and was able to visit her last UN country – Uruguay – to complete her goal. Not one to rest, she is currently chasing the territories of the world.

Over 295 days, covering 133 NomadMania regions and 36 countries with 23 border crossings, 23-year-old Benjamin Ballard embarked on an incredible global journey that was not just an adventure but an odyssey of personal growth. Travelling on a shoestring budget, he spent 99% of his time sleeping in hostels and camping, flying only when absolutely necessary to optimise for overland travel. This experience taught him resilience, humility, and the power of connection. Each border crossed expanded his understanding of the world and his place in it. From haggling with grandpas in Moroccan bazaars to riding Taliban motorcycles, every moment was embraced with gratitude and curiosity. Benjamin is deeply thankful to those who opened their doors, making this journey a shared experience.

Gunnar Garfors is arguably best known for being the first person to visit every country twice, finishing in 2018. Still, the 49-year-old never stopped travelling. The last year has seen the writer hitchhiking through Gabon and Congo, slumming it for a week on a barge down the Congo River, spending two months in South Sudan, exploring the Amazon by local ferries and being one of the first tourists in years to visit Southern Somalia. Research for a book on the equator and the polar circles has also taken him to remote parts of the Arctic. The Norwegian prefers to travel independently and has even managed to negotiate guideless travel of North Korea, Turkmenistan, Bhutan and Syria. Garfors has 12 travel related world records to his name.

Five years ago, travel became the spark that brought Nataliia and Rus together. By then, Rus had reached the coveted 193, while Nataliia was on her way to exploring the world. Fate and luck connected them, and they’ve been inseparable ever since (including a proposal at Trolltunga). Since then, they’ve travelled together almost nonstop to 130+ countries across continents and hemispheres, driving, sailing, flying, and hiking in search of new experiences. What sets them apart? Their obsession with always seeking out hidden travel gems, then sharing their finds with the world. Their website, travel2unlimited.com, with over 350,000 photos, documents their extensive travels, showcasing their unparalleled commitment to seeing it all. Their journey isn’t just about travel—it’s about pushing the limits of what’s possible, inspiring others to do the same.

At just 26, Daniel Pinto has taken modern travel to new heights, pushing boundaries in ways few would consider. This year alone, he’s explored over 30 countries, but what truly stands out is how he approaches travel. This year alone, Daniel spent 30 days solo in Libya, hitchhiking in from Tunisia and exploring regions untouched by tourists. He did the same in South Sudan, spending 10 days with local tribes, traveling completely solo and living the local way. He even became the first to visit the Philippines’ Red Zone without an armed escort, reaching places like Julu and Basilan, and many more fantastic adventures. His bold, independent adventures and love for unique food experiences have drawn over 600,000 followers, showcasing his fearless approach to exploring the world.

Kristin Templin 🇺🇸

Kristin Templin 🇺🇸

Originally from the Rust Belt of Ohio, Kristin has spent the past few decades slowly working her way towards 193. She has been on the road non-stop for the past four years, balancing being a full-time remote worker and freelance writer with her passion for travel. Before COVID unexpectedly turned her into a digital nomad, Kristin lived and worked in Delhi, Hong Kong, Auckland, Prague, and New York City which allowed her to travel extensively throughout Asia, the Pacific, and Europe. Kristin normally travels solo and you can often find her fielding Zoom calls or hunched over her laptop trying to meet her latest freelance deadline. Although it has been tough to balance it all, travel has given her the chance to change her perspective of the world while feeding her never ending interest in history and geography. She is down to her last 19 countries and looks forward to revisiting some of her old favorites when 193 is done.

What the NomadMania Awards are about

What the NomadMania Awards are about

The NomadMania Travel Awards is the annual event to celebrate achievements in travel organized since 2021. It meant to celebrate travelling efforts for the past year.

Our aim is not to make people travel for the award, but rather to award the ones who travel regardless of that and to inspire new generations of travellers!

 

This year the NomadMania Travel Awards is happening live in Bangkok, Thailand on November 17th as a part of the Extraordinary Travel Festival

 

Read more about the NomadMania Travel Awards here.

For any inquiries contact us at info@nomadmania.com 🙂

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