World's most traveled man heads home after 23 years

Mike Spencer Bown left his hometown Calgary, Canada 23 years ago embarking on an adventure that ended this month.

All that time he was traveling the world and visiting 195 countries.

This 44-year-old Canadian could be the most traveled man in history after a marathon odyssey which has taken him from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and every nation in between. He was the first ever tourist in war-torn Mogadishu, hitchhiked through Saddam Hussein's home town during the U.S. invasion of Iraq and lived with pygmies in the Congo... The last destination he visited was Ireland.

Mr. Spencer Bown has lost count of the times he has been arrested but despite visiting some of the most dangerous places on Earth he has escaped serious harm or illness, other than two brief bouts of malaria... And he has done it all with the same trusty rucksack he had when he first left his native Canada in 1990.

- Every day of my adult life has been an adventure. I was 21 when I got thinking about my future and wondered if anyone had ever set out to see the whole world. I thought if not, then why not give it a go - and I took off - said Mr. Bown.

Over the years Mike has visited Indonesia 20 times, Egypt twice, India six times, Cameroon five times, Peru twice, China three times, Africa a dozen times and Thailand nearly 50 times.