Most people dream of exploring the world and being a certified wanderer with a backpack and an itinerary that would help us make the trip memorable. The amount of hands-on knowledge and experiences travelling would give someone remains unmatched! It’s truly said that travelling is the best teacher for growth and self-discovery, especially in your twenties.
While an average person (not counting influencers) might visit a handful of places by their late twenties, this is the story of a man from Denmark who has visited a whopping 2,000 destinations. Henrik Jeppesen, who hails from Thy in northwest Jutland, is an avid traveler who took roughly 3,000 days to complete the journey.
According to UNILAD, the budget for the travel was very surprising. Henrik estimated that he spent only $60,000 to $80,000 total, averaging just $20 to $25 per day. While we might call it budget traveling or season traveling, surviving on a price tag so low almost seems impossible for an average adult.
Henrik jeppesen, @everycountryint : ‘I’ve visited every country in the world – here is Europe’s best city’ https://t.co/ZsfRnEGyca
— Eerik N Kross 🇪🇪🇺🇦🇮🇱🇪🇺 (@EerikNKross) November 30, 2025
Henrik Jeppesen took ten years to travel to these places and now has a website of his own. He caught the travel bug at 17, and he took a solo trip to Egypt alone. Since then, he has been more of a nomad who has visited all these countries one by one. Last month, Henrik revealed his favorite European city: Tallinn, the capital of Estonia.
“It’s incredibly overlooked by people visiting Europe,” he told The Mirror. “Even well-traveled visitors often skip it. They usually head to places like London, Rome, Paris, or Berlin, so in that sense, Tallinn is highly underrated.”
The 28-year-old global citizen ( considering his travel history, he deserves the title, doesn’t he?) said that the capital city stood out for him for its rich culture and vibe. “First of all, it’s much cheaper than the cities I mentioned — fantastic value by comparison. And the Old Town is the best I’ve ever seen.”
Henrik Jeppesen claimed Tallinn as a city “feels like another world.” He also shared that Tallinn’s affordability is something to consider for budget travellers who wish to do budget-friendly but rewarding travel. He recalled a €5 lunch at Rataskaevu 16, which was a place he revisited several times.
While Tallinn ranks as his favorite city in Europe, Henrik’s favorite city in the world is Cape Town, South Africa. In another interview with LADbible, Henrik claims North Korea as the “most interesting country.”
According to him, “It’s the only country where you don’t have complete freedom to do what you want.” For those who remain unaware, North Korea has been a highly controversial country over the last few years, with a regressive government that has been causing major human rights violations.
With severe restrictions on freedom of expression, movement, and information. There are reports of systematic forced, uncompensated labor; the country seems to lack in many sectors. They also prohibit same-sex marriages and civil unions. Only those with a government-approved tour group can visit the country while following strict norms.
Meanwhile, Henrik Jeppesen claimed that one of his friends’ risky decisions nearly landed them both in serious trouble during their visit to North Korea. He explained that his friend had taken on a personal challenge: scattering the ashes of a deceased friend—one of the most widely traveled people he knew—in every country in the world, including North Korea. However, North Korean guides strictly forbade him from doing so.
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Despite the warning, the friend went ahead and scattered the ashes anyway. Authorities later found video footage of the act, putting the pair in danger. Today, Henrik Jeppesen is married with children, but the travel bug in him is still alive as he authored a book.
The Denmark native is a prime example of how a person can turn their passion into a full-time career with the right amount of hard work, perseverance and curiosity. In today’s digitalDenmark world, travel bloggers and influencers are coming up who have openly changed the narrative of being successful through overworked and underpaid taxing jobs.
Hence, save that amount, plan your trip, and please don’t be afraid to think and do out of the box (while prioritizing safety, obviously). Please do not let the weight of other people’s opinions on how you should live your life affect your decision while building the life you want to live. It’s always good to take advice, but make your the final call comes from your heart.
