American Traveller Nears Record After Visiting 186 Countries

Sophia Lee started travelling on her own when she was 13.

Her first solo trip was to Costa Rica.

Later, she decided to try to visit every country in the world while still young.

In the report, she had visited all but nine of the 195 countries recognised by the United Nations.

She has to keep careful records to prove where and when she travelled.

That meant returning to some countries to collect evidence.

Some parts of the trip have been difficult, and she became very ill in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Lee says she wants to learn about people, food and culture, not just check countries off a list.

She hopes to beat the record set by Lexie Alford, who completed the challenge at 21.