Double ’Cane Cameron Mofid has been around the world and back. Literally.
At 25 years old, he is considered the youngest person to have visited every country in the world by NomadMania, a respected organization amongst extreme travelers.
During his journey, Mofid did it all. From cage diving with sharks in Cape Town, ziplining through Belize and hitchhiking in the mountains of Pakistan to even running a marathon in North Korea –– there isn’t much that Mofid has not done.
From coast to coast
Mofid grew up in San Diego, California, where he expressed interest in geography, different cultures and tennis from a young age.
“I was an avid tennis player, and I had a junior world ranking on the ITF tour,” Mofid said. “I actually went for my senior year of high school to a tennis sporting school called Sanchez-Casal Academy in Naples, Florida.”
However, Mofid decided not to play tennis in college and instead took a gap year to work for a professional tennis player.
“I traveled to a bunch of tournaments all over the world, working in tournaments, writing for a tennis magazine,” Mofid said. “I went to Hong Kong, Singapore, Milan, London, Marrakesh, cities I had only seen on a map before.”
Eventually, his gap year came to an end, and Mofid went to college.
Travel days and BBAs
“I started at the University of Miami in Fall 2019,” Mofid said. “I chose UM not just for its strong academics, but also because I loved the idea of living in one of the world’s most diverse
and international cities.”
However, college did not give Mofid the same sense of freedom that many of his classmates looked forward to.
“I had just been backpacking around the world for a full year, and then I got to UM and had to be at class at this time, and I have these commitments and stay in this dorm,” he said. “I don’t want to say it was confining, but I longed for that freedom that I had the prior year.”
Despite having his obligations in Miami, Mofid still made efforts to travel when he could. So much so that he picked up a job in event marketing as a freshman to pay for the cost of his travels.
“I went to Guatemala, Cayman Islands, Panama, and El Salvador during little breaks,” Mofid said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic started, Mofid found himself researching how many countries there are in the world, and how many people have visited them all.
“The fact that more people had been to space than every country was crazy to me,” he said. “That inspired me. I wanted a near-impossible goal to push myself to the limit.”
Mofid then realized he wanted to join the exclusive group of travelers that have visited every country.
Around that same time, Mofid’s friend suggested making their own event marketing business to promote student nightlife events. This business allowed Mofid to save up over the next three years for his adventure ahead.
He completed his BBA in finance and management in three years and graduated magna
cum laude. Then, he was accepted into UM’s MBA program and was honored to graduate as the valedictorian of his MBA class.
“I had been to about 100 countries by the time I finished my MBA from traveling on breaks, weekends, and missing a week of school here and there.” Mofid said. “After I graduated, I threw a bunch of clothes in a Nike duffle bag and took off for 2 and a half years and visited the last 90 countries on my list.”
Mr. Worldwide
Mofid spent those 2 and a half years hopping from country to country with no set plan.
“I’d take long trips focused on specific regions, like West Africa or Central Asia, and visit neighboring countries one after the other,” he said. “It was more efficient and cost-effective that way.”
This gave him the flexibility of being able to stay in certain countries for longer than others.
He would spend only a day in smaller countries like Andorra and Liechtenstein but he allotted several weeks for larger countries. Australia and Venezuela are both on lists of favorites.
“I just think that the vibes in Australia are the best,” he said. “It is such an awesome country with so much to see, so much to do, and the people are very nice.”
According to Mofid, it’s the countries you don’t expect much from that have the most to offer.
“The places that have the most economic instability and the most political instability are places that you find the kindest people and the most rewarding travel experiences. Venezuela is at the top of that list,” Mofid said.
On his Instagram page with more than 5,000 followers, Mofid shares videos of himself taking in the Venezuelan beauty while on a helicopter ride to Angel Falls, boat rides through the rainforest, many hikes to hidden gems and the people themselves.
Mofid feels that for the size of the country, there is no other place that has more to see than Venezuela and prefers its natural beauty over ultra-touristy cities.
However, Mofid’s most rewarding experience came from starting his non-profit Humanity Effect, an organization that carries out humanitarian projects in the underdeveloped community of Makoko, Nigeria.
“When I visited Nigeria, my 115th country, I spent time in Makoko, a slum built partly on stilts over a lagoon. The poverty there was heartbreaking,” he said. “After that experience, I launched a GoFundMe to support a local school I had visited.”
Mofid was able to raise $5,000 with the help of his ’Canes family and his friends from his travels. NBA player Kyrie Irving, donated an additional $45,000 to the cause.
“With that amount of money, I felt that I have a responsibility to be a steward for the money and make sure that it lasts and makes a sustainable impact on the community,” he said. “And so I founded Humanity Effect.”
As of today, Humanity Effect has built a second school for the community and is halfway done with their construction of a medical center. The two buildings currently support more than 750 children.
The toughest treks
Despite meeting amazing people and experiencing many new cultures, Mofid’s trip around the world brought about some unforeseen challenges.
“It was very low-budget travel. I spent three years hitchhiking in Africa, traveling through mountains to Afghanistan,” Mofid said.
Mofid recalled his stressful yet memorable trip to Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing, the busiest checkpoint on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
“Both my initial and rebooked flights were canceled, so I ended up overlanding solo through the mountains from Pakistan,” he said. “At the border, I was interrogated by Pakistani intelligence because they couldn’t understand why an American would be traveling solo into Taliban-controlled territory.”
Another memorable experience he shared was getting stuck in Mogadishu, Somalia after a suspected terrorist attack shut down the airport. With his flight canceled and the military on high alert, Mofid has to take a domestic flight to northern Somalia and leave the country from there.
However, the hardest challenge of all was visiting North Korea, which had been closed to foreigners since the beginning of COVID-19 in 2020.
“North Korea opened briefly for tourism for a couple weeks, but just to the northern region of Rason,” he said. “I was supposed to go there, but the Koreans only opened briefly and then closed it very suddenly.”
Shortly after, North Korea announced that it would host the 31st annual Pyongyang marathon for the first time in six years. With tourism still closed, Mofid and other participants needed a special athlete visa to enter as part of a delegation of athletes.
“I’ve never run in any sort of race. I’m not a marathon runner, but this was the avenue that enabled me to complete the mission of visiting every country,” he said.
After the finish line
Mofid has since returned home to California, becoming the youngest person to visit every country by most standards. However, he did not make the cut for the Guinness World Record title.
“The current Guinness record holder, a 21-year-old woman, accomplished something very impressive,” Mofid said. “But in my view, and the view of many in the extreme travel community, her journey didn’t fully meet the spirit of ‘visiting’ every country.”
“For example, Guinness counted her visit to an office in the DMZ – the demilitarized zone
between North and South Korea –– as visiting North Korea,” he said. “They also allowed travelers to simply clear immigration at an airport and turn right back around.”
Despite missing out on the Guinness World Record title, Mofid is still proud of what he did and is sad that it is over.
“Visiting every country has been my dream for the past five years,” he said. “I’m incredibly grateful for all the people I met and the experiences I shared with them. Now that this chapter has ended, I’m excited for what’s next. Whatever that is, I know I’ll pursue it with the same relentless curiosity and passion that carried me through this journey.”
Mofid also continues his efforts to raise funds for Makoko through Humanity Effect. Its ultimate goal is to end the city’s education crisis. It is supported by passionate volunteers and donors who are all dedicated to improving Makoko.
Mofid’s advice to those who want to travel is, “Just go for it. You don’t have to go somewhere expensive or far away. You don’t even have to leave your country. Being a traveler is more about your mindset than your mileage.”