A California man reached his decade-long goal of visiting every country in the world when he took a tour of Turkmenistan.
San Diego resident Randy Williams, aka Ramblin’ Randy, landed in the central Asian country of Turkmenistan last week, a destination that was long-delayed when the nation was closed to visitors for four years.
“Turkmenistan is one of the most mysterious countries on the planet, and it’s one of the most restricted when it comes to visitors,” Williams told KGTV. “So, the only way you can visit Turkmenistan is through an approved tour company.”
The trip allowed Williams, a local radio DJ known as “R Dub!,” to put the 193rd pin in his map, completing the project he started a decade earlier.
Turkmenistan wasn’t the only destination to face lengthy delays — Williams said he was told when he visited Syria last month that he was only the second tourist to be allowed in the country since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Williams has now visited all 193 countries observed by the United Nations, as well as the two “observer states,” Vatican City and Palestine. He also made stops in disputed territories including Kosovo, Western Sahara and Taiwan.
Williams is already at work on his next project.
“Well, when you run out of countries, you’ve gotta make your own. I bring you the People’s Republic of Slowjamistan,” he said. “My own country. I bought 11 acres near the salon sea, and I called it Slowjamistan. It’s my country; I am the Salton.”
