According to the Guinness Book, through his work, he had travelled to every single sovereign country in the world (which totalled 193 according to the Guinness Book) by 20 February 2004, aged 28 years and 361 days. He claimed that he had visited a total of up to 238 territories (including the 193 sovereign countries recognized by Guinness), and stated that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) had been the hardest country to get into, after numerous attempts and long waits to get a visa.