SPEAKING TOPIC
Africa: Completing All NM African Regions: Highlights And Reflections
In 2011, João Paulo Peixoto arrived in Israel, completing his long-standing goal to visit all 193 UN countries.
Although one might think this milestone would be the end of his travels, it was actually the beginning of a long new road towards new travel objectives. He began to chase Travel Century Club (TCC) and Most Travelled People (MTP) regions, eventually deciding to focus on Nomadmania (NM) regions.
Five years ago, João Paulo decided that his primary travel goal would be to visit all 1301 NM regions in the world.
Unfortunately, the onset of the COVID pandemic forced many of his scheduled trips to be canceled. After a short period of reflection, João Paulo decided to focus on Africa and to visit all his missing regions on the continent.
Why Africa? Besides being a practical choice (He had already visited many of the most difficult regions), this would honor his Portuguese lineage, following such great African explorers as Vasco da Gama, Bartolomeu Dias and Afonso Albuquerque.
In February of 2022, after battling the new and ever-shifting rules and restrictions of the pandemic, and after taking 62 Covid tests in 37 countries, João Paulo arrived at the “Woleu-Ntem; Ogooue-Ivindo; Ogooue-Lolo; Haut-Ogooue (Oyem)”, region of Gabon, representing his 217th and final NM region in the African Mainland.
Traveling in Africa, especially during Covid, is not for the faint of heart, and João Paulo’s adventures include such challenges as crossing rivers, encountering remote tribes, dealing with crooked cops and soldiers, sleeping in odd places (including once with pygmies) and navigating roads that aren’t on the map. He looks forward to sharing these stories and more at ETF.
BIO
João Paulo was born in 1964 in Braga, Portugal. He moved to Porto to study and remained thereafter. He is a proud father of 6 children: Raquel, João, Marta, Pedro, Inês and newborn Isabella.
João Paulo has been a professor for more than 30 years, with a title of Specialist Professor in Finance, Banking and Insurance. He holds an MBA in Business Management and a Masters degree in Business Sciences. He publishes periodically in national and international scientific journals, and is the author of several academic books on banking and financial markets.
João Paulo’s passion is World Travel. In 2011, he was the first Portuguese national to visit all 193 UN member states. On the NomadMania, he is currently ranked 4th in the world in visiting world regions, and 15th in the world in visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the two categories in which he is most active.
João Paulo has been a member of the Travelers Century Club for over 15 years and has visited 321 on their list of 330 “countries.” He is also ranked 12th in the world in the group Most Traveled People (MTP).
A member of ETIC (Extreme Travelers International Congress), João Paulo has twice won Extreme Traveler of the Year, and currently runs ETIC’s Awards Council. He is also a member of the The Circumnavigators Club, which (the oldest travel club in the world), having completed 6 trips around the world.
In 2019, João Paulo visited the North Pole, South Pole and stood on the Equator in the same year. In 2020, he participated in the “7x7x7” challenge, which consists of 7 marathons on 7 continents in 7 consecutive days.
