Israeli global wanderer Avi Gold says he has thus far visited 109 different countries including Iran and Pakistan.
In an interview with Ynet on Tuesday, Gold says his goal, set in 2010, was to visit every country on the planet
He posts short videos from his travels on his Tiktok account. One of those videos is a visit to an Iranian village, however, the Israeli nomad has not yet counted Iran as a country he visited.
"To calculate a country as a country I visited, I have three rules," he explained. "The first rule is to enter the country legally, the second, is to stay in it for at least 72 hours and the third, is to have good experiences. In Iran, I had only crossed the border to a small village and did not really present my passport."
Gold, who's appearance is of a religious Jew, says he hides his identity in in Kyiv or Paris, "but when I'm in Arab countries I don't hide my Jewish identity, there is more anti-Semitism in European countries than in Muslim countries," he says.
"Before I arrived in Sudan, I had all the stereotypical thoughts about it," he said. "This is a country that was defined as a terrorist state and an enemy state, so I hired a security guard to wait for me at the airport, but after one day there, I told the security guard and the guide that I would pay them what I promised, but I feel very confident and don't need them anymore"
"I was in Saudi Arabia two days after the King declared that he was inviting tourists into the country, "I was tourist number 319 entering the country. I arrived with a foreign passport, but I did not hide my Israeli identity," Gold says.
"I do all kinds of jobs during the trips such as being a tour guide and other things. I'm a minimalist, whoever wants to travel the world must be a minimalist, I have a small suitcase with everything I need. I'm kind of a hobo, even though most of the time I sleep in luxury hotels," he says.
Gold says he has not decided on his next destination but will decide next week, after his return to Israel.