Cassandra DePecol

Cassandra De Pecol (born June 23, 1989 in Connecticut, United States) is an American explorer, speaker, activist, and blogger best known for being the fastest woman to travel to every sovereign nation in the world. She officially set Guinness World Records in two categories: "Fastest time to visit all sovereign nations" and "Fastest time to visit all sovereign nations - Female". She is also known for appearing on the reality television series Naked and Afraid.

Cassandra De Pecol was born June 23, 1989 in Connecticut, United States. After graduating from high school in 2007, she attended Long Island University, Green Mountain College, and Santa Barbara City College before traveling in Europe for two years. Following her return from Europe, she worked as a foreign aid intern in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia and an advisor at an eco hotel with the Achuar in Ecuador. After trying a regular day job for a while, she launched her trip around the world.

She is now an environmental explorer, activist, keynote speaker, and blogger.

From July 24, 2015, to February, 2nd, 2017, De Pecol traveled to every sovereign nation in the world. She has two Guinness World Records: "Fastest time to visit all sovereign nations" and "Fastest time to visit all sovereign nations - Female". She is also the youngest American woman and youngest American to travel to every sovereign country in the world,at 27 years old.

While traveling, she spoke to over 16,000 university students in 40 countries, and acted as a peace ambassador for the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism. Though she planted trees to help offset her carbon footprint, she was criticized for taking a large number of flights, as well as for spending only a little time in each country. In some cases, she never left the airport due to budget concerns. The trip around the world cost about $111,000 USD and was funded through her own savings from her babysitting job in addition to sponsors that Cassandra obtained throughout the Expedition.

She documented her travels on her blog, Expedition 196, responding to critics of her travels and explaining the humanitarian and environmental focus of her trip. She also filmed her travels in order to create a documentary.

On December 8, 2013, De Pecol appeared on the show Naked and Afraid in a special called "Double Jeopardy".