Traveling to the Least Visited Country in the World

What do you think is the

least

visited

country

in the

world

? Well, after a quick Google search, it turns out that neither I nor most people on the street had heard of this extremely small

country

in the South Pacific called Tuvalu. illness, yeah, the artist, oh is it a surf spot, oh yeah, and while I was trying to figure out where this country is located, it was actually hard to even spot it on a map, because the landmass of the entire country is just twice the size of La airport. or even just a quarter the size of Disney World, Tuvalu has around 11,000 people and is sadly one of the first countries predicted to disappear as a result of rising oceans caused by climate change since the day I discovered this country.

I haven't been able to stop thinking about it, wondering what the people are like, what you can do in a country without any tourist infrastructure and wanting to go tell a story about this country that could possibly disappear very soon, so he got me a plane. to reach the

least

visited

country in the

world

and a few days before my departure I was not very happy with the preparation of the trip. Goodbye, Thomas, can someone tell me why I'm going alone? I think you have been too. comfortable and your girlfriend has traveled to every country including this one, so if you are too afraid to do it alone then clearly we should replace you with your girlfriend.

I heard that there really isn't any similar service and I also read just now all about how the island only pays cash and there is no ATM on the island, so how do people get money? I don't even know what language these people speak. Do you know what language they speak? Luann to the language of the volume and English, that's the The most uniquely shaped island I've ever seen is that water in the middle, yeah, wow, yeah, what do you mean? Are you sure how you don't know this? Bye, not many, just a quick stop in Fiji and the domestic airport.

It is a fairly small number of sport flights. two, thank you, thank you, okay, it looks like we have officially landed in suvalu, the white roof, yes, that's snow right there, thank you, I appreciate it. Nice to meet you also at first I thought, oh wow, there are a lot more people coming to visit tulu. than I thought when I boarded the plane and then when I slowly started having a conversation with all these people, each one of them is here to work with the UN, they are not here for tourism, so it seems like it could be the only.

We'll see. What is this hotel about, this is the reception, yeah, what's your name, Thomas Bragg. Hello, where am I here? Okay, that's great, here it goes. The only plane in the entire country leaves now and doesn't return for three days. Well, everyone who seems to find out that I'm here visiting seems pretty confused, even the people who work here, the immigration lady, she asked me, so why are you here, sir?, and I said, oh, why are you here? fun, she looked at me, she's going for fun, the Swedish guy. He's here to explore, he should probably dress up to match the colors of the island a little better, okay, this is a much better time to go out.

Is there somewhere I can rent a bike? Oh, we have a bicycle. Oh, you have a bicycle here. Okay, great, wow, the ocean water is so clear. What the hell was high? I'm moving to two I'm staying here guys sorry this country is so thin you can literally see both sides of the water at almost any point so you can see there's the lagoon and then there's the open water right here , almost all the people I have passed so far walking say hello and say hello, it's already just first impressions, like "I love this place", there are a lot of tourists here, hey, yes, you just arrived today, yes.

Was it so funny to you how you got how I found Tuvalu? Yes, I googled what is the least visited country in the world and then I found Tuvalu, so I thought I had to go see it. I've been on this island for about four hours now and I still haven't seen a single tourist or half a chicken. Wow, thanks, it's sunset time, which means the locals have taken over the airstrip and turned it into their soccer field, their volleyball field, and all kinds of different activities. passing right now I think I've seen my first tourists on the whole island hi I'm thomas thomas I'm sarah nice to meet you sir I'm sweating that's okay thomas sure on our team what is this let's think about why are you here?

I'm half bullet, you got tavalo, yeah, wow, and then half of what, half of Australia. Wow, I've joined a little local soccer game right now. Turns out the Aussie guys I saw here are also at half volume. do it during the day, I think the best thing they'll probably do is try to go to other islands. Oh, my new Australian friends from Tavalon later invited me to have dinner with them. Have you ordered yet? Yes, then they invited me to their grandparents' house where part of their family still lives and they explained to me a little more about what it was like growing up on the island.

Can people sleep in this? Yes, correct, there are mattresses, but most of us prefer the mat. It's crazy to imagine that you grew up here. for how long what how much of your life on and off until I was 16 here wow tabala was the language I thought and spoke it took me a long time to get used to the mattresses are you serious how many people live in this house nine but then? we have visitors everywhere, the kids like to come and hang out here so sometimes they just pass out wherever they want, there are no limits, you live here, I live here, it's just oh wow, that wraps up the first day .

In Tuvalu, seeing how communal everyone lives together it was amazing to see how tomorrow is going, good night, okay, time to go see the development where we are going, come on guys, come on, we have reached the place of dawn. Okay, we're about to go see a local bakery market, let's go see what the fresh tavalin bakeries are like, oh my god that looks amazing, we just got to heaven or what is this place, we got the prize Major, yeah, oh my gosh, okay, first of all, I want to start by saying We met yesterday at the soccer field and now we're going out on a boat to one of the other islands.

So how many islands does Tuvalu have? Tavala has eight islands. We are standing, which is the capital. Yes, thanks for. letting me tag along this is like I don't know what I'd be doing today if I hadn't met you yeah but don't worry that's amazing that's our boat so I think we've found our little paradise I can't. I think this country is the least visited place on the planet. I mean, look at this. This is like something out of a dream. Like when you imagine a desert paradise island. This is apparently one of your grandfather's old resorts.

Does anyone still live here um yeah, what's on the boat? Yes, are you from Tuvalu? Yes, you saw yesterday, yes, what's up? Man, that's amazing. Yes, do you live here on this island? I live here. That is incredible. Oh man, damn, cool man, dude, you probably are. the only series like two balloons, yeah, I'm pretty sure it's just me, yeah, this is your house here or that one, yeah, so you live here with your mom, yeah, my mom, my dad, my sister, big time measure, just a simple life, that's all we need. Even though you grew up here, this is your childhood home, right here, that's amazing, who would have liked that?

These are beautiful. They make the necklace. It is a community life everywhere. Yes, everyone shares. Yes, every time a family goes fishing, when they return, they distribute it. So you want to study in Taiwan, what did you study software engineering? Software engineering, that's crazy for how long, five years, what's your biggest dream? Biggest dream, yeah, well my biggest dream is, you know, helping others and it needs islands like us, yeah, especially climate change, yeah. I'm living life, yes that's effective, yes I'm just trying to find solutions for all of them. Now they used to call it the sinking island.

The island of correct thinking. What's the main thing you think people should know? It's just that it's real, yeah, you know. climate change like next month November until April all these houses this is so we all go to the shelter in the main room there this is like a meeting room dining room thanks for the tour man no problem I didn't expect to meet a subscriber the yes theory in the middle of tuvalu youtube really reaches the world huh yeah it's going to be a weird test yeah yeah that's it it's natural oil hey man I like your hat yeah tell me oh At the end of the second day I still hadn't fully understood how seriously the people of Tavalu take their community life, everyone just shares, there is freshly made food and everyone can come, eat and stay here, yes, wow, this place ended up explaining it to me something really interesting about tavalu that at some point in your upbringing you may end up calling one of your best friends your brother or your sister and at that moment that person literally becomes part of your family when you both grow up and have children with your separated partners , then they all move in together in interconnected houses and raise everyone. children as a community and you also had a friend growing up who you called your brother and then he became your brother.

You have that wow. I went home that night feeling grateful and amazed by everything I just learned. What's up brother? I want to give away. something, I can park this here, let's see what I brought with me, yeah, try to see if it works, yeah, that's cool, dude, it fits you, damn, thanks really, dude, remember the necklace, oh, that would be cool, yes, this is wow, it's beautiful, thank you. You are a lot, this is advanced, how long does this take forever? Yes, who makes them? My mom, oh, your mom, yes, this is beautiful, great, have a good trip back.

Thank you so much. I'm very happy, friend, yes, family, yes, ma'am, let's go. That's it brother, I need more people around me, yes, you want people to come visit me, friend 100, don't just come to see what people hear, you know what they say, tavolo is the heart of the pacific, all the loves towards others. Yes fam wherever you are I love you bro you just checked in at the airport to leave Tuvalu and she hand wrote my boarding pass just a quick reminder that we are still in the middle of nowhere bye bye oh man, when people say goodbye, you get these. necklaces everyone has been very kind to all of you who helped me right here, if you are watching this, thank you all for making me feel so welcome at the time of returning home.

I have never experienced such a deep sense of community that radiates from an entire country since the From the moment I landed in Tuvalu to the moment I got back on that plane, the people were nothing but smiling, welcoming and a kindness I arrived as a stranger for just a few days and left feeling adopted by this amazing, loving family. I feel grateful. Having met our local Yes Fam rep and had the opportunity to feel connected to people who live so far away and live such different lives As I walked out the door, the lady at the hotel asked me if I would ever come back and I usually respond politely, of course, in these situations, but this time I think I meant it.