New Delhi, Oct. 3 -- When Sophia Lee took her first solo trip to Costa Rica at the age of 13, she could hardly have known that the journey would eventually become an attempt to travel to every country in the world.

The American traveller is now pursuing a record that would make her the youngest person to visit all 195 countries recognised by the United Nations. At the time of CNN's report, Lee was just nine countries away from completing the journey.

Her ambition began taking shape a year after that first trip. Lee learnt about the record for the youngest person to visit every country and became interested in attempting it herself. She continued travelling while growing up, initially without treating the challenge as a full-time pursuit...