Youtuber Drew Binsky details what it was like to visit all 197 countries

Content creator Drew Binsky joins the Yahoo FInance Live panel to discuss completing his goal of visting every country in the world.

Video Transcript

SEANA SMITH: Imagine visiting every single country in the world. Our next guest just accomplished that extraordinary feat, crossing into his final country, Saudi Arabia, earlier this morning. So we want to bring in Drew Binsky. He's a YouTube and social media influencer, content creator, millions and millions of followers on social media. Drew, it's great to speak with you. Congratulations. I know your journey has really been something. I was going through all of the pictures. It's just incredible what you've experienced over the last several years, but tell us about it.

DREW BINSKY: Thank you, Seana, for having me. It's really a pleasure to be here. And it's crazy. I'm in my 197th and final country, Saudi Arabia. It's takenn me 10 years to get to this point, since I've studied abroad in Prague, Czech Republic, taught English in Korea, started a travel blog while I was there, and just kind of worked my tail off, making content and started making videos in 2017, putting them on YouTube and Facebook.

And then I was able to monetize them, which helped me fund my travels. And then I had a dream to go to every country. Well, I had the dream 10 years ago. But then I pursued my dream because I could afford it, and then grew my community. I have nine million followers on social media and over 4 billion video views. And I can't believe I sit here right now, and I finally crossed the finish line.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Congratulations on the finish line. I think a lot of us want to know, who's got the best food? Which country?

DREW BINSKY: Ah, you hit me with the hard question at the beginning. I really like all Asian cuisine. So I really like Vietnamese food. I like Japanese food, Indian food. It's hard to pick one. Also Syria has incredible food, Syria and Lebanon. Middle Eastern cuisine is really tasty.

SEANA SMITH: Drew, what's it been like traveling throughout the pandemic?

DREW BINSKY: It's been-- every country is different, you know? So when you go to a place like Egypt or Afghanistan, which I went to Afghanistan pre the Taliban takeover, it's almost as if you're traveling in 2019, where people-- you don't see any masks. People don't like to talk about it because they really-- many of them don't even believe in it. And they have other problems, as they told me, to focus on.

And other countries like Ecuador are so COVID intense that they will actually spray the money when they hand it back to you at a vendor. They'll spray it with hand sanitizer because they don't want to infect you or whatever. So it's complete hit or miss. A lot of countries fall kind of in the middle, but it's really interesting to travel and see how different people have different perspectives on it.

ADAM SHAPIRO: What's it like when you go to a place, for instance, like North Korea that so few Americans are able to go to? People ever look at you like, what are you doing here?

DREW BINSKY: It's a good question, Adam. So I'm actually one of the last Americans to step foot in North Korea. I went in April 2017. And about two months after I left, Americans became banned forever, until now, at least, to visit North Korea. And we're the only country that-- it's the only country that Americans are blacklisted to visit as of right now. It was surreal. I mean, I can speak Korean because I lived and taught English in South Korea for two years. And it's, more or less, the same language.

And I've always been fascinated about life in the north, so I took the opportunity to go for four days in Pyongyang. I actually ran a 10K in the Pyongyang marathon, which was cool. But yeah, it's a fascinating country. It's the most isolated and interesting country in the world. And that was actually the first video that went viral for me. And that's kind of what elevated me into where I am today.

SEANA SMITH: So, Drew, now that you visited every single country in the world, what's next?

DREW BINSKY: I want to keep traveling. I want to keep creating content on a bigger and better scale, which means a bigger team, better productions. And I really want to grow the community so I can continue to educate and inspire through my videos. I also have other businesses that I focus on, such as a merchandise company, which is Just Go, the brand that I'm wearing across my chest.

I'm working on a really cool docuseries about visiting every country in the world. And the last episode is being shot, as we speak, in Saudi Arabia. I have a book coming out. And there's-- I have an NFT project, which I'm also really excited for. So there's a lot of really cool opportunities coming my way, but first and foremost, I want to keep traveling, keep inspiring, and keep creating content.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Binsky, where does that name come from? Is that actually your last name?

DREW BINSKY: No, it's actually a nickname. My dad gave me the name Binsky, like, when I was born. When I watched my family videos, I grew up-- I was born in Dallas. And when I'm, like, an infant, my dad called me Binsky, and to this day, he doesn't tell me why he called me Binsky. It's just a nickname. But it's just kind of what my friends call me back home. And then I turned it into my brand. So everybody knows me as Drew Binsky.

SEANA SMITH: Well, and Drew, it's great speaking with you. Congratulations again. We're excited to hopefully stay in touch and have you back on the program in the future. Drew Binsky, a content creator, again, millions of followers on social media. Congratulations on entering your final country, every single country across the world.