CANADIAN UN MASTERS

CANADIAN UN MASTERS (july, 2026)
This is a listing of all Canadians who have supposedly visited all 193 United Nations countries. They are classified according to their Nomad Mania verification status.

Nomad Mania Member verified for UN countries and regions
1. Ron Perrier. (1,049 regions, #35 in world, #1 Canada). Born 1952. Started travel in 2006. UN 193 (Tuvalu 2024). Verified for UN, NM regions, Supreme Verification, World Heritage Sites and The Biggest Traveller. The most travelled Canadian of all time. 

Nomad Mania Member verified for UN countries
2. Daniel Walker. (968 regions). Born in 1941 in Victoria, completed at age 66 in 2007 (Mongolia). He is a citizen of Costa Rica (#1) and is listed there, where he has lived since 1991. He has 968 NM regions and was #1 in Canada for many years if he had listed himself as a Canadian. He did a lot of his travel in his Rolls-Royce.
“I started trying to travel as soon as I could walk, which my mother cured by putting me into a harness and attaching me to the clothesline. For my first major trip, a friend and I stuck out our thumbs from Victoria in 1964 with the intention of going around the world. We had $30 between us. When we ran out of money, we worked at whatever we could get. That lasted about a year until I ran into a girl and got married, which put a damper on travel for too many years. I have a 1957 Rolls-Royce that I drove around the world in 2007, then from Victoria, Canada, to Alaska & the Canadian Yukon in 2009, then through Central and South America and back in 2011. I’ve driven it through 49 countries and all the Canadian provinces and continental US states. Hopefully, I’ll travel until I drop!”
3. Xian Ni An. (879 regions). Born in 1966. Listed under China (#2). Has scuba dived in over 50 countries.
4. Ernestine Chan. (658 regions) Born in Hong Kong in 1971, from Vancouver, she finished at age 52 in 2023. Listed under Hong Kong (#1).
5. Elizabeth Villeneuve. (598 regions). Completed at age 73 in April 2026. Listed under Sweden (#11)
6. Eric Abtan. (424 regions). Born in 1973, completed at age 43 in 2016 (Nauru). He is a musician who has lived all over the world.
7. Dillon De Coteau. (270 regions). Born in 1969, he completed at age 55 in 2025 (Sudan). Lives in Toronto. Listed under Trinidad and Tobago (#1)

Nomad Mania Member non-verified 
8. Chris Weber (764 regions). Born in 1975, and completed at age 50 in 2025.
9. Sim Howe (458 regions). Born in 1969, and completed at age 55 in 2025.
10. Horace Tong. (337 regions). Born in 1986, from Vancouver, completed at age 35 in 2021 (Guinea-Bissau)
11. Zuzana Malatova. (472 regions). Born in 1985, and completed at age 40 in 2025.
12. Stephen Fenech (287 regions). Born in 1968, lives in Toronto, he completed with Nauru at age 55 in 2023. He works in the television industry but spends much time travelling as a photojournalist and award-winning filmmaker. His documentary Chad Exodus won various prizes in several festivals. His travel book, “Earth: Been There Done That Got the T-shirt, Book One: The Big Kahuna,” was published in 2016. It highlights a three-year trip around the planet. Its follow-up, “Earth: Been There Done That Got the T-shirt, Book Two: Missing Pieces to the Global Puzzle,” was published in 2017. Despite travelling so much, he has only been to 286 NM regions. 

Travellers with a Personal Website or Book
13. Ian Boudreault. Born in 1982, completed at age 32 (Libya). He wrote the pretentious book “Globetrotter: From Pioneer Digital Nomad to World’s Most Travelled Man” (2021), and described himself as “the Christopher Columbus of the 2000s”. His second book is “The World’s Most Travelled Man’s Top 60 Travel Tips: For the Seasonal Traveller to the Full-time Digital Nomad” (2021). He travelled for 20 years, 17 as a digital nomad living in
many countries.
14. Mike Spencer Bown. Born in 1966, from Calgary, and supposedly finished 193 at age 47 in 2013 (Ireland), He then wrote a pretentious book called “The World’s Greatest Traveller”.
Google the world’s greatest traveller: the AI answer in July 2026 was #1: Harry Mitsidis, the founder of Nomad Mania and a great traveller who has seen every country twice, but in July 2026, still ranks third in regions behind Michael Runkel, the man I believe is the greatest traveller in the world. #2 on the AI list was Bown, based solely on the title of his book. He joined Nomad Mania in 2020 during COVID, ranked #129 on the Master List, and then promptly removed himself from the site. How can the world’s greatest traveller be behind 128 others, including me? I’m sure he’s a great traveller, but I think he needs to have a good look at the hundred or so great travellers ahead of him on any list.
When asked how many countries there are in the world, he says “It’s open to debate”, possibly implying that he hasn’t been to all 193.
15. Bruno Rodi. Born in 1954 in Italy, his family immigrated to Quebec in 1960. He
started travelling in 2000 and finished 193 in 2018 (Saudi Arabia) at age 64. In an article in La Presse, he claims to have seen every territory, dependency and World Heritage
Site in the World – 1,071 at the time. That is hard to believe. He has also climbed the
seven highest peaks on each continent (including Mount Everest), been to the seven lowest points on the planet, the wonders of the ancient and contemporary world and has
been to both poles on skis. He also cycled the Tour de France and rode the Dakar Rally. He humbly admits to only being “the greatest traveller living in Quebec”.
He wrote the book “Globe-trotter des extrêmes” with the author Sonia Sarfati. His son
Jason has produced two films about adventure, including Bruno (Everest & Bouvet Island). He owns the Montreal bike-sharing company Bixi.

I find it interesting that these last four Canadians, all supposedly with 193 (only Stephen Fenech is a member of NM, but is not verified). The rest are not members of Nomad Mania or verified. All have written books stating or implying they are the most travelled people in the world. Curiously, the only books I have seen with the “most travelled man in the world” moniker are all by Canadians.
I do not doubt that all are great travellers, but there are likely many travellers on Nomad Mania who have travelled more than Mr. Boudreault, Bown, and Fenech. Mike Spencer Bown joined NM in 2020 but then removed himself; he was #129. Admittedly, Mr Fenech doesn’t say he is the world’s biggest traveller, but he needed two books titled Earth: Been There Done That Got the T-shirt to list all his destinations and experiences.
Mr. Rodi humbly only claims to be the most travelled Quebecois but when you read what he has done – 193, every UN territory and dependency (wow!), all 1071 World Heritage Sites (wow, easily #1 in the world, especially as about 40 are either impossible or very difficult), every Wonder of the World, skied to both poles (wow!), the Seven Summits (wow! three attempts to finally climb Everest, two attempts to climb Denali), Tour de France, Dakar rally, on and on – he may be the most experienced traveller in the world.

I wish these guys would prove what they have done. I do not doubt that all are great travellers. I am not sure why they have not entered their Nomad Mania regions, but I think the issue of not joining NM is that the ranking is by region. If their travel was not oriented to seeing regions, their region count is probably low, and they are relatively low on the master list of Nomad Mania – not something the “World’s Greatest Traveler” wants to see. I don’t think Mr. Bown has visited 193. Mr. Rodi is very private and couldn’t care less about ranking or publicity.
It would also be nice to see WHS and series items. Then they should undergo verification and prove what they have done, not just make assertions in books.

Very Close (regions as of July 2026)
1. Tom Wong, UN 192 (N Korea) – 674 regions. Born 1957. From Vancouver. UN verified.
2. Masha Glanville. UN 192 – 625 regions. Born 1962. Their website is dancingpandas.com.
3. Brad Xuan. UN 192 (N Korea) – 580 regions. Born in 1975. Listed under China (#6)
4.Michael Graziano. UN 190 – 414 regions. Born 1989.. He suddenly appeared a few years ago when he posted 193 countries and 859 regions (one more than Stewart Sheppard, #1 in Canada at the time). In the Master Ranking, he is listed as having transited some countries.
5. Painy McDundan. UN 192 – 411 regions. Born in 1973. Listed under US.
6. Ian Tremblay. UN 189 Born?
7. Robert Glanville. UN 187 – 541 regions. Born in 1964. Listed under Canada, but also with a US passport.
8. Ammon Watkins, UN 178 – 733 regions. Born in 1979. Presently #3 in Canada in NM. If anyone ever passes me in Canada, I predict (and hope) it will be Ammon. Verified for UN and NM regions.