JEFF GOLDBERGÂ EVANSVILLE, INDIANA
A love for travel started when Sal started at the United World College boarding school in New Mexico. There, Sal says he was apart of a class of 200 students that represented 90 different countries. Sal says that this made the world feel small and more intimate.
It wasn’t until he started up NYU that his traveling started in kind. Studying comparative economics and comparative identity, his studies took him across the globe. Sal says he would go to see things like how different pacific islands differ from each other.
After graduating with a burgeoning passport, Sal took his talents to a global management consulting firm. Of course, the company Sal chose to work for aided him in his travels. This is where Sal says he really started to visit many different countries on business – and then even more on the weekends.
Now, many folks may think that this extreme amount of travel may be about checking off items on a bucket list, but for Sal, it goes way beyond that. He has tried to create positive change in all the places he has worked. Sal says that he worked with a handful of countries to create education reform that has helped the lives of 10 million children.
It was two years ago when the 27 year old started to really look at his passports. He decided to take six months off of work, but as it often happens, the six months turned into a year which ballooned into years.
During this time off, Sal decided to create a list of countries he hadn’t visited. He was able to visit them all, even the ones that many people may think as hard to access. He says he had no problem with countries like North Korea. He has called the United Arab Emirates his home for the past 6 years. He says that UAE has been the perfect launch pad to get anywhere and everywhere.
His journey ended recently as he made it to Malta, country 193 of 193. He had a tearful reunion with his parents before they headed back to the US. Sal is spending the holidays back home in McCutchanville before heading off again.
As for what’s next?
Sal says he isn’t sure but he knows it’ll be spectacular.
