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Frequentest Flyer Spin the globe and point to any patch of land: William Altaffer has almost certainly been there. At 56, this
professional tourist is probably the youngest person to have visited every recognized nation and nearly every island on Earth. A member of the elite Travelers’ Century Club, Altaffer ’67, MS ’70 reached the magic 300-country mark in March – a pinnacle he shares with only eight others (all over age 70) in the 2,000-member international society for hard-core travelers. Since then, he has collected seven more passport stamps, bringing him within spitting distance of completing TCC’s official list of 311 nations.
“I’ve got four islands to go,” he says: Fernando da Naranja, off the coast of Brazil; Bouvet, near Antarctica; Wake, in the South Pacific; and Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean. The last two are military bases, off-limits to civilians. That won’t stop Altaffer, though. “I don’t know how I’ll get there, but I’m working on it,” he says enigmatically.
Counting countries is an enigma in itself. The Guiness Book of World Records recognizes 268 sovereign nations, while the U.S. Postal Service counts only 208. By Altaffer’s own reckoning, he’s visited 340 lands, though politics plays fast and loose with his record. East and West Germany, for example, used to be two nations before reunification. And the former Soviet Union now counts as 16 states (assuming you’ve visited each republic, as Altaffer has).
 Hardly a millionaire jet-setter, Altaffer supports himself, his wife Qing (whom he met in Shanghai) and 2-year-old daughter Lena with his tourist savvy, arranging “travel make-overs” for elite clients. During the winter months, the global nomad takes to the mountains – the Sierra Nevada, to be specific – as a ski instructor in his hometown of Mammoth Lakes, Calif.
Altaffer began his travels as a boy, taking exotic summer vacations with his family. By the time he entered USC, he’d seen 80 countries. Still, the Los Angeles native seemed fated for a contemplative life, majoring in history and earning a master’s in education before going for a Ph.D. in philosophy. During a short break from school, he went to Mammoth to try a stint as a ski instructor. And never left.
Except, of course, for the eight months a year he devotes to trotting the globe.
It started with a private ski lesson for Ron Harris, owner of the exclusive Hemphill Harris travel agency. Soon, Altaffer was working summers as an elite tour guide. He quickly started racking up countries. “I would stay behind when the tour ended, then go on to other places,” he says. To beat the embassy bureaucrats, he obtained two passports (yes, it’s legal). This allowed him to keep moving while waiting for entry visas to even red-tape-ridden lands like Algeria, North Korea and Mauritania.
“It’s not true that you can’t travel everywhere,” he says. “You can go anywhere legally.” Cuba? Sure, he says. Head for downtown Cancun, where any travel agency can arrange a group visa. “Get on a Russian plane, and you’ll have the time of your life,” he says.
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