In May of 2023, Lucy Hsu stepped foot into Syria and entered an exclusive club.
The Middle Eastern country was the 193rd Hsu had traveled to. “There are not many people who have visited every country in the world,” Hsu said.
“193 is the total that is recognized by most travel clubs, because that represents the number of UN members who do vote in the UN,” the 43-year-old Hsu said. Although there is no official tally, it is widely estimated that roughly 400 people in the world have been to every country. By comparison, more than 600 people have gone into outer space.
Hsu, a second-grade teacher at Cadwallader Elementary School in San Jose, didn’t get her first passport until she was 23. Hsu’s parents immigrated to the United States from Vietnam and the family had little in their budget for international travel.
“They were in a new country. They …