Life is like one big vacation for American Charles Veley.

Inspired by a three-month Eurail journey, Veley decided to realize his childhood dream of traveling the world. Now he's considered the world's most traveled person and as you might expect, he's usually on the go. To him, travel means "going anywhere which takes you away from your usual routine."

He has spent US$2.42 million over the past 11 years to satisfy his wanderlust.

Veley, 46, has visited all 192 member states of the United Nations and 823 out of the 873 regions of the world on the MTP (Most Traveled People) list compiled by MostTraveledPeople.com. He's been to Bouvet Island, the most remote island in the world near Antarctica, Rockall, an extremely small, uninhabited rocky islet in the North Atlantic ocean as well as the North and South poles. No one else has accomplished such a record so far.

He has fended off sharks while diving near Baker Island, has been stopped by anti-drug police in Venezuela and also surrounded by hundreds of large birds, crocodiles, and naked Dasenech tribespeople in the Omo Delta in Ethiopia. He has braved the frigid and swirling seas of the North Atlantic and has been besieged by dozens of prostitutes who mistook him for a French gendarme in Brazil. He's also talked with residents of Canton Island, some of the most isolated people on earth, in the South Pacific.

"Travel gives me the feeling of fulfillment," he said. "It is also a chance to live completely in the present moment, and fully appreciate the people and scenery around you. When everything is new, I have a hypersensitivity to my surroundings, which is very stimulating."

He has visited every province of China, and every region except the Xisha Islands in the South China Sea, Scarborough Reef (a very small reef near the Philippines), and Aksai Chin, a desert area that borders India.

He has been to Shanghai several times.

It is always an unbelievable experience, due to the growth and concentration of human energy, he said.

His favorite pastime in the city included dining on the rooftop balcony of the restaurants on the Bund and riding the maglev train to Pudong International Airport.

As for his other China adventures, he said Hong Kong stands out.

"I have had so many wonderful experiences in China, but I have to say many of the best have been in Hong Kong, including watching the sunset over the Hong Kong skyline from the top of the Peninsula Hotel.

"China is changing so fast. Every visit is like visiting a new country and I look forward to my next trip to China," he said.

Veley's lifelong wanderlust for travel was ignited in 1998 when he was 22 years old.

"I always wanted to travel, but was inspired during a three-month Eurail journey in 1988 which made me want to learn languages and be more culturally flexible. This led me to take a year abroad with my wife in 2000, when I finally had some money. The year abroad caused me to beg for more, and one year turned into nearly 10 years."

Eager to learn

Veley was an early employee of MicroStrategy Inc and received shares in the company. The shares became valuable in 1999, when he sold them to fund his adventures. The money has lasted for 10 years.

As a very empathetic person who enjoys meeting people and trying to understand them, he said he is always open to new experiences.

"I am always eager to learn what a culture is like, and to try and figure out how different cultures are influenced by history, proximity and geography. I very much enjoy geography, maps and logistics."

He can talk day and night of his adventures, but he said his most impressive and dramatic experience was in Rockall, which he finally landed on in 2008 after an unsuccessful attempt in 2005.

Rockall is probably the most difficult island to access in the world, due to its sheer sides and the rough surrounding North Atlantic seas, which create huge swells even in calm conditions, he said.

Veley sailed with British TV personality Ben Fogle from Mallaig, Scotland, on the Eda Frandsen to attempt a landing in 2005, but they turned back in the middle of the night. They were 148 kilometers away and the weather was getting nasty.

They spent two days at St Kilda and cruised the Outer Hebrides, but did not approach Rockall. Fogle dropped him off at the dock in the tiny Outer Hebrides settlement of Leverburgh. Veley eventually was able to sail back to Rockall the following week, but was unable to land.

In May, 2008, Veley tried again, joining "Island Man" Andy Strangeway, seven other passengers, and three crew in Leverburgh onboard the Elinca, skippered by Angus Smith. Conditions were ideal for the voyage out.

Nevertheless, swells at Rockall ranged from 49 to 65 meters, making the approach to the side of the island by dinghy impossible. After waiting all day in vain for the swells to subside, Smith sent out his son with a kayak to investigate. Videographer and erstwhile surf instructor Mark Lumsden accompanied with a surfboard.

Lumsden astonished the group by bodysurfing the swell toward the rock, then grasping the skirt of kelp, and hauling himself up into a crag in the rock face.

Having proven the possibility of landing, he climbed to the top and back down, then returned to the ship and gave Veley his wetsuit to follow.

Veley had to leap into the frigid, swirling seas of the North Atlantic, and rode the swells, always with the possibility of being bashed against the sheer rock face of Rockall, in hopes of clinging to kelp strands.

"It was difficult, but I landed on the rock this way," Veley said.

He said he is very driven and goal-oriented.

"It is difficult for me to stop once I set my mind to accomplishing something."

Close call in Antarctica

A born navigator, he always wants to figure out the best way to get from one spot to another.

He said his biggest challenge is landing on remote islands in harsh conditions with no regular transport, which also costs a lot of money.

On Peter I Island, an uninhabited volcanic island in the Bellingshausen Sea in the Antarctica Peninsula, he was trapped for nearly 24 hours with three Chilean sailors.

The weather closed in, Charles's rescue helicopter pilot refused to land and he returned to the ship.

"The four of us were acting as a helicopter crew, preparing and slinging the gear from a two-week radio expedition."

They cleared 55 out of 60 helicopter sling loads when they were trapped on the island, therefore, they had very few supplies. They created a small shelter out of pallets which they had used for flooring, and they huddled together inside.

One of the Chilean sailors snored very badly, so the rest of us couldn't sleep, Veley said. He added that he joked in Spanish that "it sounded like the helicopter was coming."

His unbelievable and dramatic adventures also included stops in Chechnya and tracking the Susa Group of gorillas in Rwanda.

After several police stops and nearly US$1,000 in forced payments along the way, Veley was held for more than four hours on the Chechen border and interrogated by the KGB. Finally they allowed him to proceed, and some border police escorted him into Chechnya.

In Musanze, Rwanda, he spent the day tracking the Susa gorillas. The Susa group is not only the largest group of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, it is also the most remote.

In order to reach them, Veley and seven much younger people hiked more than two hours uphill, through dense rainforest, at over 3,000 meters in altitude.

The reward was a full hour spent with four silverbacks, and multiple females and children, including two newborn gorillas.

In October, 2005, Veley visited North Korea, where he was among the first group of American tourists to enter the country since 2002.

Another favorite spot was Lord Howe Island, a small island in the Tasman Sea, about 600 kilometers east of Australia's mainland. "The semi-tropical island is so beautiful," he said. "It has tasty meals, wine, friendly Australian people, and the best natural views in the world."

He doesn't plan to stop.

His said the goal is to go "everywhere," referring to every country, territory, major state, enclave, and island group in the world, as voted by members of his website "Most Traveled People."

He yearns to visit the Xisha Islands and he intends to write a book once he reaches them.

Now, he is planning an expedition to "Les Iles Eparses," the Scattered Islands, which are French territory surrounding Madagascar. Only recently were these islands opened to tourists.

Veley has three children and he said he tries to keep a balance between traveling and family.

"If you look at the mileage I've been doing, it's gone down - the percent of time."

It used to be 100 percent, and he was on the road with his wife for four years. When the first baby was born, it went down to about 50 percent, after the second, it dropped to about 25 percent. Now with a third child, it's less.

He does thorough research before embarking on a new journey.

"Planning the trip is half the fun," he said.

He said proudly he had gained a complete world view.

"I am able to see all peoples and all countries in perspective. No matter who I meet, and no matter where they come from, I can share an experience about their homeland. My life has been infinitely enriched through travel."

His suggestion for those who plan to travel extensively was "learn as much as you can about around-the-world air tickets."

"You can fly to more places than you ever dreamed of, for a fraction of the cost of purchasing tickets individually," Veley said.