This Man’s been Nearly Everywhere

John Clouse has the thickest, most dog-eared (= затертый, потрепанный) passport in the world. Turn to the page 16 of the 1996 Guiness Book of World Records and you’ll find the reason.

He has held the record for traveling to all 192 of the globe’s sovereign [ʹsɔvrɪn] countries, and to all but 6 of non-sovereign or other territories that existed in early 1996.

Clouse, who has spent about $ 1.25 million roaming from A to Z in the past 40 years, says he does travel for love of it, not to outrun anybody else who may be keeping a list. He is now down to just three remote (= удаленный) islands to visit.

Clouse has continued his journey since making the Record Book, and has not only visited every country in the world, but some – two or three times. Now he is focusing on remaining three islands.

“Yeah. I’m trying to finagle [fɪʹneɪgl] (= умудриться проделать) my way to three places: the Paracel Islands, owned by China in the South Sea”, he says. “And on two occasions the weather has kept me away from reaching Bouvet, an island in Norwegian Antarctica. Number 3 is Clipperton, a French island about 700 miles west of Acapulco.”

Clouse says he loves East Africa. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world, he says. In Kenya and Tanzania the weather is gorgeous ['gɔ:ʤəs] (= прекрасный) almost every day, and Lake Nyasa must be what the garden of Eden (= рай) looked like.

After all his traveling he says, “I don’t believe there are evil (= злой) empires and evil people. Yes, there are some bad leaders in the world, but people as individuals have taught me that they are basically alike”.

“You can be in some terrible place and someone will extend hospitality (= гостеприимство) to you”.

Clouse travels light, with a small suitcase, and seldom goes first class. His complete collection of “National Geographic” magazines is his main source for research.

Clouse began his travelling adventures just after the World War II when (= жестокое, сильное) severe frostbite (= обморожение) in the war sent him to England for recovery, then to Paris and other parts of Europe.

“And when I got out of Law school and was making a little money, I started to travel”. Years ago he stopped taking photos and now keeps a journal of his travel.

He has crossed the Atlantic Ocean at least 100 times, and the Pacific Ocean 40 or 50 times. His 18-year-old son Chauncey had visited over 100 countries by the time he was 5 years old. But for now, it is not “like father like son”.

“We do live about 7 miles across the river from Kentucky”, says Clouse. “My son would not go those 7 miles. He’d say, “Sorry, Dad, I’ve got something else to do”.

Clouse concludes that the right attitude is synonymous with the lightness of his suitcase. “I travel without a lot of mental baggage” he says. “Try not to go with preconceived notions (= предвзятое мнение) that the place will be dirty or hostile (=неблагоприятный, враждебный) and if it is, go with the flow and make the best of it. Learn a few words like "please" and "thank you" he suggests. "That really please people".

(David Holmstrom, This Man’s been Nearly Everywhere. Christian Science Monitor, March 10, 1998.)

Ex. 24. Check up yourself how much you have understood from the text.

1. Say how many countries John Clouse have visited.

2. Name the countries he loves best.

3. Say how much time he has been travelling.

4. Say what words Clouse considers to be important while traveling.

5. Explain why he started traveling.

6. Say what way he travels.

7. Name the places he has not visited yet.

Ex. 25. Say if the sentences are true or false according to the text. Correct them if they are false.

1. John Clouse has come into the 1996 Guinness Book of World Records.

2. He has visited all the countries in the world.

3. Clouse has been traveling for the past 40 years.

4. He travels to be the best traveler among all.

5. He has not only visited every country in the world but two or three times each.

6. Clouse thinks that Africa is the most beautiful place in the world.

7. Clouse says that people all over the world are basically alike.

8. Clouse prefers traveling comfortably, usually goes first class.

9. He is fond of taking photos and keeping a journal while traveling.

10. Clouse began his traveling during the World War II fighting for Paris and other parts of Europe.

11. He was quite safe in the war and didn’t need any medical help.

12. He always travels with his son, who has already visited 100 countries.

13. Clouse has a lot of advice for travelers; the most important of thit is to travel without preconceived notions and with a number of polite words from a native language.

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