About GlobalGaz

Hi, I am Ric Gazarian aka GlobalGaz. I am on a quest to travel to all 193 UN countries and I plan to share with my readers; must-see places, unique experiences, and off-the-beaten path locations.

There are so many great travel content creators sharing advice on traveling to amazing places all around the world. But my goal is to help travelers visit locations that are less visited with less actionable information. I will share with you my travels to countries like Afghanistan, Algeria, Mauritania, or Pakistan. Or places, that people love to debate if they are even a country like the Principality of Sealand, Transnistria, or Abkhazia.

I have traveled to over 180 countries, let me share my best advice with you

My Travel Resources

My Travel Gear

193 Incredible Travel Books

From Proletariat to Traveler

Travel has always been part of my life since I was a kid. I was lucky, my parents brought me to the Caribbean and even to Hong Kong when I was in junior high school. But it was always sporadic and always as a sidecar to life’s other responsibilities, like school or my job.

In 2003, I traveled to Armenia, my ethnic homeland, with my father. And this trip made an impact on me. As fate would have it, several months later, I lost my job of five years. Yet, I did not despair, but instead I planned my first real overseas trip which lasted nine months with a three month stop, volunteering in Armenia. This trip changed my life. I realized there was more to life than just working.

Then I went back to work because that is all I knew. That is how the world worked. And then the financial crisis struck and decimated the economy in 2008. I lost my job in the financial services sector. In 2009, I started the year on the road which ended up being an 11-month trip, including my 7^th continent, Antarctica. This was an epic adventure.

And that was the year I started counting countries. I thought maybe it was possible to visit all 193 countries in the world as I plotted a course around the globe, picking off new countries. During my journey in 2009, I traveled to 22 countries with 17 of them being new. This opened new doors for me, since it resulted in exploring new countries that I would not have visited without the idea of completing this quest. I traveled to countries like Syria and Yemen.

When I returned home after this adventure, I knew I never wanted to return to corporate life. I needed independence and flexibility. I began investing in real estate after the crash, and slowly built a business which has provided financial freedom.

And then I decided to start GlobalGaz, my travel blog. I wanted to share my travel experiences with other fellow travelers. But so many bloggers seemed to be writing the same posts on the same places. I needed to carve a separate path.

Since then I have traveled to over 180 countries. I have seen and experienced so much. It sounds hackneyed, but it’s true. More than I could have ever imagined.

GlobalGaz has been recognized in the media many times for providing value-added travel information

What You’ll Learn Here

If you want to learn about getting off the beaten path and learning about more challenging locations, you are in the right place. This website will share must-see places, unique experiences, and off the beaten path locations.

On this website you’ll find:

Sample agendas
Guide recommendations
Festivals and unique experiences
Cost breakdowns
Advice on visas, transportation, currencies, etc.

You won’t find posts on Amsterdam or Paris here, but guides on Burkina Faso and Democratic Republic of Congo.