‘I’ll always remember Hong Kong’: traveller stuck 103 weeks on round-the-world odyssey without flying at last secures passage on a ship out

When Dane ‘Thor’ Pedersen arrived in Hong Kong in 2020 on his no-fly round-the-world trip to see every country, he expected to sail on. But Covid-19 intervened

This week he finally sailed away to Palau in the Pacific, hoping to reach Australasia and feeling he knows Hong Kong better than his native Copenhagen

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Torbjorn “Thor” Pedersen about to embark on container ship Kota Ratna bound for Palau after nearly two years stuck in Hong Kong on his round-the-world journey to every country without flying. Photo: courtesy Torbjorn Pedersen

Published: 6:50pm, 6 Jan 2022Updated: 9:22am, 7 Jan 2022

One year, 11 months, three weeks and a few hours – give-or-take – after Torbjorn “Thor” Pedersen first landed in Hong Kong on his plane-free, round-the-world odyssey, he has finally managed to secure a passage on a ship to the Pacific island of Palau.

The 43-year-old Dane set out on his quest to visit every country in the world without flying in October 2013, but was stranded in Hong Kong when Covid-19 struck, throwing global travel patterns, and his own plans, into complete disarray.

“I never expected to stay here for more than a couple of weeks, and I have never in all my life spent so long in a single place,” said Thor on January 5 as he surveyed the Kwai Chung docks from the bridge of the 9,400-tonne container ship Kota Ratna moments before setting sail.

“That said, I now feel I know Hong Kong better than my native Copenhagen, and I will take away a host of happy memories.”