The youngest person to travel to every country, a 29-year-old banker, is giving away all of his air miles on Instagram

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The youngest person to travel to every country, a 29-year-old banker, is giving away all of his air miles on Instagram

James Asquith

James Asquith

James Asquith.

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  • James Asquith became the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries by the age of 24.
  • Now 29, he's giving away all of his air miles - or Avios points - on Instagram
  • He said he simply wants to inspire people to travel more - and to check out his new app, Holiday Swap.


The London banker who became the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries by the age of 24 is now giving away all of his air miles on Instagram - but he won't reveal how many he has.

29-year-old James Asquith, founder of the Holiday Swap app, announced the competition in an Instagram post earlier this week.

In order to enter, Instagram users have to follow Asquith and Holiday Swap on Instagram, then comment with how many miles they think they would win - and who they'd like to take with them on their travels.

He told Business Insider that he's doing it because he wants to inspire people to travel more - just like he did.

"It's amazing hearing people being inspired by travel and it's when I am personally happiest, either that time alone or with friends and family closest to you, so I wanted to do something to not only give back, but to inspire and get people thinking how they too could fly somewhere and experience new cultures."

It's also an opportunity to promote Holiday Swap, which he said has seen "huge growth" since its launch, partnered with Google, and is now in 100 countries.

The app uses a swipe function like Tinder with the aim of getting people to swap homes with other people when they travel.

To up your chances of winning the miles, you can comment up to five times, with each counted as a new entry - and the closest guess will win.

"I've had a lot of people writing to me with really inspiring stories as to why they would like to win the miles and what they would do with them," Asquith said.

"Everything from people taking their first ever flight, to visiting long-lost relatives the other side of the world, which is very touching and exactly why I wanted to run this competition, to inspire just that."

He added that he'll have the chance to build up his air miles in the future, and will likely run the competition again at some point.

In terms of guessing how many points he has, his post offered a few clues.

"There is enough to fly around the world more than 3 times if you use them wisely or treat yourself to a bunch of First Class flights," he wrote, adding that he uses Avios.

The competition will run for eight weeks, with Asquith set to announce the winner on September 23.

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