Luisa Yu, 79, arrives in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 9, 2023. Serbia was her last country to visit, completing all 193 United Nations-recognized countries across the globe, according to the Philippine Global Explorers. Photo from PGE
MANILA, Philippines — This 79-year-old Filipina ain’t your average world traveler. She made her 193rd stop in Serbia this month after decades of globe-trotting with much zeal and adventure.
The Philippine Global Explorers (PGE) said Luisa Yu reached Belgrade – her last place to visit in all of the countries recognized by the United Nations (UN) – on November 9.
According to the PGE, Yu’s global escapades started in the United States when she was 23 years old. In between studies, Yu dedicated time to travel within the US. Later, Yu quit her job as a nurse in Miami – considering it a hindrance to her wanderlust – and opted to invest in properties as a source of livelihood.
“Mama Luisa, or Tita Luisa, is well known in the travel community. She’s not your average traveler,” the PGE said in a statement Wednesday.
Truly so as she went on tandem skydiving over The Palm in Dubai at age 77, visited tribes and experienced their cultures, clinched PGE’s Most Adventurous Explorer award, and bagged the recognition “Most Positive Traveler” by NomadMania in 2022.
The PGE said Yu met travelers who convinced her to make Serbia her last country to visit. And it was the same friends who welcomed and celebrated her accomplishment in Belgrade.
“It was not easy, but she made it,” the traveling community noted.
According to the PGE, Yu is giving this piece of advice to young travelers: “save money and work hard, and to believe that anybody can do it.”
Yu is only one of two Filipinos who managed to visit all UN-recognized countries in the world. The first Filipina to do so was Odette Aquitania Ricasa. She completed the feat in 2022.
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