英语演讲：一个美女如何完成极速环球旅游？

Who in their right mind would travel alone to 196 countries? When someone finds out  I've done something that no other woman on this planet has done, and broken two Guinness World Records, they usually have a few questions for me.

一般正常人会独自到196个国家旅行吗？有些人知道我做的事情是全世界没有任何女人完成过的，而且打破两项金氏世界纪录的时候，通常会想问我一些问题。

They want to know how I pulled it off, what my experience was like, and why I even did it in the first place? Today, I'm excited to share with you how it took me three years to plan and raise money for the 18-month trip, what my experience was like traveling alone as a woman，and I'm going to talk about something I've never talked about publicly before: the real reason why I did this expedition.

他们想知道，我怎么做到的？我的经历如何，以及为什么要做？今天我很兴奋地要和大家分享，我如何在三年内独自旅行的经历，还有我从未公开谈过的我开始这趟探险旅程的真正原因。

So how did I do it? 196 countries sounds easy enough, right? I knew this expedition was going to be a huge endeavour, and the first step was figuring out all the rules for breaking a Guinness World Record.

我怎么做到的？196个国家听起来够简单的，对吧？我知道这趟旅程会非常艰辛。第一步是必须要确认打破金氏世界纪录的所有规定。

There are so many rules, both big and small, like how I was only allowed to take scheduled public transportation to and from each country. I wasn't allowed to drive a car while in the Guinness clock and there were limitations as to how far I could travel in a taxi.

真的很多规定，有大方向的也有繁琐的，像是我只能够搭乘大众交通工具往返不同国家之间

，开车是不被允许的，也限制了能够搭乘计程车的距离。

I also had to prove that I'd been in each country, which is harder than you think. Many countries throughout Europe and Central America don't stamp passports, so I had to find different ways  to document everything. I collected photos, videos, countless tickets, GPS coordinates, signed witness statements, credit card bills, and even phone logs. Next time you go to North Korea, you can forget about bringing your phone.

我还需要证明我到过每个国家，这其实比想像中更困难，很多欧洲及中美洲国家过境时是不在护照上盖章的，所以我必须想尽办法记录一切。我收集了照片、影片、数不清的票、GPS座标，有证人签名的陈述书、信用卡帐单，甚至是通话纪录。你们下次去北韩时，可以不带手机。

They don't stamp passports,  you can't use your credit card, and Kimxxx is not going  to give you an autograph. You can, however, send the pre-approved propaganda postcard.showing a fist crushing the pentagon. And then there was the most challenging rule of all: I wasn't allowed to spend more than 14 days in the country.

他们不在护照上盖章，你不能用信用卡,xxx更不会给你他的亲笔签名。然而，你可以寄一张“合法的”宣传明信片,画着一个拳头击碎了五角大厦,还有一个最具挑战性的规定,我不能在一个国家待超过14天。

This didn't seem like a big deal at first, but I wasn't always able to predict when I'd receive my visas. This rule almost ended my expedition in country number 196:Yemen.

刚开始这看起来不是很难，但我无法预测何时可以取得签证。这个规定几乎让我的旅程终止在第196个国家：叶门。

First, the U.S. Embassy wouldn't let me in due to high terrorist activity in Yemen, and then the Oman authorities wouldn't let me out due to the situation in Yemen. I faced a major risk of being stuck on the mainland of Yemen. But after two attempts of trying to cross the border, I watched in the night as the rusted steel gates pushed back. And I was finally let back into Oman.

先是美国大使馆因为叶门的恐怖攻击事件禁止我入境叶门，阿曼当局也因为叶门的情况不让我出境，我面临被滞留在叶门的风险。我尝试跨越边境两次之后，我在一天夜里看到一扇生锈的大门被推开，我终于回到了阿曼。

But then the challenge came:How do I pay for this expedition? Most people think that I must be rich or that I'm just this young blond American girl, leisurely traveling the world, not having to do a single day of work. But they couldn't be more wrong. I didn't grow up in a family with a lot of money. In fact, I had to put myself through college, and I wasn't able to finish my degree because I couldn't afford it. So I knew that with this expedition I'd have to find creative ways with having to figure out how to fund it.

更大的挑战来了，我怎么负担这趟探险旅程？大部分的人认为我一定很有钱，或认为我只是个年轻的金发美国女孩，悠哉地在世界各地旅行不需要工作，但他们真的错了，我并非在一个富有的家庭长大，事实上，我得努力让自己能上大学，而我因为负担不起，没能完成我的学位，所以我知道我必须透过非常创意的方式，想办法为我的旅程筹措资金。

I spent countless hours developing business plans, finding financial backers, vlogging, filming an educational documentary so that I could pay for it all on my own. Remember the time and effort it took you to plan your last vacation?

我花了数不清个小时，制作商业计划书，寻找资助者、制作影片、拍摄教育纪录片，才能让我支付我全部的旅程还记得你花了多少时间和努力去计划你上一次的假期吗

Now imagine doing it 196 times and all on your own. What I thought would take me  six months to plan actually took me three years.

想像一下要计划196次， 而且全部自己完成，我以为我需要花6个月来计划，结果却花了我3年的时间。

So what was it like? In four words: It was exhilarating, it was exhausting, it was scary, and it was eye-opening. Whether you've been to five countries or 150, you probably have your own personal, unique experience related to each place.

那感觉像是什么呢？用四个形容词来说：非常兴奋的、精疲力竭的，令人害怕的、打开眼界的，不管你是到过5个，或者150个国家，都会拥有关于每个地方的个人独特体验。

We all have our own way of traveling and discovering a culture, and it doesn't matter what you see or where you go; what matters is your own experience while you're there. Some people think that only spending a week or an hour in a country,doesn't allow you enough time to see it but if there is one thing I know to be true, it's that just one brief experience can shape your whole life.

我们都有自己旅行及探索新文化的方式，看见了什么，或者去了什么地方那都不重要，重要的是你在当地有什么样经历，有些人认为在一个国家只待上一周或一个小时，根本不够去体验一个国家，但我真正相信的是，一个短短的经验就可以形塑你的生命。

It was 11 p.m. on a Saturday night when I arrived in Cuba. After traveling 12 miles in a taxi, I realized I only had 20 dollars cash on me. Cuba didn't accept U.S. debit or credit cards, so when I got to the hotel, I was unable to pay the hotel or the taxi driver.

我在一个星期六晚上11点抵达古巴，在搭乘计程车12英里之后，我发现我身上只剩下20美元的现金，在古巴不能使用美国的金融卡或信用卡，所以当我进到旅馆后，我付不起旅馆或者计程车的费用。

I was so ashamed of the mistake that I'd made. I rarely cry, but that night I just sat on the side of the road and completely broke down. The taxi driver came over to me and said something like, "Yo tengo tres hijas. Yo entiendo. Ven."

我对于这个错误感到非常丢脸，我很少哭，但那个晚上我却坐在路边崩溃地大哭，计程车司机走过来，对我说"Yo tengo tres hijas. Yo entiendo. Ven."

And with my broken Spanish, I understood that to be something like:"I have three daughters. I'd hate for them to be in your position. You can come stay with my family for the night." At first I refused, but then sheepishly agreed. I didn't know what his wife would think of him bringing home a young, blond American girl at midnight.

以我破烂的西语能力，我理解的像是：我有三个女儿，如果她们遇到跟你一样的情况，我会非常难过，今晚来我家跟我家人们一起过夜吧，一开始我想拒绝后来我还是不好意思地答应了，我不知道他太太会怎么看他，半夜带了个年轻、金发的美国女孩回家。

But when we arrived to their little concrete home, she greeted me with a kiss on the cheek and made the bed for me. It wasn't until the next morning when I saw her sleeping on a one-inch thick foam pad on the kitchen floor with a floral sheet draped over her. She had given me her own bed to sleep in.

当我们抵达他们小小的混凝土屋子，她亲吻我的脸颊跟我打招呼并且帮我铺好床，我直到隔天早上才看到，她睡在一张铺在厨房地板上厚1英寸的泡棉垫上，盖着一件花卉图案的薄被，她把自己的床让给我睡。

I had experiences  like this over 196 times. I had just a taste of what every country in the world is like, which for most people is unimaginable. I know that non-muslim women can enter Saudi Arabia alone and without covering their heads. I know that you can swim with whales in Tonga, and that you can cross the Drake Passage to Antartica in 60-mph winds and 30-foot waves only to find tranquility and penguins on the other side.

我有超过196次以上 类似这样的经验，关于这世界上其他的国家我仅仅知道了一点点，却是大部分人们难以想像的，我知道非穆斯林的女人可以单独进入沙乌地阿拉伯，而且不需要面罩与头巾。在东加王国，你可以跟鲸鱼一起游泳，还有在时速60英里的狂风 及30英尺高的海浪下，跨越德瑞克海峡到南极大陆之后，发现另一端只有宁静的氛围和企鹅。

These experiences will forever shape my view of the world. But while this expedition was exhilarating, it was also quite exhausting.

这些经验将会永远改变我对世界的看法，虽然这些探险令人感到兴奋，但同时也是非常累人的。

I spoke to over 16,000 students on countless issues. I collected water samples and planted trees to offset my carbon footprint. I met with mayors and ministers and filmed an educational documentary.

我对超过16,000个学生 演讲过无数个议题。我收集了许多水的样本和种树，来弥补我所制造的碳足迹，我见了许多市长及部长拍摄了教育性质的纪录片。

And I used social media as a means to showcase the beauty of countries around the world,and encourage others to travel in ways that they never had before.

我透过社群媒体充分展示世界各国的美，以及鼓励大家用从未想过的方式来旅行。

But what you don't see on Instagram is the constant exhaustion of working 15-hour days or the raw fear that I felt. I was a woman traveling alone. And many countries that I traveled to were either inaccessible or dangerous or both.

但是大家在Instagram上看不到的是，连续好几天工作15小时的辛苦，以及我所感受到真实的恐惧，我是一个单独旅行的女人，很多我要去的国家不是难以抵达就是很危险或者两种都是。

Imagine arriving to border control at 2:00 in the morning in Mogadishu, Somalia, and then getting into an armed vehicle surrounded by pick-up trucks filled with men with machine guns.

想像在凌晨两点抵达索马利亚首都，摩加迪休的边境管制，坐上一部有武装的车这辆车被许多卡车包围着,车上则坐满持着枪械的男人.

Then imagine passing through four security gates just to get to the compound,and then them showing you to your room and then nonchalantly pointing out the safe room where you go in case you hear an explosion. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to tell my family if I'd be coimg home or when, and we all knew that it was a possibility that I wouldn't make it back safely.

接着想像我们要通过4个安全大门,才能抵达内部的建筑物区,他们带我到我的房间,然后若无其事的指出安全房的位置,如果听到爆炸声，可以到房里躲避,我不确定我是否能够告诉我的家人,我能不能回家，或何时回家,我们都知道有可能我没办法安全地回家。

But I wouldn't trade these experiences for the world. They were hard and scary, yes. But I discovered the goodness in people all around the world. Because of my expedition, I've been featured in tons of news channels around the world, and hundreds of thousands of newspapers, magazines and articles.

即使用全世界来跟我交换这些经验，我也不肯，它们的确艰辛而且令人害怕，我却在各地人们的身上，发现了善意，因为我的探险，世界各地有无数的媒体、报章杂志及文章报导了我。

And when I only have 30 seconds to answer the "Why?" question, this is what I tell them:I saw the opportunity to make history by breaking a speed record. I wanted to break down misconceptions about women, and as a triathlete, I wanted to test my physical and mental endurance while also experiencing as much of the world as possible. I wanted to inspire others and enhance the world we live in, and leave a positive legacy behind.

只用30秒来回答 “为什么”这个问题时，我这样回答：我看到可以打破纪录创造历史的机会，我想要破除那些对女人的误解。身为铁人三项运动员我也想测试我身体及心理的耐力，并且尽可能地体验更多的世界，我想要激励更多的人们让世界变得更好，留下一个正面的精神遗产。

未完待续·······