This man visited every country in the world, made $1 million and bought a home in London

Irishman Johnny Ward has the rare privilege to boast that he has seen every country in the world. In a span of 10 years, he travelled to 197 nations - a trip that ended finally in Norway earlier this month where he celebrated his achievement with his girlfriend and family.

Aside from that, Ward also managed to make a decent $1.5 million as advertising revenue from his blog, OneStep4Ward,  that chronicles his travels across the globe.

Here's Johnny Ward with his girlfriend on a recent trip to Thailand:

(Source: onestep4ward)

So how did he get the money to travel the world?

Ward says 'he is not that example of a rich white guy travelling the globe on daddy’s credit card'.

He had a tough past and had to overcome his share of challenges to reach here. He was raised by a single mother in Galway, Ireland and later in County Down, Northern Ireland. His family often struggled for money during those times.

When Ward first started blogging, he was completely broke. He financed his travels by teaching English in Asia before it struck upon him to start a travel blog. There were times when he had to blog while actively travelling not knowing whether it would pay off.

After a lot of hard work, his blog expanded into a media brand that had more than 100 separate websites.

The money helped him buy a property in London and Bangkok and as per his blog, he will probably never need to work an office job again.

Later, he started outsourcing a lot of work.

His blog is not only about chronicling his travels, a big part of it is about inspiring other people to take up travel blogging as well.

In an interview to The Telegraph, Johnny revealed that the main motivator for his travels was ‘freedom’, and travelling is a symptom of it.

Not all rosy

Travelling is also difficult at times. It is safe to say that Ward knows this better than any of us.

During his experience of 'visiting every country on the planet', he encountered corrupt border agents, travelling through war zones and spending nights in police custody and hospital beds.

In Angola, he even saw a man being shot in front of him and heard bombs in Mogadishu, Somalia.

Ward also made sure he spent several days, and sometimes a few weeks, in each destination.

“I tried to create a life where I could make the choices I wanted, not based on some grey middle manager who approves holiday leave, and not based on financial restraints,” Johnny told The Telegraph in the report.

As for what’s going to happen in the future, however, he needs to ensure that he will “work” the way he does- as it is also needed to finance his travels.

“Remember you're never ready, you'll never have enough money, and you'll never be brave enough, yet here you are and you're good to go,” Ward told advises those who are willing to plan the trip of a lifetime.