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Johnny Ward (travel blogger)

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Johnny Ward
Ward visiting elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2019
Born1983 (age 41–42)
Galway, Ireland
NationalityNorthern Ireland
CitizenshipIrish, British
Occupations
Websiteonestep4ward.com

Johnny Ward (born 1983)[1] is a Northern Irish entrepreneur, adventurer, philanthropist and travel blogger[2][3][4] known for visiting every country in the world.[5][6][7][8]

Early life and education

Ward was born in Galway, Ireland in 1983 to a single mother named Maura.[9][1] His family moved to Kilkeel, Northern Ireland soon after, and Ward largely grew up there.[10][2] His family often subsisted on welfare during his childhood.[11] Ward studied international economics at university in England, graduating in 2006.[10][12]

Travel and career

After graduating from university in 2006, Ward began to travel. He initially flew to New York City[10] and worked as a summer camp counselor in the United States for a brief period.[6][5] He returned to Ireland and took part in a medical research experiment to earn more money to travel.[5] He then travelled to Thailand where he taught English for a year before moving to Sydney, where he worked as a telephone sales representative.[2]

Dissatisfied with office work, Ward left his job and sought to make a living from travelling full-time. In 2010, Ward started a blog named "OneStep4Ward" to document his travels.[13] By the end of that year, he was reportedly earning an average of $40,000 per month,[11] working around 10 hours per week from his laptop to manage his staff and run a portfolio of websites.[14] During this period, Ward based himself in Bangkok, Thailand, and also began investing in property.[3][14]

By August 2012, Ward had visited over 80 countries,[14] and over 100 countries by the end of that year.[15] In 2014, Ward was a founding member of the Professional Travel Bloggers Association,[16] and on several occasions in that period, sources have identified OneStep4Ward as a top travel blog.[13] By 2015, he had earned a total of around $1 million and had visited 152 countries.[12] Over the course of his travels, Ward "broke an ankle in Korea, his leg in Thailand, [and] had been in hospital about 20 times".[17] Ward has recounted entering several countries through questionable or illegal means; it was reported that he "entered China illegally after a five-day trip up the Mekong River while stowed away in a cargo boat",[3] that he was arrested after paying a smuggler to take him from Liberia to Ivory Coast during the Ebola epidemic,[7][10] and that he was able to enter Yemen during an ongoing civil war by meeting a dignitary who "bribed Yemeni officials and I ended up hitching there on a cement cargo ship".[5] Shortly after arriving in Angola, Ward witnessed a person being shot only a few metres away from his taxi cab, which quickly left the scene.[2][10]

In 2017, Ward visited his 197th and final nation, Norway, chosen because its proximity to Ireland made it convenient for friends and family to join him for the occasion.[5][6][18]

Adventurer

Ward has since declared his intention to be the first person[19] to visit every country, plus visit the North Pole, South Pole, and climb all of the Seven Summits. He has since finished 8th in the North Pole Marathon,[20] and summited Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, Australasia's highest peak, Puncak Jaya, South America's highest peak, Aconcagua, North America's highest peak, Denali, and Europe's highest peak, Mount Elbrus. Alongside this, Ward has also completed multiple long-distance ultra-marathons ranging from 100 km to 260 km,[21] and competed in the Marathon des Sables in 2019.[22]

Ward rowed across the Atlantic Ocean in March, April, and May 2021.[23]

Blog

Ward started his travel blog, OneStep4Ward.com, in 2010 whilst living in Australia, and soon began making a full-time income blogging. His blog is often listed as Ireland's leading blog,[24] and one of the world's leading travel blogs.[25][26]

Ward was nominated for the 11th Shorty Awards,[27] the 'Oscars for Social Media'[28] for 'Best in Travel'

Awards and nominations

Year Award Show Category Nominee Result
2019 Shorty Awards Best In Travel Himself Nominated[29]

Philanthropy

Ward co-founded the non-profit Mudita Adventures (formally the Giveback GiveAway) in 2015[30][31] with a view to 'Change Travel. For Good.' Since then, Mudita Adventures has built schools, dormitories, playgrounds and clinics for developing communities in 10 countries, donating over $200,000USD.[32][33][34]

In 2019, Ward helped his mother, who had previously been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, raise £14,444 to climb Mount Fuji in Japan, with the funds going towards the Cure Parkinson's Trust.[9]

In Quarter one of 2021, Ward rowed across the Atlantic Ocean, spending 51 days on a rowboat on a meat-free expedition. Raising over $20,000 for men's mental health and animal rights.[35]

In November 2021, Ward took a group of people, including his mother once more, to partake in the Serengeti Marathon in Tanzania, raising $16,000 (£14,000) for the Michael J. Fox Foundation to help find a cure for Parkinson's Disease.[36]

References

  1. ^ a b "Blogging Brought Me Here" (PDF). OneStep4Ward.com. 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d Durston, James (30 June 2016). "How travel blogger Johnny Ward became a millionaire on the go". CNN. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017. {{cite news}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; 1 July 2016 suggested (help)
  3. ^ a b c Elejalde-Ruiz, Alexia (30 April 2013). "The vagabonds: No home, just travel". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  4. ^ Street, Francesca (27 June 2017). "World's top 10 travel influencers, according to Forbes". CNN.
  5. ^ a b c d e Meltzer, Hannah (16 March 2017). "From Ireland to Yemen and South Sudan: Meet the Man Who's Just Visited All 197 Countries in the World". The Independent. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  6. ^ a b c Meltzer, Hannah (29 March 2017). "This man has visited every country on Earth and made $1m – and you can do it too". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  7. ^ a b Rizzo, Cailey (29 March 2017). "How One Man Became a Millionaire While Visiting Every Country in the World". Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  8. ^ Lakritz, Talia (31 March 2017). "This 33-year-old traveled to every country in the world and made $1.5 million doing it". Business Insider. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Irish mother, 70, travels the world and climbs Mt Fuji after Parkinson's diagnosis". Irish Central News. 4 November 2019.
  10. ^ a b c d e Flanagan, Eimear (17 March 2017). "Irishman Johnny Ward visits 'every country in the world'". BBC. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  11. ^ a b Elkins, Kathleen (27 January 2017). "How one 33-year-old went from welfare to making over $1 million traveling the world". CNBC. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  12. ^ a b Schneider, Kate (10 August 2015). "I became a millionaire while travelling". News.com.au. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  13. ^ a b "Top 100 Travel Blogs". Nomadic Samuel. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  14. ^ a b c Doherty, Niall (8 August 2012). "Wish you were here?". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  15. ^ A, Chanel (31 January 2012). "Travel Blogger Interview with Johnny Ward". Cultural Xplorer. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  16. ^ "Founding Members". Travel Blogger's Association. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  17. ^ O'Shea, Cormac (18 March 2017). "Irish travel blogger completes worldwide travels – just before St Patrick's Day". Daily Mirror.
  18. ^ Ruggiero, Nina (4 July 2017). "How to quit your job and travel the world, according to people who have done it". CNBC.
  19. ^ Jon, Johnny (2018). "Goal Diggers. What's your Everest?". One Step 4Ward. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  20. ^ "2018 North Pole Marathon Results". North Pole Marathon. 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  21. ^ "Johnny Ward: First Irish Who Successfully Traveled the World". 8 November 2021.
  22. ^ Boyd, Barbara (28 August 2018). "I hate sand and don't like running says Mourne man bound for Sahara Marathon!". Tyrone Courier. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  23. ^ "Kilkeel native Johnny Ward makes epic row across Atlantic Ocean for charity". belfasttelegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  24. ^ "The 10 Most Popular Travel Bloggers from Ireland". 19 April 2017.
  25. ^ https://everything-everywhere.com/best-travel-blogs/
  26. ^ "On the Blog with...Johnny Ward". RTÉ.ie. 7 November 2016.
  27. ^ "@onestep4ward - the Shorty Awards".
  28. ^ "How the Shorty Awards Became the Oscars of Social Media". 20 July 2010.
  29. ^ "Johnny Ward was nominated for a Shorty Award". Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  30. ^ "Help the World's Poorest Villages throughTCD". Global Hope Network International. 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  31. ^ "'I was literally on the breadline' - Irish blogger (33) makes over €1m after creating online travel journal to fund his wanderlust". independent. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  32. ^ Brooks, Anna (26 February 2017). "Calgary traveller bringing lucky donor to launch community development project in Thailand". Calgary Herald. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  33. ^ Elkins, Kathleen (27 January 2017). "How one 33-year-old went from welfare to making over $1 million traveling the world". CNBC. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  34. ^ McConville, Mark (17 January 2018). "If I can do it, anyone can' - Meet the Co. Down man who became a millionaire by visiting every country in the world". Independent. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
  35. ^ "Atlantic row 'the hardest thing I've ever done'". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  36. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: My 72 year mum, with Parkinson's Disease, attempting the Serengeti Marathon (10km). YouTube.
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