Meet James Asquith – he had travelled to every country in the world by 24 and now he helps others do the same
The former investment banker became the youngest person to visit all 196 sovereign countries in 2013 and has used his experience to launch a travel app, Holiday Swap
![James Asquith, who is the Official Guinness World Record setter and holder for being the youngest male to visit all 196 sovereign nations in the world,who, in 2013, became the youngest person to visit all sovereign countries in the world, in Central, Hong Kong. 03DEC19 [FEATURES] SCMP / Photo: Roy Issa](https://cdn.i-scmp.com/sites/default/files/styles/1200x800/public/d8/images/methode/2020/01/09/1b4826f2-2e00-11ea-8334-1a17c6a14ef4_image_hires_140412.JPG?itok=YF1KQcx3&v=1578549861)
Making ends meet: I was born in a town called Cuckfield, in Sussex, south of London, in 1988. I have a small but close-knit family. My mum worked as a solicitor’s PA and my dad was a pilot for British Midland, and I’ve got an older sister. My parents put my sister and I through private school, which was the best gift I ever got from them, but because of that they didn’t have much else.
When I was 12, we were struggling to make ends meet and it looked like I might be taken out of school – Haileybury, in Hertfordshire. I went up and down the street washing cars for £5 to £10 and collected £150, which I put in a jar. I gave it to my mum and said, “This will help.” She took the money and set up a bank account in my name.
I had a little bank book and would get it stamped each time money went in or out. I remember thinking then that I never wanted to struggle to make ends meet. At 15, my classmates were adding specifications onto what their first car was going to be. I was around people who materially had more than we did, they were entitled, but I had everything I needed.
Learning the hard way: From the age of 16 I had three jobs – working in a balloon shop, behind a bar and at a cricket ground. My vision was to save money to buy a nice house. Just before I went to university, I set up an events business and made a decent amount of money. I went to the London School of Economics. I started trading shares with the money I’d saved up. The financial crisis hit, I split the money between the three main UK banking stocks – Lloyds, Barclays and RBS. In three weeks, I’d tripled my money. I had no idea what I was doing, but I made a lot of money.
Aged 20, I put a bid on a house for just under £1 million. The guy called me a week later. My shares were down 10 per cent, so I asked him to give me another week. The next day they were down another 10 per cent. I ended up losing almost everything and didn’t buy the house in the end. It taught me a good life lesson.