Drew Goldberg (born May 24, 1991), otherwise known by his online alias, Drew Binsky, is an American travel blogger and vlogger who has visited every country in the world. Binsky documents his travels on his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

channel and other social media accounts. He holds the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the fastest time to pack a suitcase. Until 2021, he also held the record for the Most (12)

UNESCO World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

visits in 24 hours, a record now set at 23. On October 29, 2021, Binsky visited

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

, completing his feat of visiting every

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

recognized country on Earth. As of 2021, his videos have received more than 4 billion views across his social media channels with more than 9 million followers.

Early life and education

Binsky was born Drew Goldberg in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and grew up in

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. "Binsky" was a nickname given to him by his family, of Jewish German origin. His first ever trip overseas was to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 2009. He attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

, graduating in 2013 with degrees in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

and

entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

. During his third year in university, he entered into a

study abroad International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internat ...

program in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. He studied there for 1 semester, and traveled to more than 20 countries across

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

, at which time he decided he would make a living out of traveling.

Career

After college, Binsky took a job teaching English in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the Capital city, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the North Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He spent 18 months there, and traveled to 20 countries in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

during that time. He quit his teaching job in January 2015 and began focusing on traveling full-time after that. By October 2015, he had visited a total of 73 countries. He also started a blog called "The Hungry Partier" (later renamed "Drew Binsky") and began documenting his travels on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

and

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before th ...

. In 2017, his girlfriend, Deanna Sallao, bought him a camera, which prompted him to create and begin posting videos on his

YouTube channel YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

(also called "Drew Binsky"). In May 2017, he uploaded a video of an organized trip to

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

on his YouTube and

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin ...

channels. The video accumulated over 10 million views. Binsky also began earning money from YouTube and Facebook advertising revenue and sponsored partnerships with various brands. He has over 4 million followers on social media and holds two

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

: visiting the most

UNESCO Heritage sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in a 24-hour period and for quickest suitcase packing. In 2018, he began working from

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populatio ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. In 2019, Binsky met Zablon Simintov, who was thought to be the only remaining

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

still living in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

at the time, and featured him in a video that accumulated over 1 million views. In 2020, Binsky announced an upcoming documentary on his travels called ''Border 197''. He is the

holder for the Most UNESCO World Heritage Sites visited in 24 hours and for the fastest time to pack a suitcase (35.59 seconds). Binsky's goal was to travel to all 197 countries recognized by the

in the world by the end of 2021. He completed his goal on October 29, 2021 by visiting

. As of 2021, he has more than 9 million followers on social media with more than 4 billion views of his videos. Just Go is Binsky's merchandise brand.

Personal life

Binsky became engaged to Deanna Sallao in May 2021. After graduating college, he had aspirations of becoming a professional golfer. As part of his travels, he plays and reviews golf courses around the world. As of 2020, he resided in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

. In 2023, he married his fiancée Deanna Sallao in

Balesin Island Balesin Island is a tropical island and barangay off the eastern coast of Luzon in the Philippines. It is located in Lamon Bay and is administered as part of the municipality of Polillo of Quezon province. Geography Balesin Island is situated w ...

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...

References

External links

*
Border 197 official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Binsky, Drew 1991 births American bloggers 20th-century American Jews American male bloggers American people of German-Jewish descent Guinness World Records Jewish bloggers Living people People from Dallas People from Scottsdale, Arizona University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American video bloggers YouTube travel vloggers YouTubers from Texas 21st-century American Jews