INTERVIEWER: How many frequent flier miles do you have?
LEXIE LIMITLESS: Oh gosh, a lot!
That's been, uh, definitely one of the secrets to
my success maybe--I haven't checked it in a while--maybe like half a million or something?
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INT: Hey Lexi! LL: Oh hey!
What are you doing here?
INT: I heard you were in town. So I wanted to ask you 21 questions
Oh, well, I am packing for my next trip right now.
So if you don't mind if I'm doing that...
INT: No problem. LL: All right, come on in!
INT: So what exactly do you do for a living?
I am a travel photographer and videographer.
INT: I heard you have some sort of world record. What is it?
LL: [chuckles] Yeah, well my main project for the past three years
has been to break the Guinness world record for the youngest person to travel to every country.
INT: Where were you last and where we going next?
My last trip was to Hawaii, and my next trip is to go backpacking in Nicaragua.
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INT: What's your go-to camera and lens?
Uh... for the past few years
I've been shooting on a FUJIFILM X-T2 with an 18 to 55 mm.
And I recently switched to the Sony a7r III with a 16 to 35, 2.8
because it's definitely a lot better for video over the Fuji.
INT: What's one thing you need to have on you at all times when you travel?
Definitely a camera. Other than that, I'm pretty much like a minimalist.
I rarely take any bags that are larger than just a carry-on so...
What you see here is usually, usually about it. My, uh, my bags are usually like
50 percent camera gear, 50 percent clothes.
INT: What was your first job?
I started working on my dad's construction sites when I was I think 12,
and then I started training to become a travel agent at my mom's travel agency when I turned 15.
So that's what, that's what really got me started working with travel.
INT: What was the first country you visited?
LL: I can't really remember exactly. What country I visited first
because I started traveling when I was really young with my family because of the the travel agency.
If I had to guess, I think my earliest memories are
from traveling to Ireland. I was maybe three or four years old at the time.
INT: What made you decide to pursue the world record?
LL: I graduated early from high school and got a degree by the time I turned 18 and
I had been saving for years to take a gap year to travel.
And two months into that gap year, I realized that I had been to around 70 countries by 18,
And that's when it dawned on me that I could potentially break the Guinness world record.
Ever since I had that thought I knew I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn't try
INT: Why do you think it's important to document in your travels on social media?
Well, I started documenting my travels mainly for myself,
so I could remember everything that happened along the way, and then through sharing those experiences
online I was getting so many messages especially from young women
telling me that seeing me doing these things on my own was inspiring them to
get out of their comfort zone and that's when I realized that the work that I was doing could have
some deeper meaning in that way.
INT: How much longer do you think you'll keep up this travel?
I don't think I'm ever gonna stop traveling.
I... technically broke this record a few months ago and ever since then I continue to travel.
I think that you could find...
You could travel to a new place every day for the rest of your life and never run out of places to see.
INT: Do you have upcoming projects?
I am currently in the process of developing a travel course
about teaching people about how to, how to travel from the ground up.
So everything from how to budget your trips, how to book cheap flights and accommodation, all the way to
how to get really complicated visas and plan 30 country trips.
INT: What's your favorite part of your work?
I would say my favorite part is capturing different
different people's ways of life, different cultures, foods,
landscapes, that's the part that that makes me the most excited.
INT: What's your least favorite part of your work?
Ah, probably the jet lag.
I, uh, I'm someone that needs a lot of sleep and not being able to sleep while in
transit and on planes and in cars and everything, I get pretty tired on the road.
INT: What was the most challenging location to get to?
Hm... Probably,
Yemen was the most difficult just because getting a visa
for the mainland of Yemen was really complicated.
I ended up going there as a photographer on an assignment for a
Norwegian author who wrote a book about the least visited countries in the world and Yemen turned out to be the number one.
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INT: Let's switch it up a little bit: what are a couple tips for solo female travelers?
I think that the two most important rules for solo female travel is to
1. not explore after the sun goes down. So don't go into any
dark alleys, use common sense in that way, and also not to drink or do drugs
while you're traveling because it's so important to remain in control of your surroundings.
INT: What's the best meal you had while traveling?
That's a hard question because so many different places surprised me,
but I think the winner was definitely sushi in Japan.
I'm a sucker for Japanese food.
INT: Do you have a role model?
I would say that my role model is my mom. She has always been a really fierce businesswoman
She was an entrepreneur.
Started her own started her own travel agency, and growing up with a
really strong female role model like that I think had a lot to do with the way that that I turned out.
INT: If you could only use one to document your life, photo or video?
Definitely video I documented a lot of my travels with
photo and I honestly kind of regret it because
video has a way of completely immersing its audience into the
situation that you were in, and you can really tell a more powerful story with video.
So I would definitely recommend if you're a traveler to, to film
everything, especially yourself and the people that are with you.
INT: What's the best piece of advice you have received
Not to take advice from anyone that you wouldn't want to be like
INT: How many frequent flier miles do you have?
Oh gosh, a lot.
That's been, uh, definitely one of the secrets to
my success. Maybe--I haven't checked it in a while--maybe like half a million or something?
INT: Who should we interview next?
Mmm, maybe Thomas Brag from Yes Theory?
I actually really need to get going for my flight now. I'm gonna have to kick you out.
INT: Alright, it's alright! Have a good flight. LL: Yeah. Thank you
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