A well-known world traveler and one of the first three men on record to traverse the entire 4,200-mile length of the Nile River. Goddard would make a movie of the trip to be shown on a lecture tour as well as on television adventure programs. He has also published a book recounting the expedition: “Kayaks Down the Nile.”

He led the first expedition in history to explore the entire length of the world’s longest river, the 4,200-mile Nile River, which the Los Angeles Times called “the most remarkable adventure of this generation,” matched later by his becoming the first man to explore the entire length of Africa’s 2,700-mile Congo River. In recent years he has climbed lofty peaks in Africa, South America and Asia, including 22,000-foot Huascaran, highest mountain in the Peruvian Andes, and 19,000-foot Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

The subject of numerous articles in magazines such as National Geographic, Life, and Readers Digest, John Goddard has been a guest on over 200 television shows, including “This Is Your Life,” and NBC’s DATELINE on April 7, 1998. His original list of 127 goals was featured in the best-selling book “Chicken Soup for the Soul” (more than 7,000,000 copies sold).

Perhaps Goddard’s story can inspire us with its fresh perspective, curiosity and zest for life. If we all follow our dreams, no matter how impossible they seem, we may be amazed at what we can accomplish.

His official website can be found at: www.johngoddard.info

“If you really know what you want out of life, it’s amazing how opportunities will come to enable you to carry them out.”
–John M. Goddard

Below is John Goddard’s List from when he was 15, marking off his accomplishments to date:

Explore:

1. x Nile River
2. x Amazon River
3. x Congo River
4. x Colorado River
5. Yangtse River, Chine
6. Niger River
7. Orinoco River, Venezuela
8. x Rio Coco, NicaraguaStudy Primitive Cultures in:
   
9. The Congo
10. x New Guinea
11. x Brazil
12. x Borneo
13. x The Sudan (John was nearly buried alive in a sandstorm.)
14. x Australia
15. x Kenya
16. x The Philippines
17. x Tanganyika (Now Tanzania)
18. x Ethiopia
19. x Nigeria
20. x AlaskaClimb:
21. Mount Everest
22. Mount Aconcagua, Argentina
23. Mount McKinley
24. x Mount Huascaran, Peru
25. x Mount Kilimanjaro
26. x Mount Ararat, Turkey
27. x Mount Kenya
28. Mount Cook, New Zealand
29. x Mount Popocatepetl, Mexico
30. x The Matterhorn
31. x Mount Rainer
32. x Mount Fuji
33. x Mount Vesuvius
34. x Mount Bromo, Java
35. x Brand Tetons
36. x Mount Baldy, California
37. x Carry out careers in medicine and exploration (Studied premed and treats illnesses among primitive tribes)
38. Visit every country in the world (30 to go)
39. x Study Navaho and Hopi Indians
40. x Learn to fly a plane
41. x Ride horse in Rose ParadePhotograph:
42. x Iguacu Falls, Brazil
43. x Victoria Falls, Rhodesia (Chased by warthog in the process)
44. x Sutherland Falls, New Zealand
45. x Yosemite Falls
46. x Niagra Falls
47. x Retrace travels of Marco Polo and Alexander the GreatExplore Underwater:
48. x Coral Reefs of Florida
49. x Great Barrier Reef, Australia (Photographed a 300-pound clam)
50. x Red Sea
51. x Fiji Islands
52. x The Bajamas
53. x Explore Okefenokee Swamp and the EvergladesVisit:
    
54. North and South Poles
55. x Great Wall of China
56. x Panama and Suez Canals
57. x Easter Island
58. x The Galapagos Islands
59. x Vatican City (Saw the Pope)
60. x The Taj Mahal
61. x The Eiffel Tower
62. x The Blue Grotto
63. x The Tower of London
64. x The Leaning Tower of Pisa.
65. x The Sacred Well of Chichen-Itza, Mexico
66. x Climb Ayers Rock in Australia
67. Follow River Jordon from Sea of Galilee to Dead SeaSwim In:
    
68. x Lake Victoria
69. x Lake Superior
70. x Lake Tanganyika
71. x Lake Titicaca, South America
72. x Lake NicaraguaAccomplish:
73. x Become an Eagle Scout
74. x Dive in a submarine
75. x Land on and take off from an aircraft carrier
76. x Fly in a blimp, hot air balloon and glider
77. x Ride an elephant, camel, ostrich and bronco
78. x Skin dive to 40 feet and hold breath two and a half minutes underwater
79. x Catch a ten-pound lobster and a ten-inch abalone
80. x Play flute and violin
81. x Type 50 words a minute
82. x Take a parachute jump
83. x Learn water and snow skiing
84. x Go on a church mission
85. x Follow the John Muir Trail
86. x Study native medicines and bring back useful ones
87. x Bag camera trophies of elephant, lion, rhino, cheeta, cape buffalo and whale
88. x Learn to fence
89. x Learn jujitsu
90. x Teach a college course
91. x Watch a cremation ceremony in Bali
92. x Explore depths of the sea
93. x Appear in a Tarzan movie (He now considers this an irrelevant boyhood dream)
94. Own a horse, chimpanzee, cheetah, ocelot and coyote (Yet to own a chimp or cheetah)
95. Become a ham radio operator
96. x Build own telescope
97. x Write a book (On Nile trip)
98. x Publish and article in National Geographic Magazine
99. x High jump five feet
100. x Broad jump 15 feet
101. x Run a mile in five minutes
102. x Weight 175 pounds stripped (still does)
103. x Perform 200 sit-ups and 20 pull-ups
104. x Learn French, Spanish and Arabic
105. Study dragon lizards on Komodo Island (Boat broke down within 20 miles of island)
106. x Visit birthplace of Grandfather Sorenson in Denmark
107. x Visit birthplace of Grandfather Goddard in England
108. x Ship aboard a freighter as a seaman
109. Read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica (Has read extensive parts in eachvolume)
110. x Read the Bible from cover to cover
111. x Read the works of Shakespeare, Plato, Aristotle, Dickens, Thoreau, Poe Rousseau, Bacon, Hemingway, Twain, Burroughs, Conrad, Talmage, Tolstoi, Longfellow, Keats, Whittier and Emerson (Not every work of each)
112. x Become familiar with the compositions of Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Ibert, Mendelssohn, Lalo, Rimski-Korsakov, Respighi, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Toch, Tschaikovsky, Verdi
113. x Become proficient in the use of a plane, motorcycle, tractor, surfboard, rifle, pistol, canoe, microscope, football, basketball, bow and arrow, lariat and boomerang
114. x Compose music
115. x Play Clair de Lune on the piano
116. x Watch fire-walking ceremony (In Bali and Surinam)
117. x Milk a poisonous snake (Bitten by diamond back during a photo session)
118. x Light a match with a 22 rifle
119. x Visit a movie studio
120. x Climb Cheops’ pyramid
121. x Become a member of the Explorers’ Club and the Adventurers’ Club
122. x Learn to play polo
123. x Travel through the Grand Canyon on foot and by boat
124. x Circumnavigate the globe (four times)
125. Visit the moon (“someday if God wills”)
126. x Marry and have children (Has five children)
127. x Live to see the 21st Century (He will be 75)

-John Goddard

One wet and rainy Seattle day in 1999, after 17 years working as a software developer, I put all my worldly belongings into storage, strapped on my backpack and have been living overseas ever since!

My grandfather was a world-traveler and I guess I inherited his wanderlust. 1995 Introduced me to the wonders of international travel. First with a trip to Europe, then Mexico and exotic Asia. Since 1999 I have been living abroad (mostly in and around Thailand) and traveling around the world.

This site has something of an ancient history, it all started back on June 1st, 1998 under the domain name of “mystral.net”, later it morphed over to 1Nomad.com where I let it perish. After many years in the archives of cyberspace I’ve allowed it to rise from the ashes and so WorldNomad.net is born.

Sometimes a dream can take wings and become a reality. I hope this site can inspire people to enjoy life and bring the armchair adventurer a taste of our wonderful world…