It took Cassie De Pecol a record 18 months and 26 days to travel to all 196 countries in the world.

The 27-year-old Connecticut native is the first woman and the fastest person to ever do so, breaking the previous Guinness World Record holder's record with less than half the travel time, according to CNN.

But the greetings at each country weren't always courteous. CNN reported that upon entering North Korea, a soldier gripped her hand and said, "We're going to destroy you, America."

According to her blog, Expedition: 196, De Pecol went on the trip as an ambassador for the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism and SKÅL International, with a mission to promote "peace through sustainable tourism."

During her time around the world, she spoke with more than 16,000 students about sustainability, economics and more.

She also created a thank you video and posted it to YouTube.