Dustin Pfundheller
Dustin Pfundheller | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 16, 1986 Altoona, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation | Dentist |
| Known for | being the Most Traveled American |
| Website | https://thesmilemission.com/ |
Dustin Pfundheller (born May 16, 1986) is an American dentist and is recognized as being both the most-traveled American and the most-traveled person under 40 in the world.
Early life and education
[edit]Pfundheller was born to Raina and Bob Pfundheller of Altoona, Wisconsin.[1][2] He attended the University of Wisconsin–River Falls and the University of Florida College of Dentistry.[3]
Career
[edit]Pfundheller's career began with a dental practice in Singapore, where he worked for six years.[3] In December 2020, Pfundheller opened a dental clinic focused on affordable access to services in Miami called The Smile Mission.[4][5]
Travel and recognition
[edit]Dustin has visited every country in the world, earning him the Guinness World Record as the youngest person to achieve the milestone in 2017, and has been recognized by travel website, Nomad Mania, as being the most-traveled American and the 8th most-traveled individual in the world having visited 1160 of the 1301 geographic regions defined by the site.[6][7][8][9][1] The accomplishments are notable in that his travels were self-funded and he instead made use of the dating app Tinder to assist with making travel arrangements.[10][11] During his travels, Pfundheller often performed dental services in locations with limited access to the specialization.[12] The last country visited by Pfundheller was Israel, admission to which required taking his case to the country's supreme court.[13][14]
Controversy
[edit]Pfundheller has been criticized for a video he posted in which he praised Malaysia's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and criticized the news coverage of the situation by Al Jazeera.[15][16]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Lindquist, Eric (2023-12-25). "A homegrown globetrotter". Leader-Telegram. Archived from the original on 2023-12-29. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ "Our View: What a world". Leader-Telegram. 2023-12-25. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ a b "Dustin's Bio". Wandering Dentist. Archived from the original on 2020-08-21. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ Dahlberg, Nancy (2021-08-16). "Smile! Dentist achieves dream of opening affordable, high-tech clinic, with help of FSBDC at FIU". GrowBiz. Archived from the original on 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ Feldman, Hal (2020-12-21). "Something to smile about". Pinecrest Community News. Archived from the original on 2024-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
- ^ Gilad, Moshe (2017-05-16). "Globetrotter Sets Guinness Record After Israel Relents and Allows Him to Visit". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
- ^ "Records". Wandering Dentist. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ "Master Ranking: United States". Nomad Mania. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ "Master Ranking". Nomad Mania. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ Ferra, Anxhela (2019-11-17). "Abandoned by his girlfriend, dentist decides to travel the world using Tinder". Tirana Today. Archived from the original on 2020-11-15. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ Pfundheller, Dustin (2017-02-22). "Tinder Dating got Me Deported from Israel". The Times of Israel Blogs. Archived from the original on 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ "Interview with Dustin Pfundheller". Nomad Mania. 2017-07-04. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ Rose, Emily (2017-06-03). "Youngest man to visit every country in the world was almost stopped by Israel". i24News. Archived from the original on 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ Gilad, Moshe (2017-02-27). "Globetrotting U.S. Tourist Visits 200 Countries but Gets Turned Away From Israel (Twice)". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2021-02-11. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
- ^ Rosli, Ameera (2020-07-17). "The Cringey Truth Behind The Man Who Made The Video Debunking The Al-Jazeera Documentary". Juice. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.
- ^ "American denies he was paid to praise M'sia's Covid-19 response". malaysiakini. 2020-05-21. Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2024-01-02.