NEW YORK – By arriving in Coimbatore, India, Greek-American filmmaker Michael Angelo Zervos has officially reached the halfway point- the 97th country out of 195- in his voyage to every nation in the world.

Dubbing it Project Kosmos, Zervos embarked January 17 of this year on a journey to break the current Guinness World record for the fastest to travel to every country. Not content with simply breaking records, he developed a deeper purpose for the journey. In every country along the way, Zervos asks native-born locals one single question: “What is the happiest moment of your life?”

His motivation for collecting and then publishing these stories online is to promote positivity and a belief that happiness is attainable whomever you are, wherever you are in the world.

“Assuming social media can negatively influence young people, I think it just as soon can positively impact them,” Zervos proposed. “Across the world, I’ve spoken to athletes, musicians, politicians, doctors, and influencers, not to mention meeting random strangers on the street. Each of them has shared a memorable, powerful story that I think is worth hearing. These anecdotes from halfway across the world are more relatable to your life than you may realize.”

Since embarking, he’s gathered a dedicated international audience who look forward to his daily posts.

“I receive messages all the time thanking me, encouraging me to continue, and wishing me well,” Zervos said. “Some are cheering me on to break the record, while others are just excited to see a new story every day. Some people even want to meet me in person while in their home countries!”

As of September 12, Zervos is on track to break the previous record-holder’s record by a considerable margin. When asked about how geopolitics can influence his success, Zervos said he isn’t too worried.

“There’s much that can happen in the next ten months but I feel good about my pace. Everything is going according to plan. Most of the difficult countries are behind me and only a few ahead of me should pose any issue as a visitor. Ultimately, I can only control myself. What will happen will happen and I will need to adapt.”

He is expected to complete his record-breaking journey by the summer of 2025.

To follow his journey, visit his IG @theprojectkosmos or his website www.project-kosmos.com.