ONE man’s wanderlust is taking him on a year-long world odyssey during which he hopes to visit a world record- breaking 200 countries.

Liverpool film-maker Graham Hughes, 29, is planning to cover 56,000 miles, using public transport but no flights.

Mr Hughes, from West Derby, will attempt to raise £1m for charity WaterAid on his travels, which will be filmed by Lonely Planet Television for an eight-part TV series.

He also intends to produce a weekly video diary documenting his trials and tribulations on the road which will be available free for all to watch on YouTube.

Mr Hughes is leaving Liverpool this weekend and will start his epic journey on January 1 from Buenos Aires.

The former Blue Coat School pupil said: “This is something that has been brewing in my mind since I was a kid.

“I watched ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ with Michael Palin and loved it but always felt a little aggrieved that he didn’t go to every country.

“This is the first overland surface travel attempt of its kind. The record for number of countries visited in a year stands at around 191, but that included flights.”

From Buenos Aires, Mr Hughes will take in South America, the Caribbean, Central America and North America by the start of February. He will then take a boat to Iceland from Canada and travel around mainland Europe, briefly popping to Liverpool for his 30th birthday at the end of February.

Then it’s on to Morocco, travel down the west coast of Africa, South Africa and then up the east coast to Eritrea.

He said: “From Eritrea, I’m taking a boat through pirate- infested waters to Yemen and then I’ll travel around the Middle East and Central Asia, passing through Afghanistan.” His epic journey will end in New Zealand After this, Mr Hughes will go to India, the Far East, South East Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and finally New Zealand.

He said: “I hope to arrive in New Zealand any time from November, and I’ll meet my girlfriend Mandy there and hopefully she’ll agree to marry me.”