Franci Neely Gets Closer to Her Goal of Visiting Every Country
META DESCRIPTION: Houston-based philanthropist Franci Neely is determined to explore every country since retiring from her successful career as a litigation attorney.
Franci Neely is on a quest to visit every country on the planet and she’s only got a handful of nations in Africa left to go. “I’ve got to forge ahead and finish this goal,” she says. And she will because she enjoys exploring all of the areas of the world and experiencing the culture while interacting with the locals and learning about each region’s unique history.
Her lofty ambition has taken her to every continent, and for good reason: Franci Neely feels that traveling the world with an open mind is the best way to appreciate nature’s universal marvels. She’s said that everywhere she goes significantly impacts her life.
The Houston-based retired lawyer and philanthropist created a website to curate her travels. Neely brings her Nikon camera and her iPhone along on her global adventures to capture the special moments she’s shared throughout her journeys. She’s even been to Antarctica three times. “I went for the beauty and the animals,” Neely shares.
However, she isn’t interested in only showcasing landscapes on her travel log. The website’s purpose is to visually share the human connections she’s experienced with people from all over the world, even if they don’t speak the same language. Throughout her travels, Neely strives to communicate with the locals that she cares about them, which is exactly what her photography shows. She’s learned that human connections surpass language barriers. “You can see it in the eyes when you make a connection,” she says.
Franci Neely on How Diverse Cultures Affect Her
The seasoned globe-trotter has traversed all corners of the world, including Mozambique, Israel, India, the Philippines, England, Fiji, Angola, and Morocco. However, she especially enjoys exploring the Middle East.
Franci Neely’s Middle Eastern travels have taken her to places like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Yemen, Oman, and Bahrain. The area’s diverse cultures have had a profound impact on her. Neely says that interacting with the locals has opened her eyes and heart to the magnificence of the world. She hopes that others will be motivated to explore those regions and experience their majesty for themselves.
During a 2021 excursion to Iraq, she visited an ancient roadside inn in Iraq’s Kurdish region and explored St. Matthew’s Monastery, which is 1,600 years old, in Mount Alfaf. She especially enjoys experiencing the sights of the desert and sea, and the gifts and talents of the people who make up the region. Neely says they “share their stories with me, and whose lives, enriched by their art and culture, enrich and expand my worldview and understanding.”
Her desire to continue learning makes travel even more rewarding and has brought some special people into her life. “I have a lot to learn, and maybe we can teach each other or share with each other,” she says. In fact, while touring a village in the Philippines in the Cordillera Central mountains, she made a new friend without speaking a word. “[We] looked at each other, and I felt like she was my sister,” says Neely. They found a way to overcome their language barrier, and “she’s now my pen pal,” Neely adds. How does that work? Her daughter writes to Neely on her mother’s behalf.
Neely is particularly fond of Guatemala and the Western Highlands region. She’s in awe of how the locals are renewed, invigorated, and revitalized by their culture, way of life, and traditions. Occasionally, she’s been so touched by someone that she’s given them a personal belonging. “If someone touched my heart, I have given them something I was wearing,” she says. “That happens when there is a profound, personal connection.”
Inspired by Nature’s Beauty
Franci Neely finds inspiration in her natural surroundings. She felt wonderstruck by the Ekom-Nkam Waterfalls, tucked away deep in the forests of Cameroon. The twin waterfall is divided by a rock formation on the top and is located near the mountain village of Nkongsamba.
She’s concerned with protecting the environment. “No amount of money is worth the beauty of a waterfall that may disappear because of the way we’re treating our planet,” she muses.
That’s one reason she feels lucky to have the time and means to embark on such extensive travels. She admits that when people ask her to pinpoint her favorite voyage, she tells them it’s “the one I just had.”
She is especially fond of sampling the regional cuisine on her travels. For those with the luxury of time, Franci Neely encourages them to go and explore and discover new things around the globe. “Be someone with an open mind about where you are going.” Just don’t expect other countries to be like the United States and embrace the uniqueness of each new place.
Neely explains that when you find the differences, you will be heartened to realize that people everywhere are the same. They’re motivated by the same feelings and emotions and recognize when you’re authentically interested in them. “Experience the differences and be open to the differences,” says Neely.
Travel is the ultimate education, says Neely. She’s always been curious about how the rest of the world lives. That has led her to dance with the Pygmy people in the Central African Republic and get blessed by the Bwiti during a ceremony, which involves eating iboga, a naturally occurring psychoactive shrub indigenous to the rain forest in the Congo, while visiting the Raponda Walker Arboretum in Gabon. “I did not partake,” says Neely. However, during her time at the Arboretum, she says she was “so entranced with its beauty that I meandered off on the wrong trail for about 30 minutes.”
Franci Neely has had a dress custom made in Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon. She’s sipped ginger-spiced Sudanese coffee in Karima, a northern Sudanese market town, and watched the sunset from the Gebel Barkal, a large rock outcrop. She’s also witnessed the sinking sun from the Mundari tribe’s cattle camp in South Sudan. “It was magical,” she shares.
What’s next for Neely? She says, “I’ve got some other traveling to do to finish my [goal] of every country in the world.”