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A Handstand in Every Country over 50 years

Posted by MICHAEL COMBERIATE on December 22, 2016 at 10:00am

I've been on a mission since 1965 to do a handstand everywhere I go; but as a goal, to do one in every Sovereign State in the World.  I'm looking for some guidance on getting to the remaining 39 countries.  In particular: North Korea, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, Palestine, South Sudan, and Somalia. 

I don't need a lot of time in each to do the handstands and get some proof of the visit.   I've set up tours of my own where I go to a dozen or so different countries in one 2 or 3 week trip, and the logistics of that are complex and subject to sudden changes out of my control.   Visas are also quite expensive in most of the African countries I still need to visit.  Any suggestions would be appreciated  RSVP  NASA Mike

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  • MICHAEL COMBERIATE March 13, 2018 at 2:54am

    Greetings:  Well as of Jan 31, 2018 I have completed my Handstands in Every Sovereign State but Yemen and Syria.  My website, www.nasamikescoolspace.com has been updated under "Handstand Library" with photos by "country", by "year" and with a "world map with pins" .  Just added two powerpoint presentations:  one with a slide for each sovereign state, and one with slides for all kinds of other unique and interesting places around the planet.  There must be some kind of world record in all this.  Any ideas?  Guinness says it's not a record because once you do every sovereign state, no one can beat it???  What else could I do with this accomplishment to make if more "Official"?

  • MICHAEL COMBERIATE December 18, 2017 at 5:37pm
    HI Heather
    I'd love to discuss this with you
    Can you call me 301 854 2937
    nasamike@nasamike.com
  • Heather Watts November 22, 2017 at 6:01am

    Hi Mike. I was just in Guinea-Bissau in June and got my visa at https://www.rgb-visa.com/ You can make the application online and then pick it up on arrival at the airport. I am not sure how to get a visa for that country if crossing at a land border, but I'm sure it's possible. I stayed at the Orango Parque Hotel in the Bijagos and it was fantastic. If you book with them, I'm sure they would be happy to help advise on the visa issue.

    So you have 11 West African countries left and then Syria and Yemen? This Christmas I am going to Central African Republic and then Benin, Togo and Ghana. After that I will have 17 countries left, so I am pretty excited about that!

  • Heather Watts November 21, 2017 at 6:21pm
    Oh and I know that two British tour companies - Wild Frontiers and Naked Eye are launching tours of Saudi Arabia next month. I have some friends for whom Saudi is one of 13 remaining countries they need and they were considering the Naked Eye tour.
  • Heather Watts November 21, 2017 at 6:17pm
    Also, how many countries do you still have from your list? I've been to Yemen (2013) and Syria (2011) but I don't think they are really possible at the moment. I did make it to South Sudan (from Kidepo, Uganda) in 2016 and Somaliland, which is politically still part of Somalia, in March of this year. Iran is very easy with a tour; I did one in 2011. I also did Iraqi Kurdistan in 2013 (mostly Erbil and Sulamyanah), but would love to visit the wetlands they have been working to restore south of Basra in Iraq proper.
  • Heather Watts November 21, 2017 at 6:11pm
    That's great! I don't know any other peopke who've been there, let alone done any gymnastic skills there! When I did my flips there one of the guards asked whether I was a gymnast. I answered - just recreationally, not elite gymnasts like Hong Un Jong and Hong Su Jong (they're sisters who are world level vaulters from North Korea). He was super exicted that I knew about them. Did you go to school for talented kids in Pyongyang? I got special permission to go in the gymnastics school rather than watch the sitar class!
  • MICHAEL COMBERIATE November 21, 2017 at 5:03pm



    Heather Watts said:

    Wow, it seems like we have a lot in common in that I do back walkovers (like a slow back handspring) wherever I go. Here is my back walkover on the North Korean side of the DMZ. North Korea is very easy to visit, but not quickly as it requires a tour that departs from, and returns to, China. I know that Americans are not allowed to go there at the moment, but before that law was passed it was really easy. I took a tour in 2012 and there were several Americans in my group.

    Congratulations Heather!  Keep doing what you've always done, everywhere you go.

    I did get to the DPRK in January 2017 and was able to do a few handstands without landing in jail.

    Perhaps we'll meet out there somewhere, or at a TCC meeting one day.  All the very best! - nasamike

    North Korea - Kim Il Sung Square 1t.jpg

    North Korea JuChe Tower DPRK t.jpg

    North Korea Yanggakdo Hotel t.jpg

  • MICHAEL COMBERIATE November 21, 2017 at 4:58pm



    Heather Watts said:

    Wow, it seems like we have a lot in common in that I do back walkovers (like a slow back handspring) wherever I go. Here is my back walkover on the North Korean side of the DMZ. North Korea is very easy to visit, but not quickly as it requires a tour that departs from, and returns to, China. I know that Americans are not allowed to go there at the moment, but before that law was passed it was really easy. I took a tour in 2012 and there were several Americans in my group.

    Congratulations Heather!  Keep doing what you've always done, everywhere you go.

    I did get to the DPRK in January 2017 and was able to do a few handstands without landing in jail.

    Perhaps we'll meet out there somewhere, or at a TCC meeting one day.  All the very best! - nasamike

  • MICHAEL COMBERIATE November 21, 2017 at 4:57pm



    Heather Watts said:

    Wow, it seems like we have a lot in common in that I do back walkovers (like a slow back handspring) wherever I go. Here is my back walkover on the North Korean side of the DMZ. North Korea is very easy to visit, but not quickly as it requires a tour that departs from, and returns to, China. I know that Americans are not allowed to go there at the moment, but before that law was passed it was really easy. I took a tour in 2012 and there were several Americans in my group.

    Congratulations Heather!  Keep doing what you've always done, everywhere you go.

    I did get to the DPRK in January 2017 and was able to do a few handstands without landing in jail.

    Perhaps we'll meet out there somewhere, or at a TCC meeting one day.  All the very best! - nasamike

  • MICHAEL COMBERIATE November 21, 2017 at 4:50pm

    As of Nov 20, I only have 13 countries left to visit, including two that must be repeated just to get handstand photos.  I have tickets to fly to the 11 remaining West African countries in January, 2018, but still need to get a visa for Guinea Bissau (GB).  Any ideas on how to do that given that there is no longer an embassy in the USA for GB?    Beyond that I still need to get to Syria and Yemen and could use some ideas on them as well.

    This has been a very difficult and yet exciting and rewarding challenge over the past decades.  It certainly seems like a world record of some kind; to be the first and only person in history to have photographic proof of doing a handstand in so many countries and extremely notable places.  As a record it's hard to define the challenge in a way that it can be specific and beatable.  To confine it to the current list of sovereign states is a thought, but that list changes.  Also it would not even include exotic places like the countries on the TCC list, the North Pole, the highest manmade structures, or even special geographic places like the southernmost points of every continent.  I could use some help here for sure.

    Nevertheless, this has been and is an ongoing challenge for me personally.  I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to pursue it for the past 52 years.  It's opened many doors to other worlds and cultures for me.  And, I have accumulatedso many fabulous memories that I hope I can retain as I age.  

    Given that my dad died of Alzheimer's;  that may be in the cards for me as well.  I am starting a new website as an archive. I hope it will refresh my memory as I age, because those memories are priceless.  Some of the 30,000 handstands will be posted there according to country and also to year.  But other memories such as some of my many expeditions with NASA colleagues and also with non-NASA folks from all kinds of backgrounds, will also be there.  It's a lot of content so it will take me most of next year to organize and update those posts.   This is that URL:

    www.nasamikescoolspace.com

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