Researcher Completes Journey to 197 Countries Using Indonesian Passport
Indonesian researcher Timothy Astandu has recorded a rare achievement by completing a journey to 19CO countries and territories worldwide using an Indonesian passport. This achievement serves not only as a personal record in the world of travel but also as a global-scale field observation to understand human behaviour across different cultures.
As a researcher and the founder of Populix, Timothy used his travels to various countries as a direct research space. He observed how societies interact, shop, make decisions, and form perceptions regarding happiness and social life.
Of the 197 countries and territories visited, 193 are members of the United Nations, two are UN observer states (Vatican City and Palestine), and two are territories with limited recognition (Taiwan and Kosovo).
This achievement has been recognised by three international travel organisations: the Travelers’ Century Club, NomadMania, and Most Traveled People. These three organisations are known for having strict travel verification standards for world explorers.
For Timothy, the significance of the journey extends beyond the number of countries visited. He believes that direct presence in the field is a vital way to test assumptions formed through news reports, social media, or general perceptions.
According to Timothy, many social realities in various countries do not always align with the images appearing on digital screens. He cited Iraq, a country that for years has been synonymous with geopolitical conflict, yet continues to demonstrate a strong culture of hospitality.
“This was far different from my assumptions. Iraqi people are truly friendly. They treat everyone like their own guests. In fact, on several occasions, they invited me to eat at their homes,” said Timothy.
Similar experiences were found in several countries often associated with conflict, such as Somalia and Yemen. According to him, the lives of people in these nations cannot be understood solely through war narratives. In some places, he still found shopping centres, amusement parks, and normal public activities taking place.
“For a researcher, this is not just an anecdote. This is a fundamental lesson in methodology: do not trust assumptions before conducting field verification,” he stated.
In his cross-country observations, Timothy also discovered that a nation’s wealth does not always correlate directly with the happiness of its people. He noted that while economic indicators are important, they are insufficient to explain the quality of life and societal satisfaction.
“It does not mean that more economically advanced countries are happier. In fact, sometimes in countries that are often overlooked, the people appear happier. Economic growth is good, but the determining factors of happiness are not influenced by that alone,” said Timothy.
These findings serve as a foundation for Timothy’s work in developing Populix, a research-based consultancy firm he co-founded with two partners in 2018. Populix aims to democratise data so that access to research can be utilised by a wider range of parties.
The name Populix is derived from the Latin term ‘vox populi’, meaning the voice of the people. Through this approach, Populix strives to provide data that accurately reflects the views, needs, and behaviours of the broader population.
One of the services developed is PopSurvey, a self-service survey platform that allows users to design questionnaires, determine respondent profiles, distribute surveys to over 1.3 million Populix respondents, and obtain results quickly.
Populix has also developed quantitative and qualitative research services, as well as AskLumia, an AI-based research platform. AskLumia is designed to help users quickly test initial hypotheses through synthetic respondents before further verification via other research methods.
“AskLumia is a condensed version of what I have done for many years—understanding humans from all corners of the world, quickly, without being physically present,” said Timothy.