Nuri Funas doesn't blend in. His safari-style outfit, complete with side satchel and calf-high hiking boots, clashes brilliantly with the official grey walls and cool, black leather furniture at the Libyan embassy in Bangkok.
In his defence, Mr Funas doesn't spend a lot of time in offices. That's because he is a literal globetrotter -- except instead of trotting, he walks. He walks down major city streets, along mud roads deep in the jungle or up the side of a volcano like Mount Kilimanjaro. Mr Funas has spent the last 19 years of his life walking all over the world.
He's hiked across Africa, Central America and Europe. Now he's making his way through Southeast Asia. Most recently, he walked from Cambodia to Thailand.
The Thai immigration officers didn't seem accustomed to people crossing the border on foot with a huge backpack and what Mr Funas calls his "safari boots".
"When I came to Thailand, the immigration officer, he first took a photo of my boots. I said, 'Hey what about my fingerprints and my face?'" laughed Mr Funas. "I think he liked my boots."
Once the amazement subsided, the immigration officer processed the paperwork. The officer stamped Mr Funas's passport, marking the 129th country he has visited so far.
BRIDGING UNDERSTANDING
step by step: Photographs that Nuri Funas has taken over the course of his 19-year-long journey around the world on foot, starting in his native Libya. PHOTOS: www.facebook.com/Nuri Funas
"Because I am walking around, I meet a lot of people along the way," says Mr Funas, 38, who is from Libya.
Meeting people is the point because he's a man on a mission to spread his message of peace and love. He wants to inspire people to care about each other.
"Some people write songs for peace and love … I create that feeling [through travel]."
Mr Funas hopes to build a bridge between different cultures. He says people only get to see each other on TV, but he hopes to change that by showing others that people who come from war-torn countries like Libya are still good, ordinary people.
"When you hear about the bad situation in Libya but you meet me -- I am a kind guy from Libya -- you will feel good," says Mr Funas. "It's so important for people to feel good, feel safe and feel peaceful."
He doesn't have an official agenda, but Mr Funas does strike up conversations with the people he meets on his travels and sometimes he speaks to school groups about his adventures. He's also written a book titled Hakuna Matata, which means "no worries" in Swahili -- one of the seven languages Mr Funas has learned how to speak over the years.
LOCAL MOTION
Mr Funas makes an effort to live like the locals no matter where he goes -- often that means camping in the wilderness, staying with strangers he meets on his travels or indulging in traditional local foods.
"I love that," he said. "Because this is the lifestyle of the locals. I am from Thailand now, not Libya. I live the Thai life."
When asked what his favourite Thai dish is, Mr Funas went with a classic -- rice and seafood.
"Delicious," he says.
And while rice and seafood are rather tame, Mr Funas doesn't shy away from more exotic options. Perhaps the best example was on his trip to Tanzania. Mr Funas was offered a drink not unlike his usual breakfast smoothie -- except this one featured cow's blood along with milk and fruit.
"I need to try it, just to taste it and show some respect," he said of the time. "It was good. It was weird. You can't explain it. You have never had this taste before. Still, you know it's healthy."
ADVENTURE CALLS
Ever since Mr Funas was a child, he knew he wanted to see the world. He was part of a boy scouts club when he was a child and later joined the international youth hostel in Libya. His father would share stories of explorers from Europe and North America. Mr Funas wanted to explore Africa and learn more about Arabic history.
"My dream to see something else was pushing me all the time," he explains. "My father was supportive and helped me. >> >> My mom, she was crying [about my travel dreams]. I said, 'No, the future is my friend.'"
Mr Funas says it was difficult to leave his family and life in Libya, but he is so glad he pursued his dream.
"I left everything to see everything," he said.
Every few years, when the 48 pages of his passport are full, Mr Funas returns home to visit his family and order another passport.
The traveller funds his trips through support from the Libyan government as well as companies like Libyan Airlines and the International Youth Hostel. Mr Funas makes a point to stop in at the Libyan embassy in each country he visits.
Mohamed Eznati is the chief of affairs for the Libyan embassy in Thailand.
"I am grateful for this young man to travel thousands of miles around the world, to know other cultures and other people and to [bring] peace and messages of Libyan people to others," he said, sitting in his office in downtown Bangkok.
Mr Funas asks all of the Libyan ambassadors he meets to sign his shirt, and Mr Eznati is no exception. In Arabic, he wrote: "Mr Nuri Funas, I love what you do. I support your soul for surviving and sharing your message for peace and love around the world."
TIES TO HOME
Mr Funas says Thailand is the perfect place to share his message, especially in Bangkok. "It's an international city. People are from everywhere, it's a big mix. It's very peaceful, very respectful."
Mr Funas also wants to remind people of the relationship between Libya and Thailand.
"We had a big community of Thai people working in Libya, but I'm so sorry because it's not there now," he said.
He's talking about the start of the Libyan Civil War in 2014. When fighting escalated between pro-government and militant groups, Thailand's National Council for Peace and Order ordered all Thai nationals in Libya to evacuate. At the time there were about 1,500 Thai students and workers in the country.
"I wish to have [this relationship] back," said Mr Funas of the previously close links between the Thai and Libyan people.
NEXT STEPS
When asked about his long-term plans, Mr Funas says his he hopes to have children one day.
"I'm doing my dream right now -- seeing the world. I wish to wake up soon to have a family."
But whether that dream means staying in one place for too long -- well, he's leaving that up to his future partner to decide.
"If she doesn't move with me, I will stay with her."
Until then, Mr Funas plans to explore Thailand's southern islands and northern jungle before coming back to Bangkok for the royal cremation ceremony of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej at the end of this month.
"I'm so lucky to be here [for the ceremony,]" said Mr Funas. "I have so much respect for him and what he did. Because he was not just a king, he was a man. He took care of all his land."
This is the last country Mr Funas will visit in Southeast Asia. Next he's off to Sri Lanka, then India and eventually on to the Himalayas.
