Investment banker-turned-farmer and philanthropist Barry Hoffner’s fate as a world traveler was decided by a coin toss a half-century ago.
“After high school, I wanted to go to Hawaii to surf, and my best friend wanted to go backpacking in Europe,” the Sausalito, California resident told The Post. “He won, and that trip changed my life.”
From that moment on, Hoffner lived and worked in Russia, France, Japan, and Singapore, took a two-year travel sabbatical through Asia, and hitchhiked through Africa with his late wife, Jackie, eventually establishing their educational foundation, Caravan to Class, in Timbuktu, Mali, in 2010.
By the time he was in his mid-50s, Hoffner had seen the sunrise in 100 countries.
Following Jackie’s tragic 2017 death in an accident involving an elephant in Botswana, the now 66-year-old set out to visit every remaining country on Earth, including those whose citizens are barred from entering the US, and all but one of the 21 Level 4 or “Do Not Travel” countries that include Russia, Iran, Syria and Ukraine deemed by the State Department as “life-threatening” for American travelers due to dangers like war, terrorism and kidnapping.
“What began as a way to move forward became a way to feel again. I wanted to see that world not as headlines, but as people. I wanted to remember what it felt like to be fully alive,” he told The Post.
“I said to myself, ‘I have to go to every country in the world,” he said. “I realized that in doing so, I would have to go to places the world tells you not to go.”
After making his every-country commitment, Hoffner, whose mother was born in Baghdad, chose Iraq as his first Level 4 destination, visiting in April 2022.
“Being an Iraqi Jew, I realized that much of my momentum depended on how I was received in Iraq,” he told The Post. “I wasn’t just visiting a country, I was visiting a place that is a big part of my identity.”
He recalled traveling back to Baghdad from a visit to a Shia shrine when Hoffner and his guide were stopped at a checkpoint. After greeting the officer in Arabic, he was separated from his guide and questioned.
“I was a little bit scared. I told the officer that my mother was born in Iraq. He asked, ‘Are you Muslim?’ I said, ‘No, I’m Jewish.’”‘
He said the officer took a long pause before putting his hand over his heart and said, “‘If this is your mother’s birthplace, then this is your country too, welcome,’” recalled the father of two. “That showed me that I had to keep going.”
In October of that same year (and a year after the Taliban took over), he traveled to Afghanistan, which is the only country he visited that required a formal interview with an ambassador to be granted a visa.
Thus far, the only country that the US has banned Hoffner from traveling to, and consequently the only country left on his list, is North Korea.
Currently, North Korea is completely closed to entry, except for Chinese and Russian citizens or special events.
In addition to restrictions barring American entry, Hoffner has had to navigate border closures due to war or coups, as well as shifting visa requirements.
In countries where visas are not offered to US citizens, Hoffner has waited for policy changes. In countries where visas are difficult to obtain, he has relied on luck, the efficacy of a local connection, and humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGO) that provide food, medical care, and shelter to victims of armed conflicts.
Hoffner insists that he’s never felt targeted for being an American or faced direct peril.
“Truth is, I had a thousand good moments in places that I should have feared,” he said.
One among that multitude was Hoffner’s 63rd birthday celebration in banned, Level 4 Syria.
To mark the occasion, his guide welcomed Hoffner into his home, where his wife and daughters prepared a feast, and later to a surprise party in downtown Damascus.
“It was one of the best birthdays I’ve ever had,” he said.
“If you put yourself out there, people really care, and you can find those experiences that make you feel closer to people who otherwise would just be people you read about,” the California resident added.
While he admits there are objectively greater dangers in Level 4 countries than elsewhere, especially since the U.S. government has limited ability to help American travelers in these flagged areas, and it is entirely at your own risk, Hoffner believes travel, like life, is about managing expectations.
“People who have never been to certain parts of the world see a checkpoint with an officer with an AK-47, and immediately, there’s fear,” he told The Post. “But that’s just natural in those countries. That doesn’t mean they’re going to shoot you.“
Still, he emphasized that having a good guide, a solid itinerary, and a positive mindset are essential to minimizing risk and traveling responsibly — regardless of the locale.
Hoffner shared that the danger of visiting certain places largely hinges on locality.
“There are certainly very unsafe places,” he said, giving the examples of Khartoum in Sudan and the border areas of Ukraine.
“But there are also very safe places in those countries, like Port Sudan and Lviv.”
While he had traveled to many places affected by war, Hoffner had not visited an active conflict zone until he visited Sudan in early 2024.
“That feeling cropped up of, ‘Should I be here?’” the 66-year-old recalled, adding that there is a distinction between voyeurism and responsible exploration, particularly in conflict zones.
“If your intention is to take a selfie of you with a tank in the background or some soldiers, that’s not responsible. But if you’re going to listen, to learn, to understand, and to tell the story of those people, that is part of bearing witness.”
For those contemplating traveling to a banned or Level 4 country, Hoffner said that it’s natural to be wary, but it’s more revelatory to follow curiosity.
“Our minds go to the headlines, because that’s what we know of a lot of these countries. But oftentimes, these places completely change your narrative,” he explained to The Post.
“Some of my deepest experiences have been in Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. I can’t recommend those places for everyone, but what I can say most of the beautiful moments in life come from pushing your boundaries.”
The beauty of those boundary crossings became the scaffolding for Hoffner’s book, the proceeds of which will go directly to Caravan to Class’s Boursie Jackie scholarship program, named in honor of his late wife.
Hoffner has found that beyond current headlines, dire warnings and a heightened geopolitical climate, humanity can be distilled to a single thread with many stitches.
“All people want is connection, and that’s what I want, too.”
