We Married Adventure’s Michael and Angela Ballard have been named finalists for Biggest Traveler in the 2025 NomadMania Travel Awards. 

According to NomadMania, a community of more than 25,000 avid travelers from around the world, the annual awards are the “Oscars of travel” and celebrate achievements in several categories. 

The Ballards and five other globetrotters are in the running for Biggest Traveler of the Year, which recognizes “the one and only, whose travels in the past year, in terms of both quantity (days on the road and number of trips) and quality (difficulty and variety of destinations) render them a truly big traveler even by the standards of the NomadMania community,” according to the organization’s website. 

Michael is currently ranked number one on NomadMania for most regions visited in 2025 with 188 regions, and Angela is ranked second with 153. This year, they visited five continents and more than 50 countries together, and they completed their third circumnavigation of the globe. 

In 2025, the Ballards traveled from the southernmost point of Africa to the northernmost point of Europe without flying, and Michael drove in 136 NomadMania regions across 41 countries. They also celebrated Angela’s fiftieth birthday aboard the Orient Express. 

Michael and Angela are contributors to Lonely Planet, Atlas Obscura and Google, where their photospheres from around the world have more than 35 million views (view them here and here). To date, they have visited 150 countries and all seven continents together, and their website, wemarriedadventure.com, has readers from 181 countries.

The couple’s son, Benjamin Ballard, was a finalist for the same award in 2024, having traveled nonstop last year from January through November and making his way from North America to Europe to Africa to Asia primarily over land.

As part of the annual awards, NomadMania also recognizes the Most Purposeful Traveler, “whose efforts create community, help local communities and, in general, travel with a purpose”; the Most Intrepid Traveler, “whose travels in the last year have required considerable courage, risk-taking and craziness”; the Best Digital Travel Creator and Best Travel Book. 

To encourage travel to off-the-beaten-path locales, NomadMania members from around the world also vote for the Most Trusted Local Fixer award. This recipient “turns common trips into unforgettable local experiences” with their knowledge of and connections in destinations that are often difficult for individuals to explore on their own. 

Since NomadMania launched the awards in 2021, it has also named the Biggest Low Passport Index Traveler of the Year. This acknowledges the accomplishments of those whose countries rank lowest on the Henley Passport Index Ranking based on the number of destinations their holders can access without a visa. Currently, the most challenging passports are those from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq, while the United States is tied for twelfth with Malaysia.

Award winners will be announced during NomadMania’s UN Masters Weekend on Nov. 22-23. UN Masters are those who have visited all 193 United Nations member countries, and more than 100 of them are scheduled to participate in the event. To learn more, visit nomadmania.com. 

About NomadMania 
NomadMania is a dynamic global platform for independent travelers. Catering to both aspiring explorers and established travel masters, it serves as a toolbox for creating a personalized world map of travels, offers intuitive planning tools, and inspires endless ideas for adventure. Travel enthusiasts can create a free profile at nomadmania.com.