Extraordinary Travel World Records

While you’ve definitely heard of the Guinness Book of World Records, you might not know that this famous compilation of world records was created in the 1950s by, yes, the Guinness Brewing Company.

Because all great ideas start over a pint of stout, Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of the Guinness Brewery, conceived of the idea after he got into an argument at a party about the fastest bird-shooting game in Europe. Beaver originally thought a book of world records would not only be a great promotion for Guinness, but would help settle pub arguments before they got physical. Basically, it was an early version of googling.

Fast forward, and there are thousands of world records published in the Guinness Book of World Records — including many focused on extraordinary travel feats. Some are legitimately impressive, and even jaw-dropping, like the fastest time to travel to all seven continents and the longest journey completed barefoot. Others are more bizarre, like the longest birthday ever and the farthest distance skateboarded by a goat.

All, in their way, astound. Here are some of the most mind-blowing Guinness travel records of all time.

(Inspired? You can apply for your own Guinness travel record or attempt to unseat someone else’s achievement.)

After meeting by chance when they were both volunteer parking attendants at a concert in New Zealand, Julie Berry and Kasey Stewart decided they wanted to set a record by visiting all seven continents in a little over four days.

The duo called their mission 7in72 — as in 72 hours — and while they didn’t quite meet their goal, they still set the record. They ended their journey in Antarctica after traveling for 92 hours, 4 minutes and 19 seconds, having spent an average of three to six hours on each continent. Though the trip was speedy, they packed in seeing the Pyramids of Gaza, sampling beer in Frankfurt and peering out at the Toronto cityscape from the CN Tower.

Berry and Stewart share another link as well: They are both former reality TV show contestants. Berry was on “Survivor” while Kasey was on “The Bachelorette.”

A lot of travel junkies aspire to travel to a few new countries each year, and some even try to maintain a number of overall destinations equal to their age. James Asquith, who lives in the UK, wanted to do more — so he traveled to all 196 sovereign countries around the globe by the age of 24, making him the youngest person in the world to achieve this feat.

Asquith visited his first country outside of the UK in 2001. Then between 2008 and 2013, he visited the other 195.

If you’re mad about the mouse, you might aspire to eventually visit all 12 Disney theme parks around the world. And if you’re really obsessive, you might try to beat the record of a woman who accomplished this feat in three days.

Canadian blogger and Disney superfan Lindsay Nemeth made her way to Disney destinations around the world in 75 hours and 6 minutes. She began her epic journey in California at Disneyland, then made her way to Florida, Europe, Hong Kong and Japan.

Octogenarian Robert Wheeler is proof that you’re never too old to pursue your dreams. Guinness World Records reported that Wheeler became the oldest man to climb Mount Kilimanjaro when he reached the summit in two days at age 85.

Wheeler made it to the top of the tallest mountain in Africa despite having two knee replacements and two shoulder procedures. When things got tough, he turned to inspiration in the form of Ernest Hemingway’s novel “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”

And the former professor of psychology isn’t done yet: He plans to attempt the record again for his 90th birthday in 2019.