The Guinness Book of Records is published annually and features over 53,000 world records! These records range from impressive (yet often rather strange) human achievements to natural extremes and span the entire globe. With a whole world to explore, it’s no wonder that many of these records are travel-related. In honour of Guinness World Record Day, Expat Explore has put together a list of some of the most inspiring, unbelievable and bizarre travel world records to celebrate our great, big, weird and wonderful world!
Have a look at some of these travel world records! Who knows, maybe we’ll be adding you to the list sometime…
The inspiring
Oldest person to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro
The next time you’re hiking and start thinking you may not be not be able to reach the top, remember the name Anne Lorimor. At the ripe old age of 89, great-grandmother Anne Lormior became the oldest person to ever climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. It took Anne just nine days to reach the top of the highest mountain in Africa and it wasn’t even her first time! When Anne was 85, she became the world’s oldest woman to climb the Tanzanian mountain. However, she was beaten by 85-year old Robert Wheeler for the title of oldest person. Robert was quite a force to be reckoned with, completing the climb in just two days and after having two knee replacements and two shoulder procedures! However, Anne wasn’t about to give up and waited until she was 89 just to beat Robert’s record!
Another impressive climbing record held by an octogenarian is the oldest person to climb Mount Everest! Notoriously the highest mountain and one of the most gruelling climbs in the world, Mount Everest is certainly not for the faint of heart. In 2013, an 80-year-old Japanese mountaineer by the name of Yuichiro Miura became the oldest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest! He still holds the record today. Perhaps one of your grandparents can take on the challenge?
Related: Read our handy guide to discover what it takes to become a ski mountaineer!
Youngest person to travel to every country
How many countries have you been to? How many would you like to go to? Think you can get to 196 by the time you turn 21? If that seems impossible then your name is definitely not Lexie Alford. In 2019, Lexie stepped foot in North Korea and became the youngest person to travel to every country in the world! The fact that anyone could travel to every country is simply astounding, let alone a young woman travelling on her own!
Alford began travelling when she was very young as her parents owned a travel agency. Yet she only started on her world record journey when she reached 72 countries at 18. She realised that she could inspire young women to travel – especially to unconventional places where tourists are often scared to go. Alford lists Venezuela and Pakistan, two unlikely tourist spots, as two of her favourite countries thanks to their natural beauty and kind locals.
Related: Tick off multiple countries with a multi-country Europe tour!
Youngest person to run an ultra-marathon on every continent
If you’ve ever run a marathon, you’ll know all about the intensive training needed to reach peak physical and mental fitness. Now, take the standard 42km race and turn it into over 1,000km across all seven continents! When Australian Jacqui Bell achieved this goal at just 24 years old, she became the youngest person ever to do so. While Jacqui had always loved running and ran her first ultra-marathon at 19, she suffered many hardships along the way. Just two years before achieving this incredible feat, Jacqui struggled with severe depression after five broken bones led to a painkiller addiction. Jacqui moved to Bali to become a yoga instructor and to attempt to get her life back on track. However, while she was there, she was violently robbed which led to 200 stitches.
While many would fall further into depression, Jacqui saw this as a wake up call and just started running! By the end of 2018, Jacqui became the youngest female in the world to conquer Racing the Planets 4 Desert Grand Slam. This epic challenge takes runners across 250km’s of desert in Namibia, Mongolia, Chile and Antarctica! After that, she ran ultra-marathons in New Zealand, Iceland and the USA, thus achieving the world record! Now you have no excuse not to dust off those running shoes.
Related: Have a look at these epic marathons around the world!
The unbelievable
First band to play on seven continents
Metalheads in Antarctica were treated to an extraordinary concert when rock legends Metallica performed there in 2013. When Metallica rocked out with an audience of 120 scientists and contest winners in a transparent dome, they became the first and only band to play on all continents! Due to the extreme temperatures, the band’s amps were placed in “isolation cabinets” to prevent any damage and the audience listened with headphones. You can witness the surreal concert experience, named “Freeze ‘Em All” on Youtube!
Related: Explore these European cities for spectacular musical experiences.
Longest birthday ever
Ever wished your birthday could last two days? Paul Morgan was able to extend his 28th birthday to 48 hours by travelling across multiple time zones! To achieve this, Paul flew from Samoa, through New Zealand and Los Angeles and back to his home town in Hawaii. While this may sound like the party of a lifetime, he actually spent most of his extended birthday alone, on a cramped airplane with no sunshine. However, it was certainly a birthday he will never forget!
Longest journey by skateboard
Balancing on a skateboard and managing to even skate in a straight line is a challenge for most people. However, New Zealander Robert Thomson did the seemingly impossible when he travelled a whopping 12,159km by skateboard! This journey, which took Robert all the way from Leysin, Switzerland to Shanghai, China, was actually part of a longer around-the-world challenge which involved cycling, sailing, rafting and riding a train. The skateboard was actually the last leg of the journey which makes it even more impressive!
The bizarre
Farthest distance travelled to deliver a curry
How far would you go for your favourite takeaway? The curry at the Raj Mahal Restaurant in Christchurch, New Zealand must be pretty hard to beat considering they filled an order all the way from Manchester, England! The vegetable biryani and pilau rice travelled over 18,830km to reach its destination. Those Brits must have been rather hungry by the time it arrived!
Most travelled ashes
This is certainly one of the most bizarre world records but somehow also one of the sweetest! Vera Anderson’s ashes were sent to over 250 cities (including all 50 American states and 191 countries!) by her son Ross. Vera was too ill in her later years to travel but Ross wanted to fulfill his mother’s dying wishes of being a jetsetter. He sent a little bit of her ashes in a concealed plastic bag to the head postmaster of every country’s capital city and in every U.S. state, with a letter explaining the journey and asking the reader to find a nice place for the ashes.
Ross received letters and pictures back from all over the globe. Vera’s ashes were sprinkled along the Chao Phraya River in Thailand, the ice caps of Antarctica, the stream in front of the Royal Castle in Stockholm, Sweden and much more. The indigenous Aymara people held a burial service at Lake Titicaca in the Andes. The director general of the Ukrainian State Enterprise of Posts sent a personal letter offering condolences. Safe to say, Vera’s dreams were fulfilled. Ross has asked his children to do the same with his ashes!
First habitable sand hotel
A night spent listening to the sound of waves crashing along a shoreline sounds like a dream. Although, when the waves start crashing around your bed, you may start second guessing your accommodation choices! In 2008, the website LateRooms.com commissioned sculptor Mark Anderson to create the world’s first habitable sand hotel in Dorset, UK. It took 600 hours to build the tiny, open-air hotel which featured a twin and double bedroom. Guests could stay in this unique hotel for just £10 a night. However, they were warned that there were, unsurprisingly, no bathroom facilities and that sand would get everywhere. The hotel stood until the rain and sea washed it away.
Related: For an ideal beach break, check out these European beaches!
Have these incredible travel world records sparked your wanderlust? Have a look at some of Expat Explore’s upcoming tours and get back to ticking off that bucket list!