A British 'superhero' has set a Guinness World Record for visiting each of the Seven Wonders of the World using just public transport.
Jamie McDonald, a British Adventurer better known as 'Adventureman' made it to the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal, Petra, the Colosseum, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Pichu and Chichén Itzá in less than seven days.
During the trip, Jamie travelled across four continents, landed in nine countries, flew on 13 flights, and rode in 16 taxis, nine buses, four trains and one toboggan to cover 22,856 miles in six days, 16 hours and 14 minutes.
It was only as he was poised to sign a mortgage agreement having saved up £20,000 that Jamie decided to pursue a life of adventure instead.
"I got this gut feeling as I was signing the papers, I thought 'what's this all about'," he told The Mirror.
"Instead I bought bike for £50 from a newspaper and I cycled 14,000 miles from Bangkok to Gloucestershire, through 25 different countries. Later I sat on a bike for 12 days non stop, my bum was really sore."
Over the course of the monumental effort Jamie slept for just 12 hours in total, kept his superhero suit on for the entire time and doused himself in aftershave due to only having time to take one shower.
He began the trip at the Great Wall of China and the world-record clock started ticking the moment he left it via a toboggan that runs down the hill, leading him on to spend just 15 minutes at the Taj Mahal.
From there, he travelled by bus to the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, flew to Rome to see its legendary Colosseum, envisioning ancient gladiator battles before he made time for a quick pizza pit stop - the only non-airplane food he consumed during the trip.
Christ the Redeemer, the world’s largest art deco statue, brought Adventureman to Brazil, Machu Pichu drew him to Peru before he finished his trip at Chichén Itzá, an archaeological site that was a hallowed place of ceremony in the Mayan culture.
Jamie decided to embark on the trip to raise money for the Superhero Foundation. As a child the adventurer was diagnosed with a rare spinal condition called syringom, and doctors warned his parents that he might lose the ability to walk.
Through the help of many doctors, hospitals and his family, his health improved when he was nine-years-old.
After giving a motivational talk about his fundraising adventures before the pandemic, Jamie was approached someone from Travelport.
They asked Jamie if he would be willing to take on the Wonders challenge if they were to organise the trip for him with a partner of Travelport, Travelbag, which used Travelport+ technology to book the trip for Jamie.
"I am not very plan orientated and usually I don't plan anything," Jamie explained. "They gave me a travel agent so I could do my adventurous thing, and everything that could go wrong was taken care of.
"There were 43 different types of transport that needed to go right during the trip. Only two that didn't go so well. One was me turning up late to a train. I thought I'd missed it, but the train also turned up late.
"The other thing, I went to the wrong terminal at an airport. I ended up missing my flight, but the travel agent was there to correct it straight away."
Although Jamie had so little time to take in the Wonders during the challenge - even leaving the meter of the taxi running for 15 minutes while he had a quick look around the Taj Mahal - they still made an impact.
"Every time I hit a wonder, I had this huge shock of endorphins, like a shot of coffee, then it's on," he said.
"When we saw the Taj Mahal, I cried. I have never cried at any building before. It was that beautiful.
"Machu Picchu was the most magical, and the most challenging to get to. I was out of breath and had altitude sickness, but when you get there it's the most magical space. You don't even want to raise your voice."
At the end of the trip Jamie cracked a bottle of Champagne beneath Chichén Itzá, having found himself more and more delirious from lack of sleep and continuously nodding off as he made his way - training in the form of raising twins not quite enough to battle the tired completely.
While he admits most people will spend a lifetime rather than six and a half days visiting the Seven Wonders, it is possible to do it in a week with firms like Travelbag and Traveport.
Adventureman had round-the-clock access to a dedicated travel specialist who, on his request, tracked evolving travel restrictions, identified schedule changes, and made necessary tweaks to his itinerary in real time.
The firm sells a range of packages that all travellers to visit all Seven Wonders of the World themselves, starting from £31,000.
At the end of the trip Jamie visited Archie, a child with cerebral palsy the Superhero Foundation supports to hand him a cheque for $22,856 - a $1 donated by Travelport for every mile he travelled.
"The kid has cerebral palsy, has pain in his legs, so walking is a real challenge, went to their house with the cheque," Jamie said.
"It was a life changing amount of money for Archie."
For the trip to be endorsed by Guinness World Records, Adventureman had to abide by several rules:
- Use only scheduled public transportation, with licensed taxi rides unable to exceed 50 kilometers
- Keep a logbook with clearly indexed evidence (receipts, tickets, etc.) supporting each step
- Obtain receipts and/or tickets everywhere available
- Use accurate professional equipment (i.e. GPS tracking equipment)
- Take videos and photos showing the applicant, the location and the date at each site visited
- Get a written or recorded statement from an official member of staff, local dignitary and/or police officer at each site
- Understand that the ‘clock’ starts the moment the challenger leaves the first wonder site, and it does not stop for any reason until the challenger sets foot in the final site
You can find out more about Travelbag here and Travelport here.
