(March 6, 2024) One balmy morning amidst the pandemic, Dr Ali Irani, while skimming through the pages of an UAE newspaper, stumbled upon an article detailing the extraordinary feat of Emirati adventurer Dr. Khwala AlRomaithu, who set the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to travel to all seven continents in 86 hours. Proud of her achievement, she was confident that no one could beat her record. But being a physiotherapist with the Indian cricket team for a decade, Dr. Irani had learnt “all records are meant to be broken.” This led him on a journey across the globe in December of 2022 along with Sujoy Mitra, where the two Indian men set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest travel to all seven continents in just 73 hours. “Breaking the record at a time when travel had many Covid-related restrictions, it was surreal,” Sujoy tells Global Indian.
Starting from King George Island in Antarctica, they moved to Chile and Peru in South America, followed by the USA, and ended the trip at Melbourne in Australia on December 7, 2022, in a record time of 3 days, 1 hour, 5 mins and 4 seconds. “Travelling across the seven continents in just 73 hours made me realise that impossible also means I’m possible,” says Dr Irani, who has travelled to 102 countries so far. With Guinness World Record rules in place, they took commercial flights, and travelled on a restricted budget, using their credit card points to the maximum.
Sujoy Mitra and Dr Ali Irani at King George Island, Antarctica
A quest to travel
An ardent traveller who travelled with the Indian cricket team to around 87 countries, Dr Irani has always been passionate about travel. And it was his encounter with Sujoy Mitra in the fall of 2014 that added fuel to the fire. A chemical engineer by profession, Sujoy came from Rai Bareilly – a small district in UP that had no airports. So, taking a flight was aspirational for him, something he did after completing his engineering. “My first flight was Kolkata-Jaipur, which got cancelled. As a complimentary rescheduling, I rescheduled it Kolkata-Raipur-Jaipur, just so I can spend more time in the aircraft,” he laughs. That was the beginning of his love affair with travel. Between 2006-2011, he travelled across the length and breadth of India on a low budget, realising that travelling brought him great joy.
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“I left my corporate job at the age of 29, and knew that travelling was my real calling,” says Sujoy. Ask him if leaving a well-paying job to follow a passion is scary, and he quips, “When the subconscious mind believes that it’s possible, we find ways.” He found his way by starting a Miles Schedule platform where he found his first client in Dr Irani. “With limited resources, I have travelled to 197 countries so far, and this April, I am visiting my 198th country – North Korea – thus making me the most travelled Indian.”, says Sujoy, who has optimised airline, hotel and credit card points to travel due to limited resources. “I travelled first class Qatar for ₹5.50, and first class Emirates for ₹2100.”
Cricket took him across the globe
Dr Irani, on the other hand, is a well-known physiotherapist who worked with the Indian Cricket team from 1987 to 1997, and it was while accompanying the team that he fell in love with travelling. “I covered 87 countries when I was working with the Indian cricket team and now the number has reached more than 102.” On his first meeting with Sujoy, he realised that he hadn’t used his credit card points efficiently for a very long time, and Sujoy soon started encashing them for him by buying plane tickets and upgradations. “I believe 80 percent of the Indians don’t know how to use their points. That’s Sujoy’s way of giving services to the people.”
Dr Ali Irani is a physiotherapist
When Dr Irani came across the news article about the Guinness World Record, he made his first call to Sujoy, knowing his expertise in planning routes. “I asked him if it is possible that we can break this record and he replied in an affirmation. But we knew it would need a lot of planning, as time was the most important aspect. We couldn’t afford to miss any flight as it would jeopardise the entire adventure,” says Dr Irani. Especially as the duo was aware of the strict restrictions related to visas and flights due to Covid-19. “But those constraints brought the best out of us, thinking on our toes about the best alternative. After a lot of brainstorming and keeping all COVID-related restrictions in mind, we came up with a route of 81 hours,” adds Sujoy.
On their way to set a new world record
With only a handful of countries issuing visas during that time, this turned out to be one of the biggest challenges for the duo. “But Sujoy always found a way. So, if a country wasn’t issuing visas, we checked which country’s visa could get us a visa on arrival to the country we wanted to go to. That’s the permutation and combination we had to do to work around the visas,” says Dr Irani. Moreover, these constraints led to the rescheduling of the routes more than three times, and they ended up finding a route where they could finish their journey in 81 hours. “Out of 25 countries, only four were issuing visas Schengen Visa. Moreover, rules changed. You couldn’t get your visa issued from Switzerland and visit France first. These constraints led to rescheduling but were able to figure out a road map for the journey.”
Dr Ali Irani and Sujoy Mitra at Punta Arenas, Chile
They started with Antarctica on December 4, 2022, but the expedition came with a rule from the Guinness World Record which mandated them to avoid the use of any chartered plane. “We needed to book flights that had less scope of getting cancelled or delayed, so we tracked data for the last three months to understand which airline was most reliable,” says Sujoy, who along with Dr Irani was racing against time to travel to all the seven continents in a short time. Having worked with the cricket team, Dr Irani knows how function calmly during stressful situations. And he extended his support to Sujoy during many uncertain times. “In Bhagavad Gita, it says ‘jo hona hai, vo hoke rahega’ (What is meant to be, will happen). So, I kept reminding Sujoy that certain things are beyond our control.”
Race against time
With just 3-4 hours between every flight, they had to navigate the immigration, exit the airport, get on a public transport, reach a designated landmark suggested by Guinness World Records, take selfies and record a minute video, obtain two witness signatures, return to the airport, pass through the immigration and board the next flight.
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That wasn’t all – the duo also had to keep sending their satellite GPS location at every landmark. “Otherwise, we would be disqualified,” says Sujoy, who took the task upon himself. “In case we are in Antarctica, Guinness World Record will recognise Antarctica when we are above -60 degree South i.e. King George Island.” Dr Ali, on the other hand, took the responsibility of clicking selfies and recording videos. With a huge task list to check at every point, they travelled light with a handbag. “A pair of jeans and a few T-shirts,” says Dr Irani, adding there were times when we almost missed our flight. Sujoy chimes in, “Once we started enjoying the struggles, we started enjoying the uncertainties.”
The same uncertainties led them to finish their expedition in 73 hours instead of the planned 81 hours, which worked in their favour. “Our last flight reached one and a half hours before and one flight we flew six hours later from the starting point, so that’s how we ended up finishing 81 hours trip in 73 hours,” reveals Dr Irani.
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New adventures, ahoy!
It’s been a year since the two made the world record, and the duo is now planning to take on another challenge this year. “We are now planning to challenge the fastest travel to the seven wonders of the world,” reveals Sujoy, who will also travel to his 198th country – North Korea – this April. “For me, the journey is more important than the destination.” Dr Irani chimes in, “Travelling is learning. This kind of exposure you cannot get anywhere.”
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