How two travellers made it to all seven continents in fewer than 100 hours

It’s unlikely that two complete strangers would embark on the journey of a lifetime together, but that’s exactly what happened for Julie Berry and Kasey Stewart. 

After meeting just once for less than 24 hours, the two decided to conquer a mission no one has ever done before - breaking the record for achieving the Fastest time to travel to all seven continents. 

Calling their mission 7in72, passionate adventurers Kasey and Julie were determined to end their journey in a mere 72 hours. 

Several flights later, which include the densely packed schedule below, the pair set foot on Antarctica to become record holders, completing the journey in 92 hours, 4 minutes and 19 seconds. 

By the time their journey had ended, Kasey and Julie spent more time together on a record-breaking pursuit than when they had first met in early 2017. 

Both on their own nomadic trek around the world, Kasey and Julie initially crossed paths as volunteer parking attendants at a Bonnie Tyler concert in Queensland, New Zealand.

Amid directing traffic through a deserted parking lot, it wasn’t long before the two quickly discovered that their ambitions and appreciation for world cultures overlapped.

Of course, the idea for setting the Guinness World Records title came later, as both Kasey and Julie were at the start of their travels when they encountered each other at the concert. 

In 2016, Kasey had sold nearly all of his belongings and left a vacant position as a Vice President and Group Creative Director – wanting to push himself outside his comfort zone by wandering the world with just a camera in hand.

Julie felt the same way, abandoning her life as a television producer and family counsellor to measure her success by inspirational moments and plane tickets.

The pair not only shared an affinity for new experiences, but a past of being on reality TV shows; Julie had lasted 36 days on the hit show Survivor while Kasey had been a contestant on season 9 of ABC’s The Bachelorette.

A few months later Kasey reached his lifelong goal of reaching all seven continents at the age of 33.

The former corporate worker thought he would feel finished when stepping foot onto his seventh and final continent, but instead wanted to know how fast he could reach all seven continents of the world, and knew that Julie was the only person to help him find out.

After contacting her, both were set on beating the current Guinness World Records minimum of 120 hours (5 days), beginning an extensive plan to embark on their record-breaking project.

After deciding to begin on 13 December, their formidable route would commence in Sydney and end in Antarctica.

While they tried to follow their schedule as closely as possible the two experienced adventurers ended their journey in just over 90 hours instead of 72 due to a 20-hour delay on their final leg of the record attempt, caused by a snowstorm in Antarctica.

Other risk for delays came from the pair's desire to adventure in the country they were in before boarding the next flight.

Despite not sleeping for a straight 48 hours, and nearly missing several flights, they still achieved their dream and managed to take some stunning photos along the way.

While Julie and Kasey don't have any other plans in the near future, they hope to continue traveling and possibly break more records. 

"I still have Kasey withdrawals and wish we could continue to do high intensity world records for life!"

After completing their journey, the new record holders said they felt they learned some key life lessons during the trip.