What are you going to do straight after university? The time after your graduation is a good opportunity to do something totally different! Go abroad for a few months and break a Guinness world record can be one of them.
That’s what happened to 3 university friends Paul, 25, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, Johno, 28, from Leeds, and Leigh, 24, from Burntwood. The trio, friends from Birmingham’s Aston University, decided to start the most expensive trip around the world by taxi!
On board of a 20 year old black cab , called Hanna, they went through 50 nations in 15 months. Total cost of the ride £80,000.
The idea to travel the world in a black cab came while the boys were in a taxi on their way home from a night out.
We thought: why not see if we can run up the world’s longest, most expensive taxi journey, and do it all for charity?
Initially the three intrepid friends planned a trip from London to Sidney. However when the smartphone app Get Taxi heard of their adventure, they decided to help the trio and gave them the opportunity to complete an epic taxi ride around the world.
Paul, Leigh and Johno started the trip in UK and went through Europe, Asia , Australia and US. The Smartphone app Get Taxi helped them with the fuel, accommodation and GPS.
Obviously, the trip did not run completely smoothly. During the travel the Brit-trio met with different difficulties. They were arrested in Moscow , stopped in Moldavia and held in Iran. Hanna suffered some problems too. During the 43,000 mile she stacked in an Arctic snowdrift in Finland-detained , struggled to get trough the mud hills in Cambodia and needed repairs in Laos.
None of this stopped the guys! They went ahead with an unique aim: break a world record and raise money for a charity.
The incredible ride, began on February last year and terminated last week in Covent Garden in London, set two new Gunniess records. The first is the longest journey by taxi (the current record is 21,691 miles at a cost of £40,210 held by Brits Jeremy Levine and Mark Aylett and Spaniard Carlos Arrese) and the second is the highest journey reached by a car ( in fact Hanna reached Base Camp, Mount Everest ).
After they arrived back in Covent Garden, Paul, from Stroud, Glos, said: “It’s been emotional.
We’ve been utterly overwhelmed by the support we’ve been given by everyone at home, as well as the countless number of strangers we’ve encountered who’ve been kind enough to help us on our way, especially when adversity struck and we thought, at one point, that our trek would be over."
The taxi adventure of the British trio Paul Archer, Leigh Purnell and Johno Ellison raised 20.000 for the British RedCross( 5.000 provided by smartphone app Get Taxi ).
Neil Fullman, CEO of Get Taxi UK said: ‘The lads have much to be proud of.
‘And we’re of course thrilled that we have helped them to embark and complete an epic journey that few, if anyone, will ever experience.
‘It is great to have played a significant part in helping them to both realize their goal and achieve record-breaking history.’
What are you waiting for? Catch a taxi and start your personal adventure!
Post edited by guest blogger Selamawit Tesfai
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