Airports are places of waiting. Passengers sit beneath departure boards, watching cities flicker past in rows of glowing letters. Flights are delayed, gates change, and journeys unfold slowly, one boarding call at a time.But for Sujoy Kumar Mitra, for 5 days, 17 hours and 28 minutes, airports were something else entirely. They were checkpoints in a race against time, gateways that carried him across nearly the entire planet—more specifically, across the New Seven Wonders of the World.It was at Petra that he achieved the milestone no one has reached to date: a Guinness World Record for the fastest time to visit the New Seven Wonders of the World, completing the journey in exactly 5 days, 17 hours and 28 minutes.In an exclusive conversation with Times Travel, Sujoy Kumar Mitra gave us the often chaotic ‘Behind The Scene’ tour that finally helped him bag the coveted world record. But before we go into that in detail, here’s a little background on Mr Mitra as a traveller.
Guinness Book of World Record
Why Guiness World Record?
To this Sujoy replied, “I have been travelling since 2006. Till 2011, I was travelling across India. From 2011 till date, I have been to 198 countries. Travelling was a passion for me. I once held the world record for visiting all 7 continents (which I no longer hold). That was my first Guinness record. We see these records every now and then, and I have always believed that all records are meant to be broken. So it was a lot of fun targeting Guinness records. This outlook really got me started.”His travels place him among a small group of travellers who have visited almost every recognised nation on Earth. We are also told that Sujoy is the only Indian traveller (globally) to hold 11 active Guinness World Records. So many world records, that too, in travel, one wonders – How does one even find the time, and most importantly, how does one manage the finances? Coming from an engineering background, leaving his job in 2014 happened naturally for Sujoy. Reason: to travel the world. He shared that he never took a flight till the age of 28. India travel was completely by trains and other low-cost travel. Here’s something we didn’t expect to hear: The secret behind the flights: “About 80 percent of my travel has been funded through airline miles,” he says. Over the years he accumulated millions of loyalty points through airline programmes, credit cards and boarding passes shared by friends and acquaintances.
Sujoy Kumar Mitra in Machu Picchu
Those points allow him to book long-haul flights, sometimes even premium seats, at a fraction of the normal cost. In essence, he has turned loyalty programmes into a powerful travel tool. He even did the same with hotel stays. Loyalty programs, folks. Always read the fine prints.
The world record and the challenges: The Behind-The-Scenes
One of his most remarkable feats involved visiting the New Seven Wonders of the World in just over five days. The challenge required him to travel thousands of kilometres across continents, stopping briefly at monumental sites including Machu Picchu, Great Wall of China and Petra. The route stretched across continents, leaving almost no margin for delay. Each stop required quick documentation and immediate departure for the next destination. The monuments themselves, from the towering stone walls of the Great Wall of China to the ancient rose-coloured city of Petra, were only part of the journey – the easier part, he said.
The real challenge unfolded in transit
Flights were tightly connected. Immigration queues could derail entire schedules. Any delay threatened to collapse the carefully constructed timeline. At one point, a flight cancellation even forced Mitra to completely redesign his route mid-journey. That was his Rome to Beijing stretch for the next leg of the record race. It was supposed to be Rome-Amsterdam-Beijing. But when it got cancelled last-minute, he had to, without wasting time, reroute it via Munich (Germany). Then came an even greater obstacle. Midway through the attempt, he fell seriously ill. Landing in China with a high fever was not an option so he took medicines to counter the fever and hoped to the Universe to let him get through this travel hiccup without ending the world record attempt. “I just needed to get through immigration,” he recalls.Times Travel: Which was the most beautiful of all New Seven Wonders of the world? Sujoy: There are two answers to this question. Emotionally, it’s the Taj Mahal. But I also must add that for me Petra held a special place. Mainly because it was the place where I broke the record. Before reaching Petra, I was just running around to break the record.Times Travel: One place in the world you would want to visit again.Sujoy: That’s an easy answer: Antarctica. That’s nature at its best. Seeing penguins in Antarctica is one of the most joyful things I experienced. If we look at the Seven Wonders of the World, I’d like to visit Machu Picchu again. From India, it’s like Machu Picchu is on the other end of the world, and it’s the journey that I love the most. Times Travel: One place you’d happily skip.Sujoy: Yemen, mostly because visiting Yemen is highly restricted. For Indians, it is illegal to visit Yemen due to a strict, long-standing travel ban imposed by the Government of India. But if you must visit the country, you’ll need an NOC from the Ministry of External Affairs, Govt. of India.
Sujoy Kumar Mitra at the Great Wall of China
Discovering the world of Guinness World Record
Mitra’s entry into record-breaking began with an ambitious challenge: travelling across all seven continents within a set timeframe. The experience introduced him to the meticulous standards required by Guinness World Records.Unlike ordinary travel, record attempts require detailed documentation. Participants must collect passport stamps, GPS tracking data, continuous video recordings and independent witness statements to prove every step of the journey. Missing even a single requirement can invalidate the entire attempt.Planning can take months. Routes are calculated down to the minute. Flights must align with time zones and opening hours for sites. Sometimes permissions must be secured from institutions that verify the visit. “The day of the record is actually the easiest part,” he adds. “The real challenge is preparing everything beforehand.”
Beyond the records
Despite the headlines and certificates, Mitra speaks about records with a sense of humility. “All records are meant to be broken,” he says. “Even tomorrow someone may break mine.” For him, the real value of travel lies in the perspective it brings, the chance to witness cultures, landscapes and lives that rarely appear together in one person’s journey.From the icy wilderness of Antarctica to the crowded streets of ancient cities, his travels have formed a mosaic of experiences spanning almost the entire planet. What began as a young man’s dream to board an airplane has evolved into something far larger.
