Ultimate Jetsetter Alabama Native Taylor Demonbreun Broke Four World Records On Her Whirlwind Tour Around The World
by Heather Cassell
When Taylor Demonbreun stepped on to Canada’s soil, she had a hunch that she had broken a couple of records, but she didn’t know for sure.
What she did know was that she wanted to inspire other young women to travel the world, she wants to work in the travel industry, and there are several places she wants to return to and explore more in-depth.
On June 13, the official email from the Guinness World Records, which publishes the “Guinness Book of Records,” hit her inbox. She learned that her one year and 189 days traveling to all 196 countries she broke not just one, not just two, but four world records for her adventure that started in June 2017 and ended in December 2018.
When she arrived in Canada on December 7, 2018, Taylor officially became the fastest person to ever to visit all 196 countries in the world. Then the awards started racking up. She also became the youngest person, the youngest female, and the fastest female to ever travel the world.
To prove it, when she got home, she had to gather 5,000 pieces of evidence – photos, testimonials, receipts, tickets, and more – of her journey, despite documenting it on her blog, Trek With Taylor, to submit to Guinness World Records. It took her two months to pull it all together. Then came the grueling 188 days waiting for the record-setting experts to confirm her achievement. When the email finally arrived in her inbox, she felt a sense of achievement.
“It was an amazing and incredible feeling to walk into Canada at the end of my trip,” Taylor told the New Zealand Herald, “but getting the email that I had set the records just made everything finally feel complete.”
The Final Results
Taylor feeding a giraffe in Kenya. (Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Demonbreun / Treking With Taylor)
At the end of her journey, she beat the previous fastest record, 559 days, by less than a week. Taylor told the Guinness people that she could have shaved off two months from her goal if she didn’t have to travel home for family health emergencies and some pesky flight delays and visa issues.
Despite the turbulence during her journey, one bad flight that set off a chain reaction disrupting her plans, and the Guinness World Records process her sampling of the world only inspired her to keep traveling.
“I’m hoping to be able to travel back to many of the places that I didn’t get to see in depth at some point in my life,” she told the newspaper. “There are tons of countries, especially in Asia and South America, that I am already trying to figure out how to get back to.
I would absolutely love to live abroad someday.”
She wasn’t always alone during her journey. Her father joined her in New Zealand, where she took a few extra days on her journey.
“It was such a fun trip and both of us are already hoping to come back very soon and bring the rest of my family,” said Taylor.
How Did She Do It?
Taylor riding a camel in front of the Egyptian pyramids in Cairo, Egypt. (Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Demonbreun / Treking With Taylor)
She did her homework researching records and quickly discovered some that she could break. She made a financial plan, worked a few times while she was traveling, and she was supported by 140 hotel sponsors. Taylor financed the trip herself.
“The biggest funding aspect of my trip would probably be all of my wonderful hotel sponsors,” said Taylor. “I received hotel sponsorships in a majority of the countries that I visited and that helped to lower my costs substantially.”
Her favorite hotel sponsors were the ones who “show me their incredible cities and really gave me some once in a lifetime experiences,” like Mara House in Egypt and Sorinet Hotels in Iran, she said.
“It was a night filled with laughter, singing, dancing, and the constant use of translators and Google translate to talk with everyone there. In that one evening, every preconceived notion that I might have held about the people of Iran was shattered,” Taylor said.
The Importance Of Travel
Taylor of “Trek With Taylor” at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. (Photo: Courtesy of Taylor Demonbreun / Treking With Taylor)
A night like the one Taylor described in Iran is one of the many reasons why travel is so important.
“Young women can, and should, see as much of the world as they can,” said Taylor who discovered her globetrotting passion while studying abroad in London and traveled to 20 countries.
“I have always loved travel and wanted to visit as many places as I possibly could,” she told the newspaper about how one day it simply clicked for her what she needed to do.
“I wanted to show not only that solo female travel around the globe was possible, but that it is feasible even in countries one might not have previously thought to visit,” she said.
Now home, she’s catching up on sleep and taking care of her health and planning her next adventure: A book? A webseries?
“I’m really excited for the next chapter,” Taylor said. “I think writing a book or working to bring something to television to help show everyone more about the world we live in might be a really cool next step.
“I’m open to all possible opportunities.”
Book your next solo adventure with Girls That Roam Travel. Contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel at 415-517-7239 or at .
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