Travel feats and more in Guinness Book of World Records 2009

Last week, the Guinness Book of World Records 2009 was released, and not only are its accounts of record-breaking feats more bizarre than ever, but this year’s edition also comes with a pair of 3-D glasses for viewing some of the book’s images (if you thought a picture of one of the world’s hairiest men might be startling enough, you should see him stereoscopically). In addition, throughout the 2009 edition are newly introduced categories, including some in the travel-related “Spirit of Adventure” chapters.

A few of the newbies have an eco slant, such as “fastest transatlantic crossing made by solar power,” which is 29 days by a European crew, and “farthest drive by car using alternative fuel,” which is 23,697 miles by Germans in a natural gas-powered VW Caddy EcoFuel.

Other new adventure-related categories this year include “the fastest double-channel swim in relay (female), which was clocked at 18 hours and 59 minutes by a six-woman team; “first overland crossing of the Darien Gap,” made by a duo in a Land Rover; and the “oldest person to visit the North Pole.” Take a guess on the latter? It was Dorothy Davenhill Hirsch, who was 89 years and 109 days old when she reached the Pole in 2004.

Of course, in the motley categories throughout the hardback-cover book, are records and images set to intrigue. Most rattlesnakes in a bathtub? 87. Oldest mother? 66 years and 358 days old (she birthed twins). Longest fingernails on a man? A set of American claws with a combined length of nearly 30 feet. Most pierced woman? A U.K. resident who had 4,225 piercings at last official count. World’s shortest man and leggiest woman (pictured above in Trafalgar Square, London)? Read this AP article for more on that one.

And the list goes on and on, covering areas surprising, humorous and — yes, like the fingernails — somewhat disturbing. Aren’t we humans a fascinating species?

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Sang Tan / Associated Press]

Permalink | E-mail | Print | Add to My Trips

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 21, 2008 at 3:02 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Arts & Culture, Book Reviews, Eco-Travel, Global. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.