ADVERTISEMENTLexi Alford, best known as Lexi Limitless, is no stranger here at Euronews Travel.
We first interviewed Alford a few years ago after she broke a world record, becoming the youngest person to travel to every country in the world at the incredible age of 21.
Now in her late twenties, Euronews Travel caught up with the American traveller to learn about her latest world-record-breaking attempt: to become the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an electric vehicle (EV).
Alford’s global circumnavigation record attempt was captured for the new three-part docuseries ‘Charge Around The Globe’ on Prime Video, which came out on 18 November.
Lexi Limitless’ goal? To travel across six continents and over 29,000km in an EV.
Alford says that she’s always had a deep curiosity about the world and what she can learn from other cultures.
But part of her motivation to travel is to push her limits, which is where the name ‘Lexi Limitless’ comes from.
“I do believe that the greatest experiences and the best catalyst for personal growth is getting out of your comfort zone”, she says.
And because of her ‘Limitless’ philosophy, Alford decided to put a time constraint on herself: to attempt the world record in just 90 days.
“Ideally, being able to spend as much time as you can in a place is how you truly get to know a different culture”, she explains.
“However, the global circumnavigation attempt meant that this trip had a completely different purpose.
“There's actually more to the story than you'll find from watching the documentary. It was the original goal of 90 days, but I wouldn't say that things exactly went according to plan. It ended up taking quite a bit longer than that.”
Lexi Limitless pays homage to female explorer Aloha Wanderwell
This latest world record attempt was inspired by Canadian pioneer and explorer Aloha Wanderwell, who was the first woman to drive around the world in 1922.
“She is such a prolific explorer, but like many other female explorers, she was not credited in the best way compared to her male counterparts,” Alford tells Euronews Travel.
Filming the world record attempt was, Alford explained, partly to honour Wanderwell and tell her story. But once she began her efforts she also recognised many parallels between the two journeys, despite them happening a century apart.
“I really feel I could deeply relate to her stories even though it's been over a hundred years since she was on her journey. There were so many things that she wrote about that really resonated with me, and it was a really beautiful way to pay homage to the explorers who came before me.”
ADVERTISEMENT“Travel has changed so much since the days of Aloha Wanderwell”, adds Alford, “and I have so much respect for what she was doing at the time.”
“I mean, even roads were better suited for a horse and wagon as opposed to the mega highways that we have now. So much about the infrastructure has changed. Also, it's such a privilege to have maps, GPS, constant coordinates, and everything like that.”
“But with the nature of travel, there's always unpredictability, and so many countries do it so differently.”
To emulate her hero, Alford chose to drive a Ford Explorer EV - as Wanderwell had driven a Ford Model-T - and decided to begin and end her journey in Nice, France.
ADVERTISEMENT“We started from the very same hotel that [Wanderwell] departed from in 1922 when she was living in the south of France,” explains Alford.
“It was a funny coincidence,” she adds, “because out of everywhere in the world, I've spent the most time outside of the US living in Nice by complete coincidence, and I consider it a home-away-from-home”.
The EV world-record attempt journey is just part of the story
While the docuseries focuses on the drive, Alford's adventure began much earlier.
It took almost a full year of planning and ideation to create a route that would adhere to the world record standards.
ADVERTISEMENTOne of the biggest challenges in deciding the route was the fact Alford would be travelling by EV, which needed to be charged on the move, as she reveals:
“We tried to the best of our abilities to anticipate where there are EV chargers. There are a few really comprehensive websites for EV travel that try their best to plot out where chargers are located around the world. But, ultimately, you never know when a charger isn't going to work. You never know how long it's going to take if you're using domestic charging. So we really tried our best to do the work ahead of time and try to figure out what would, in theory, work.”
One requirement for the world record attempt was that Alford must visit a minimum of five continents. As she was to be the only driver of the EV throughout the attempt, they had to get creative with border control.
Given the time constraints and sheer logistical complexity of shipping or air freighting the electric vehicles to each continent, after completing one route, the team would reset the clock on a different continent with a new car.
ADVERTISEMENTIn total, four separate vehicles waited for Alford on each continent - and again, the location of these also made her route rather rigid.
Naturally, Alford also needed a specialist expedition team on hand, too. This included an EV mechanic, as “typical mechanics can only go so far”.
“I learned quite a lot about driving around the world”
Unlike Alford’s last world record, being in a car meant she could venture deeper into remote areas.
“You really get to see countries from a more unique perspective…because there are so many little towns and random places along the way that travellers would have no other reason to be in.”
ADVERTISEMENTStarting in France, Alford found it “so satisfying” to drive through Europe and “absolutely mesmerising” how much the culture and scenery changed.
“I love places that are slightly more off-the-beaten-path, so being able to stop in places like Serbia and experience some of the towns there - and driving through some of the more scenic areas of northern Greece - was incredible,” she explains.
And what was Alford’s favourite European destination from the experience?
“I absolutely love Georgia. I think it's one of the most underrated countries in the world.”
ADVERTISEMENTHowever, it was while travelling north from the Atacama Desert in Chile through to Argentina that Alford felt like she was truly in the middle of nowhere.
“That overland border crossing in that region was absolutely stunning, but it was the kind of place where you could drive for four or five hours and not see any sign of human life,” Alford reflects.
“The nature and the scenery were stunning, but it was one of those things that can give you some range anxiety when you're in an EV - because there is nowhere nearby to charge.”
“I always tried to have at least a 50-kilometre buffer range between me and the next charger that I needed, but it's a little bit more difficult to factor in with EVs,” she explains.
ADVERTISEMENT“If you're really climbing a lot of elevation, you'll lose kilometres more quickly. But by contrast, you're going to gain range as the car charges itself while you're coasting downhill. So, it's an interesting game that I played with myself, watching what was going to happen over all the different terrains.”
One of Alford's most stressful driving experiences was crossing the busy highways of northern India, which she admitted felt “chaotic”.
Yet visiting India was clearly worth it as she had some incredible experiences in the country: Volunteering in a community kitchen at a ‘gurdwara’ (Sikh temple), visiting the Taj Mahal, and witnessing spiritual ceremonies along the River Ganges in Varanasi.
“For me, travel is all about the people”
While this epic and challenging adventure had a time constraint, Alford didn’t want to be cramped in her electric car the whole time: She also sought out real experiences in the 28 countries she visited.
ADVERTISEMENT“I was able to meet so many incredible people along the way with so many different stories: I went on patrol with an all-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa, and I was able to box with the first female Muslim MMA fighter in Malaysia,” Alford shares.
“I also spent some time with a Buddhist nun named Karma in the Himalayas in the mountains of Bhutan. And her perspective on life was so inspiring…she really taught me a lot about how to be present, which is something that I really needed to hear at that point in the journey.”
And would Alford do it again?
“I would do it again…but with a slower pace.”
ADVERTISEMENT“It can get really challenging at times, and it can take a whole toll on your physical health and your immune system…” reflects Alford.
“...As you see in the documentary teaser, it was definitely a major contributing factor to some of the stress and the [route] changes. It really taught me that there's truly nothing more important than your health.”
“I'm excited to take some time to reflect a bit more - before I come up with the next crazy adventure!”
To find out if Lexi Limitless, aka Lexi Alford, was successful at her world record, watch the three-part docu-series ‘Charge Around The Globe’ on Prime Video.
ADVERTISEMENTIn the meantime, Lexi continues to inspire others to travel the world through her engaging Instagram feed and YouTube channel.