Indian motorcycle rider Venkata Karthik Tupili recently broke the Guinness World Record for the longest journey by motorcycle in a single country, covering a total of 140,094.1 kilometers (87,050 miles) across India. His journey spanned more than 450 days, where he averaged around 350 km (217 miles) per day.
Did you even know there was a Guinness World Record for the longest journey on a motorcycle in a single country? Sounds bonkers, doesn’t it? Well, this is an actual feat, and it was recently claimed by Tupili, who traversed the length and breadth of India on his Royal Enfield Himalayan.
Tupili comes from a humble background and is an engineering graduate. He never envisioned breaking a world record one day and claims it is purely incidental that he merely stumbled upon the idea. His original plan was to cover a total of 160,000 km (99,419 miles), which is four times the circumference of the Earth, and even though he was some 20,000 km (12,427 miles) short of what he intended, it was enough to put his name on the record.
Considering this was an official Guinness World Record attempt, he had to abide by a few rules to make sure his attempt was considered fair and square. One of those rules was that he could not cross the same road twice! As impossible as it sounds, he managed to successfully complete the feat on October 6, 2023.
We spoke to Tupili to shed light on the intricacies of this strange but interesting world record.
Tell us about yourself. What do you do when you are not traveling on your motorcycle?
Born and raised in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh in India. I have a bachelor's in engineering and have worked as an assistant director for web series and movies. I’ve been into arts as well at a point in my life so I’m multifaceted like that.
What brought about the idea of taking on a journey of this size? 140,000+ km is no mean feat…
I didn’t really have the distance on my mind initially. Ever since my childhood days, I’ve known that I’ve wanted to do something big, something meaningful that would add value to my life. I soon realized traveling is one such medium that could do that for me, but even that wasn’t a clear thought. At some point in time, I got into motorcycling and it all made sense from there.
I had an inkling to travel India in its entirety and a friend of mine nudged me to go for a world record while I was at it. Sure enough, I came across an article titled ‘Longest journey on a motorcycle in a single country’ and that’s when I got a map in my hands and got to planning.
How did you manage to finance your journey?
I tried to get a few sponsorships before I began but nothing materialized. It was my father who decided to support this journey of mine and I couldn’t thank him enough. Once I started, a lot of people came forward to help me in any way they could. Water, food, a cup of coffee, a place to stay – anything they could do, they did. It was overwhelming to receive that love from people.
What made you choose this particular record and not something else, perhaps something that was a little bit easier to achieve?
You know how the saying goes… I don’t choose the record, the record chooses me (chuckles). Jokes aside, the record was never on my mind to begin with. It started with a yearning to do something big with my life. Bit by bit, it all came together… The fact that I could do what I did and learn so much along the way, meet so many people from different walks of life, and hopefully inspire others as well, is what matters to me.
How did you manage to keep track of this record? Did Guinness reach out to you?
I filled out an application to Guinness World Records which they accepted. I then received a rules book to abide by. By the way, it was around 40 pages of rules. I had to submit a few documents as a part of evidence for the feat. It included proof of commercial availability, witness and personal log books, witness statements, GPS data, photo and video evidence, and media articles.
I ended up submitting evidence of 20,000+ photos, 5,000+ videos, 458 GPS files, 458 witness letters, bike service bills, media articles, and so on. I used up more than six terabytes to save my data.
Who held the previous record?
When I started my journey, Gaurav Agarwal, a fellow Indian, had the record with around 115,000 km (71,457 miles) to his name. Strangely enough, it changed hands while I was in the middle of my journey. I received an email from Guinness stating that the record was broken by Dana D’Arcy of the USA, where she covered 132,900 km (82,580 miles) approximately.
So how do you prepare to beat that? What did you do to train or prepare yourself to keep going for so long?
The original plan was to go for 160,000 km (99,419 miles) and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. I did about a year of prep where I did a lot of yoga, boxing, and a little bit of martial arts. I also did a lot of cardio to build up endurance over time.
I’m sure this wouldn't have been an easy journey. It must have taken a toll on your mental health. What did you do to take care of yourself?
You’re right. I did a lot of work mentally to prepare for this journey aside from all the physical training. But it is my family that gets a big credit for having my back through this time. Their support is what kept me going.
Let’s talk about the motorcycle… Why did you choose the Royal Enfield Himalayan for this feat?
Royal Enfield is an iconic brand here in India, so naturally my father wanted me to get one as he owned an Enfield back in the day too. I did consider a few other motorcycles too, but ended up choosing RE because of their service network across the country. That was going to be a big factor for me for this trip. The Himalayan seemed to fit the bill perfectly because of how versatile it is and its ability to carry a lot of luggage.
Just a side note, though – I had a terrible service experience with Royal Enfield. Not taking away anything from the bike… it’s an amazing motorcycle, but Enfield’s service experience was the stuff of nightmares.
What changes/mods did you make to your bike to make it capable of such long distances?
I added a few bits like a phone mount, a charger, and auxiliary lights, but other than that the motorcycle was more or less stock.
Sitting for hours on the bike saddle must have been tedious at times. What did you do to keep it interesting for yourself?
I had a fair bit to do, to be honest. As per Guinness’ rules, I had to take pictures and videos throughout the day. So every hour, I would take a small stop just to capture what was going on. I met some amazing people as well, so there were a lot of conversations that kept things fun for me.
Solo riding is not for everyone. What are some of the challenges you had to deal with on this journey and how did you manage to come out on top?
You know I asked a few of my friends to tag along before I began but nothing materialized. And that’s when I knew I should do it on my own. But there are many challenges when you are traveling solo. From packing and unpacking everything on the motorcycle to finding places to stay every single day. I eased into the whole routine over time but it was tough for the first few days.
I remember this one situation when I was in Mizoram, which is in northeast India, when I got stuck in terrible conditions. It must have been raining for hours and I was slipping and sliding in mud. It took me an hour and a half to cover a mere 1.5 km (~1 mile). I decided to call it a day and set up a tent right by the side of the road. As bad as the day was, it was the most surreal morning the next day when I woke up. Just goes to show that you should know how to deal with adversities and enjoy the experience as a whole.
India is a big country. There must’ve been a few culture shocks for you. Could you share a few instances that caught you off guard traversing the length of our country?
Oh man, there were so many cultural differences in the food, clothes, behavior… I remember I was in the state of Maharashtra when I saw thousands of people walking on the roads as a part of their pilgrimage. Then, I also witnessed the tribes in northeast India hunting, which all seems so surreal when you get to witness it firsthand.
What are some of your favorite places from this journey of yours?
Most people would say the Himalayan region of Ladakh and Spiti in north India and I would agree to it too. But for me, personally, I loved Maharashtra, especially during the monsoon. It is so heavenly during that time. You get to witness everything from mountains to beaches, forests, and remote villages, all in one state.
For someone who might not be from India, could you recommend the top three motorcycle routes to do once in their lifetime?
To be honest, I’ve been in some of the remotest parts of India and I would never tell anyone about them just for the sake of preserving the ecosystem there. We, humans, don’t do a good job at looking after nature, so it only scares me.
As far as recommendations go, I don't think there is a list of places I can tell you about. The beauty of travel is in exploration. So go out and explore, that’s the real happiness.
Talk a little about the message you want to spread with this journey of yours.
“Travel helps you heal.”
I wanted to pursue civil services at some point in time but some things led me to give up on that idea. I went through some of the most stressful and darkest days in that time. But it was travel that helped me through that stage.
In this day and age of consumerism, mental health has taken a back seat in people’s lives. The worst thing is that we are not talking about it enough. Travel is the one thing that I personally know that can help one’s mental health. That is what I wanted to spread as a message. Travel really does help you heal.
Any more records you might be keeping an eye on?
Records are nothing more than a piece of paper. So, I’m not chasing these records to be honest. Today, I broke someone’s record, tomorrow someone else will break mine. I would much rather cherish the memories and everything that I’ve learned through this journey.
What’s the one thing you learned from this journey that you’d like to tell our readers?
In the entirety of this journey, I learned so many things that it is hard to share just one. But there’s nothing like doing good in your own capacity. I cannot put a number on the amount of times other people helped me when I was on the road.
But perhaps the most important thing I learned was to always keep smiling. You never know how your smile could make someone’s day better.
Be sure to check out our gallery for more on this epic adventure.
Source: Guinness World Records
