Recognized as “the world’s most traveled man,” Fred Finn flew “more than 15 million miles around the globe,” a feat that led to him becoming the holder of the “Guinness World Record for the most flights on Concorde – 718 in total.” A record that will not be beaten since the Concorde jet was retired in 2003.
Having never “set out to break any records,” Finn says his travel peaked with crisscrossing the Atlantic, “once a week for four years” on the famed Concorde jet, an aircraft about which Finn still speaks glowingly.
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Though many people would perhaps describe the Concorde as “elite,” Finn explains that he was a commuter on the express flight for more pragmatic reasons: It gave him the best flight options, often allowing him to save 24 hours of travel time. Thus, he could arrive in London, from New York, and successfully catch, for instance, the 10 p.m. flight to Nairobi, which allowed him to do more work – something that his bosses encouraged.
In like Finn: Ukraine’s Passion for Ukraine
It was not the Concorde, that carried the US-UK citizen to Ukraine in 1992 for the first time. Rather, a TV station asked Finn if he could head up a delegation of businessmen – with camera crew in tow – to tour the country.
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During his inaugural trip, Finn enjoyed the country that had recently gained independence and remembers some of the exotic adventures he had, including yet another experience that will never again be repeated: He was given a tour of the Russian Black Sea Fleet – including its flag ship, the Moskva, which is now at the bottom of the Black Sea, having been sunk by Ukraine in April 2022.
Describing Ukraine as a “beautiful country,” where “the people are very friendly,” but it was something deeper that helped Finn to make-up his mind to call Ukraine “home”: He fell in love with a Ukrainian woman who has been his wife for 19 years.
The adventurer notes that he sees many parallels between his childhood, “in the garden of England,” following the Second World War, and Ukraine, where he notes both populations have similar customs, like growing vegetables in their allotments. Now, since the full-scale invasion began, Finn says there is another key factor of why the British feel such solidarity with Ukraine, as the “British and I remember the nights down in the cold and damp air aid shelter between two houses during the bombing in Canterbury and how my parents and grandparents bravely withstood the German Blitz, a close parallel to how millions of Ukrainians today survive,” says Finn.
Finn, like his family, is an unabashed supporter of Ukraine’s fight for freedom. His sister-in-law trains soldiers on how to use emergency equipment, like bandages and tourniquets,” and his brother-in-law delivers it to the front line which “saves lives.”
Of 150 countries visited – which is his favorite?
“Kenya,” says Finn, explaining that country’s temperate climate, breathtaking landscapes, remarkable wildlife, and kind people, make the country a wonderful destination. Having been on plenty of incredible safaris, Finn mentions that once it was perhaps not the animals that caught all the attention, but his guest, Sir Richard Branson, who was along for the ride.
Despite those fond memories, sometimes trips do not go as planned, and turn out to be far wider than even a safari.
Case-in-point: Being in Tehran, Iran, in 1979, as Iranians overthrew the Shah, was not what Finn had expected of his trip, which was only made more “exciting” by the fact that Finn was staying “across the street from the American Embassy” that was overrun by the Islamic revolutionaries.
Though Finn got out from Iran unscathed, the American diplomats at the embassy compound were violently taken hostage until they were released, on the day of Ronald Reagan’s 1981 Inauguration, after 444 days of captivity.
Pro tips for travelers
“I have never had jetlag,” declares Flinn, arguing that “jet lag was something invented by flight attendants to get extra time-off between flights.”
So, for us mere mortals: What is the best strategy to avoid the misery of jet lag?
Finn says that the real culprit behind the hungover feeling of jet-setting is dehydration and tiredness.
The tiredness, says the accomplished traveler, starts before people even arrive at the airport, as the night before less-regular travelers fret over the trip ahead: Will the car arrive in time to pick us up for the airport? Did we pack everything? Stressing over such things leads to people arriving to the gate already exhausted, compounding their fatigue, and setting the conditions for what they will later blame on jet lag.
As per the dehydration that comes with climate-controlled cabins on airplanes, Finn says he always keeps moisturized, regularly splashing water on his face, and seeks to rest for a quarter-of-an-hour, “every now and then” so that he does not drain himself.
Planning also plays a role: To keep the pace going, Finn says he always sets his watch to the destination country’s time when they close the doors, on the plane he eats at local time’s meal hours and goes to bed when everybody else at the final destination goes to bed.
In all, adventurers undoubtedly realize that travel is “one of the best educations in the world” says Finn, who notes that it is “amazing” how “it opens barriers… when you talk to people.”
Fred Finn has recently published a book, Sonic Boom, recounting his life’s incredible journey.
Available at www.fredfinn.uk and on Amazon
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