Time travel is technically possible, by just hopping on flights and traveling across time zones. A German man recently decided to take advantage of this fact to bag the Guinness Record for the world’s longest birthday. Of course, the longest birthday isn’t necessarily the most fun, given that he spent almost all of it sitting in a plane seat, eating airline food!

Sven Hagemeier enjoyed a 46-hour long 26th birthday last year, by flying from Auckland, New Zealand, to Brisbane, Australia, gaining two hours. Then he took a flight to Honolulu, Hawaii, which is 20 hours behind. He actually only spent 13 hours and 10 minutes in the air, but his birthday lasted 46 hours, if you add the time he gained by flying across the International Date Line.

Photo: Guinness World Records

Sven revealed that he has always been a huge fan of Guinness World Records and dreamed of setting a record himself. “After I found the perfect record for me, I felt confident I could become a record holder,” he said. His epic journey helped him beat the previous record for ‘Longest Birthday’, held by Nargis Bhimji of Karachi. She had celebrated her birthday for 35 hours and 25 minutes in 1998, by flying from Karachi to Singapore, and then to San Francisco.

Sven broke the record in 2014, but it was only verified by Guinness officials this year. According to Telegraph UK, he said that “the highlight of his birthday trip was landing in Hawaii at midnight with his wife waiting to meet him, in the knowledge that he had celebrated a 46-hour birthday.” 

Photo: Daily Mail

This year, he plans to have a quiet birthday at home, with his family.