Meet Alma Asinobi, a 26-year-old travel content creator from Nigeria, who recently embarked on a one-of-a-kind adventure. She seeks to obtain the world record for fastest time on each continent. The current record, held by an American who was the first to travel on the train, is 64 hours. Asinobi had originally set her goal to break this record with a time of 73 hours. We were sorry to see her attempt come to a close this past March. This raised important and necessary conversations around passport privilege and access.
Asinobi’s trip kicked off on March 19 from Antarctica. From there, she took a flight to Chile and then on to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Logistically, her itinerary covered stops in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia all within a matter of days. Despite her meticulous planning and determination, Asinobi faced an unexpected hurdle when her flight to Paris was canceled due to the closure of the UK’s Heathrow Airport.
As a passenger, I was just totally at the mercy of all this watching everybody miss their flight. In fact, I didn’t depart until they locked the doors and the aircraft pushed back. It was just so gut-wrenching,” Asinobi recalled of the day her plans fell apart.
Her roundtrip time was 71 hours and 26 minutes. Even though she did not meet her target, her campaign clocked in notable achievements throughout its journey. Along the way, she gathered more than 600 signatures on a giant Nigerian flag. This flag will be certified for a Guinness World Record as a part of her mission.
Asinobi’s journey, though, highlights the difficulties that anyone with a Nigerian passport — currently ranked 92nd on the Henley Passport Index — must struggle against. ADBI’s Global Passport Power Index ranks passports by how many destinations you can enter without a visa ahead of time. So far, Asinobi has traveled to about 35 countries. Her passion for travel was further ignited during her first international trip to Benin, West Africa, in early 2020.
Her main focus is more than simply breaking a record. She’s committed to educating the public on the idea of passport privilege. “That’s really the point that we’re trying to make here,” she stressed.
The implications of passport privilege are significant. Asinobi pointed to real life examples of people facing life changing outcomes because they could not obtain visas. Thousands of others have seen their access to meetings and conferences overseas evaporate. I have one friend who was unable to obtain a visa in time for his mom, and she regrettably died before she could receive her surgery in another country. That is a life-changing event,” she stated.
Asinobi’s experience is emblematic of a growing global conversation about inequalities in global mobility. While many travelers can move freely across borders, others face substantial obstacles that hinder their opportunities for exploration and connection.
