Would you ‘Charge Around the World’? An exclusive with Lexi Limitless on her EV world record attempt

24.11.2024 - 23:41 / euronews.com / Jennifer Marsden

Lexi 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.

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.”

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.”

“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