The World’s Most Travelled Man – Fred Finn
At 80 years old, British national Fred Finn holds Kenya as his best travel destination having flown in 600 times in his lifetime.
He recalls curatively that he has spent 30,000 hours in his lifetime flying to Kenya because he always had an affinity for the country’s tourism.
For a man who holds such a record, it is right to call him ‘well-travelled’ or a wanderlust. To him, this is an addiction that he says he is so deep into and will continue travelling until he is 100 years old.
He recently spoke to the Standard, and he said that he still feels strong to travel for the next two decades before he clocks 100 years which is no mean feat.
“I’m not old enough to retire. I will consider the retirement when I’m 100 years old,” Finn who is a former consultant with Ethiopian Airlines said.
His title as the world’s most travelled man was written in the Guinness World Records under “the most mile travelled man” in 1983. Finn says he has visited 142 countries in his lifetime but holds a special memory of his first visit to Kenya back in 1970.
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He has flown over the Atlantic more then 2,000 times he recounts, adding that he has seen the transformation in the global airline industry with technologically advanced planes now taking reign of the skies unlike in his formative years where aeroplane cabins were the real deal.
In his life, he has done 24 million kilometres of flying – a sharp contrast to how many ordinary people make by the time they take on their next life.
A father of eight and a husband to eight women, he says that he is proud of his 45-year-old Ukrainian wife Alla who is the “last born”. Finn ekes a living out of travel consultancy and has major airlines across the globe as his clients tapping from his decades-long expertise in the skies.
He opines enthusiastically that Kenya is a safe haven for anyone looking for a memorable holiday and he always travels to Kenyan as an assurance that it is the place to be even when the tide seemingly is against, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic.
”I fell in love with Kenya on my first flight. Each time there is a global crisis, I come to Kenya to assure the world that it is safe here. It is not different with these times of Coivd-19,” he said.
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Describing himself as a wanderlust, key destinations for him to visit in Kenya is the iconic Maasai Mara. But the abundance of wildlife in the country, natural sceneries such as the snow-capped mountains and expansive savannahs hosting wild animals cement his love for Kenya.
Besides the amazing jungle life Kenya has, he is more into the coastal life which he cannot trade for anything. Anytime he comes to Kenya, Finn sleeps at the coast and spends quality time in the amazing beauty of this part of the country.
Finn has met the high and mighty through his travel enthusiasm. He recalls meeting the late President Daniel Moi in 1997 when he led a tourist delegation to visit Kenya. He prides in talking billionaire Richard Branson – the proprietor of Virgin Group – into visiting Kenya for the first time.
The British travel consultant also convinced Prince Michael of Kent and Sarah, Duchess of York to travel to Kenya which they did.
Being a father of eight, he notes that only one of his children – the eighth born – travels a lot due to the nature of her job but she also enjoys it as much as her father did when flew to the US at the age of 18.
