I recently circumnavigated the globe in 80 hours, give or take. I checked, and it beat Phileas Fogg's record of 80 days by nearly 77 days, as described in the travel/adventure novel published in serial form by French author Jules Verne in 1872.

I know over a sesquicentennial has passed since that original — albeit fictional — feat, conducted mainly by steamboat and balloon. And back in the day, the Paris-Beijing high-speed railway was in its infancy, so I shouldn't expect a ticker-tape parade for my Blitzreise — as my recent trip around the world mainly took place on a commercial carrier — but I figure I deserve a modicum of public recognition for shaving 11 weeks off the journey, no? Well, it recently happened. No kidding.

By the way, can any aviation experts out there tell me why pre-COVID, whenever I flew between China and North America, I only crossed one ocean and one ocean only, that is, the "Peaceful Ocean", ie: the Pacific? If you take a globe, tightly stretch a string between Beijing and New York, that taut string doesn't get anywhere near the Atlantic, let alone Europe. But on my past few trips to North America, I've transferred through Warsaw, Casablanca, Tashkent and Brussels. Why? More advantageous trade winds? Scenic routes?

Another thing that's changed over the years is the carrier itself. Pre-COVID, all my trans-Pacific flights were seemingly handled by a single airline company. That made it much easier to plan, scheduling-wise, and getting frequent flyer mileage credit was a walk in the clouds. Also, the chances of striking up a friendship with a fellow traveler were significantly higher if transoceanic sojourns didn't involve playing musical "chairiers" (chairs and carriers).

See what I did there? Anyway, about that recent 80-hour round-trip flight between the US and Beijing. It was truly Magellanesque in nature. You'll all recall that Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan is often credited with being the first to sail around our planet from 1519-1522 (three years longer than my accomplishment!). I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Chinese Admiral Zheng He (1371-1433) may have beaten Ferdinand to the punch, but GPS verification at the time was a bit hit-or-miss.

So check out this air travel itinerary I recently purchased via the Chinese travel site Qunar (Where are you headed?). Depart Beijing with Air China and beeline over the Pacific for several hours as the crow flies without seeing a spot of terra firma until landing in San Francisco. Then enough time in the "Old Gold Mountain" City, as they say in Chinese, to grab some local seafood before heading to Orlando, home of Disney World. After some quality time with relatives, I flew to Boston (again, more seafood, specifically a delicious but expensive bowl of New England-style clam chowder), before heading over my second ocean in 12 days, the Atlantic this time, for a two-hour layover in Brussels.

The ticket said so, and I was really hoping to exit the aircraft for the famous Belgian dish moules-frites (mussels and fries). As if I need more muscles! But, gosh darn it to heck, we got to Brussels Airport a bit behind schedule, and the cabin crew said there was only time for refueling, so we couldn't leave the aircraft for snacks and the country's famous chocolate!

Anyway, I just had to wait for Chinese cuisine after a long but smooth flight to Beijing. There you go … all told with drives to and from the departure airports, navigating snaking lines through customs and immigration, and layover times at three airports, your grand total sir, is some 80 hours. Never did that before. Wouldn't mind trying it again. Maybe in the opposite direction next time, with guaranteed aircraft disembarkation for souvenir shopping.