by Kristen Howard

A German man has snagged a Guinness World Record for having the Longest Birthday Ever.

Sven Hagemeier celebrated his 26th birthday for an incredible 46 hours by flying from Auckland to Brisbane, then back in time to Hawaii across the International Date Line. He had worked out that during those 46 hours, he would only have to spend around 13 of them in the air.

He admitted that he’s been planning to become a record holder for a very long time.

“I have known Guinness World Records since my childhood and I am a huge fan. I always asked myself if it would be possible to set a record myself. After I found the perfect record for me, I felt confident I could become a record holder.”

Hagemeier only had a very small window for sightseeing at the start of his journey, when he spent 90 minutes driving around Auckland in a taxi.

The attempt was actually made in 2014, but it was only recently verified after Hagemeier sent evidence of his tickets and information about the complete journey to Guinness. His record crushed the one previously set by Pakistani Nargis Bhimji, who celebrated her birthday for 35 hours 25min in 1998. She flew from Karachi to Singapore and on to San Francisco in June of that year.

Hagemeier has said that the best part of his 46 hour birthday was the very end, when he landed in Hawaii at midnight—because his wife was waiting to meet him.

He told Guinness World Records that the certificate he received was “an incredible present.”

This post originally appeared on our UK site.