A father from Bradford, UK, has spent a whopping £9,000 and trekked over 20,000 miles to visit six of the seven wonders of the world — and now he wants to complete the challenge
A travel enthusiast has spent a jaw-dropping £9,000 to journey more than 20,000 miles with the aim of seeing every one of the seven wonders of the world.
So far, proud dad Imran Fazil, 41, has bagged six of the seven wonders of the world — including the Colosseum in Rome, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, The Great Wall of China, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá in Mexico, and Petra in Jordan.
These remarkable adventures are inspired by the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, historic marvels standing since the times between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD. Imran is excited to round off his global quest with a family trip to the Taj Mahal in India, alongside his wife Sehrish, 36, and their three kids: Aisha, 12; Maria, 11; and Adam, 9.
He shared: “I’m looking forward to completing it because they are all iconic places around the world.
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“The Taj Mahal is a symbol of love so I felt like because I’ve never taken my wife and kids to the other places, this was the perfect one.”
Given his Pakistani roots, he feels visiting the Taj Mahal with his children would be the ultimate finishing touch on his travels. It all started when Imran toured the Colosseum back in 2008, igniting his passion for travel and prompting him to take on the rest of the challenge across the various nations.
His extensive trips even included the awe-inspiring Great Pyramids in Egypt — the sole survivor of the ancient list. Imran, a secondary school ICT and PE teacher, shared: “From a young age, I wanted to always travel. When I went to Rome in 2008 it had loads of beautiful; places like the Vatican and the Colosseum. Just so much history.
“I found out it was one of the new wonders of the world so it has always been on my list to do the others.”
Imran declared Machu Picchu in Peru as his favourite destination, describing it as “memorising”.
He recalled: “When I went to Peru, it was quite backdated in terms of the cars, technology, and the culture as a whole. It was very different to England and other countries. Each one of them has its own unique experiences but the Machu Picchu was just memorising.
“I would encourage people to go see these wonderful places. With each one, you get to feel the culture and see lots of other travellers from around the world. It was very interesting that it is not just me on this journey but everyone around the world.”
Imran, who has previously visited various countries including America, Australia, Thailand and Japan, hopes to visit Africa next. He expressed: “I knew I should travel to the seven wonders, so I thought I should go there and continue traveling. I’ve not been to the proper parts of Africa, I’ve not explored that area. That will be a total different culture compared to what I’ve seen before.”
He concluded with a travel mantra: “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. Traveling to all of these countries has opened my mind up, to be grateful for what I have.”
