Meet Peter McConville, Pavel Krechetov (Pasha), and Abdullahi Salah, three guys who recently set a new record for traversing all 50 States in 133 hours and 10 minutes. So how did they do it? How long did it take for them to plan this mammoth road trip across America, and what route and car did they take? Well, I recently had the chance to chat with these three guys in order to find out more about how they managed to accomplish this arduous challenge.

The Plan

Peter and Pasha are YouTubers, currently based out of Austin, Texas while Abdul, who's an equally passionate adventurer, lives up north in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was Pasha who suggested that they do a 50 States video for one of Peter’s channels back in December last year, and the whole thing came to fruition in May.

While the idea was great, they thought to themselves, why not set a record while they’re at it. According to Peter, the old record stood at 136 hours and so they decided to go for it. After three months of meticulous planning, the guys eventually settled on a route that saw them hit every U.S. State in around five days.

The Route

Now unlike most cross-country trips like the coast-to-coast Cannonball Run or a four-day Grey Hound bus trip from L.A. to New York, these guys were going to take a completely different approach.

The Cannonball challenge for instance is a dash across the land and takes a more direct east-west path. But since the trio planned to touch all 50 States, they had to come up with a route that not just accomplished that but also allowed them to see some noteworthy sites along the way.

The plan was to begin on the northeast coast and then zig-zag across the country with the route in a few instances, barely brushing past parts of certain states. They would eventually end up in Seattle before taking a couple of flights to get to the final two States, i.e Alaska and Hawaii.

The Ride

Now obviously when you’re embarking on a cross-continental trip as big as this one, you want to be as comfortable as possible. So what car did they choose? Well, it was a rental - a 2022 Ford Escape, which was going to be their humble abode on wheels for the next five days.

Now, this is TopSpeed, so I was curious to know about how the Ford Escape fared on this trip. The guys told me that it was pretty comfortable, albeit it was tight for Abdul’s 6’3” frame. The gas mileage was decent, and they didn’t have to fill up as much as they’d anticipated. All they did was check the oil level at about 5000 miles in. As for outright pace, they were able to push the Escape to its electronically limited top speed of 120 MPH on the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah.

Let’s hit the road

Peter and Pasha flew into Boston and met up with Abdul. The three then headed up further north to Vermont, before setting off. From there, to put it briefly, they just drove through the Lower 48. The trio took turns to drive, with one of them snoozing in the back seat.

While it was possible for each of them to do eight-hour stints at the wheel early in the trip, things got pretty challenging in the latter stages of the trip. Sleep deprivation and fatigue really did start to take a toll on them and they had to alternate drivers every couple of hours. While on the road, Peter discovered that they may have miscalculated a few things, which meant that they were in a race against time, in order to catch their flight out of Seattle.

So with that, the guys were pretty much going flat out, living on food found at gas stations along the way. They just made brief pit stops to use the restroom and occasionally stocked up on gas, but for the most part, they were on the Interstates. While it was easier to cover ground through the Eastern and Central States, the final nine on the West were far more challenging to drive through, owing to their bigger size.

However, they did take some detours to check out some noteworthy landmarks along the way like:

- The Times Square in New York City

- The Chicago Bean

- Mount Rushmore

- Hoover Dam

- Salt Flats of Utah

- Grand Canyon of Colorado

- The Las Vegas Strip

Abdul told me that they didn't just manage to drive past several major cities along the way, but their selected route also saw them go through some of the most incredible landscapes in the country. Eventually, they made it to Washington State on the West Coast and the Escape had an additional 7400+ miles when they returned the car in Seattle before their flight to Anchorage.

They made it

To sum it up, what started out as a fun video for one of Peter’s lifestyle Youtube channels, ended up becoming a mighty challenge that the trio had embarked on. After 133 hours and 10 minutes on the road (and briefly in the air), the trio touched down in Honolulu. They had just set a new fastest time record for traveling to all 50 U.S.States.

What really got to them on the entire trip were things like the crazy traffic in certain parts of the country, steep gas prices, the lack of sleep and showers, a bug-splattered windshield, and leg cramps to name a few. But was it worth it? 100-percent. There is no better way of seeing the country up close than from the ground. This was a trip of epic proportions and will leave the three with memories to cherish for life.

You can watch how the three crossed 50 States in five days in the video below