Graham Hughes travelled 160,000 miles in 1,426 days all on a shoestring of just $100 a week. He finished his epic journey yesterday  in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

During his four-year adventure, he says he spent four days crossing open ocean in a leaky boat to reach Cape Verde, was jailed for a week in the Congo and was arrested trying to ‘sneak into’ Russia, reports the Daily Mail.

“I love travel, and I guess my reason for doing it was I wanted to see if this could be done, by one person traveling on a shoestring,” he said  “I think I also wanted to show that the world is not some big, scary place, but in fact is full of people who want to help you even if you are a stranger.”

“There were times, sitting in a bus station in Cambodia at one in the morning, riding some awful truck over bad roads, when I thought, why am I doing this? But there was always a reason to keep going.” Hughes told The Daily Telegraph.

Guinness have now confirmed that Hughes, who filmed the expedition for a National Geographic documentary series and raised money for charity WaterAid, has achieved the world record.

‘The main feeling today is just one of intense gratitude to every person around the world who helped me get here, by giving me a lift, letting me stay on their couch, or pointing me in the right direction,’ Hughes added.

You can see video clips from Graham’s travels on his YouTube channel.