Meet a man who takes “extreme” day trips as a hobby, covering thousands of miles in just 24 hours.
Michael Cracknell, 35, spends his free time traveling around Europe, traveling from his home in West Sussex to as far away as Switzerland and Athens.
And he does it all in one day, so he doesn't have to miss work and can take an extra day off on the weekend to recover.
Michael, from Haywards Heath, is a photographer by trade and founder of the Facebook group Extreme Day Trips, which has over 250,000 members.
He uses the group, which was founded in October 2022, to organize trips with others, and members also share their experiences with like-minded people.
Michael said of his first trip: “Some people were very skeptical and said you wouldn’t be able to do anything in one day. I wanted to prove to you that you can do it.
“It grew from there and exploded into what it is today. I'm really surprised at how popular it is. I never expected anything like this to happen.
“Everything is done in one day, so you don’t have to take time off from work, and you have one day left on the weekend to recover, shop, and do laundry.
“That way I can go to work on Monday and say, ‘Oh, I went to Athens for the weekend,’ and I don’t use any of my days off.
“I don't really like being away from home for long periods of time, so day trips were the perfect travel answer for me.”
Cracknell's love of day trips began when he visited Toulouse with his father in 2002 while he was training to become a pilot.
In 2020, he reignited his passion for 24-hour adventures and booked plenty of trips before the coronavirus pandemic put his hobby on pause.
After starting a Facebook group, a post about planning a day trip to Benidorm for under $125 went viral. It is said to be the cheapest trip ever.
This year he started taking groups of people on trips, and just last weekend he took 20 people to Switzerland.
So far, he has planned about 12 trips with about 15 people participating each.
Cracknell isn't sure how much vacation time he's taken since starting the job, but says it's “quite a lot.”
He added: “Since 2022, we have been traveling around Europe on day trips. People love to travel and have fun.
“I don't charge, I just plan, and people book themselves.
“I can't believe how amazing the community is. They're so appreciative and can't believe we did it in one day. And now I've done this to 100 people. far exceeds.
“I’ve made a lot of friends through this, and the friendships that come from it are amazing.
“Most of the time I come home completely exhausted. I'm still groggy during the day, but I certainly sleep better that night.
“You can get used to it to some extent, but for beginners, the fatigue may be unbearable.”
Reminiscing about his favorite trip, Cracknell also mentioned visiting Athens with his father and two brothers.
He said it was a “really special day” as the family flew to the Greek city and spent 24 hours visiting all the tourist attractions for just $185 each, including dinner and activities. It is said that
Planners say it's easy to take a fun-packed trip abroad, as just the train to Edinburgh costs more than that.
Mr Cracknell said he was planning another group trip to Switzerland in the next two weeks for 2024, and said 2,500 people had applied to visit with him.
He added: “I really love Switzerland. The public transport there is much more reliable than here.
“The key to cheap travel is to book your flight as early as possible during the sale period.”
