I often wonder what the REAL challenge is on these trips which make the media.
Clearly there is no effort flying along on autopilot. Or even without an autopilot, if one doesn't mind getting knackered. I've done 1300 nm in one day without any trouble. Navigation is also completely trivial, with GPS, and in remote regions there won't be VOR/DMEs so there's no need to debate GPS failure. Satellite phones make it possible to keep in touch. So the difficulty has to be in the non-flying bits.
I reckon the hard bits must be
weather
weather
weather
sponsorship / media relations
getting overflight permits
aircraft paperwork/insurance to satisfy everybody
aircraft mods done and approved (e.g. long range tanks)
getting the survival gear together, some worn and some carried
making sure there is fuel at the stops
carrying spare GPS and spare batteries
making sure there is some prospect of rescue (in most of the 3rd world, there isn't a rapid-response SAR service) in case of an engine failure
planning a route so that an engine failure is probably survivable (or just take a big risk)
weather
weather
weather
What have I missed out?