Guardian writer Paul Smith has found a novel way to raise money for charity and test the power of social networking at the same time; he plans to Tweet his way around the globe in 30 days, using only transport and accommodation offered to him via Twitter.
Why? To see if it is possible of course.
Smith, aka @twitchhiker, plans to begin this extraordinary trek March 1, and continue as far as the goodwill of fellow Twitterers will take him. His goal is to travel as far away from his hometown in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and has estimated the closest landmass to be at 52.546° S 169.173° E, just off the coast of New Zealand. “An island barely five miles wide that’s so insignificant that Google can’t be bothered to name it,” Smith notes on his about page.
There are five rules he needs to follow:
- He can only accept offers of travel and accommodation on Twitter from users who are following @twitchhiker – if none is offered, he’ll be sleeping ‘rough’
- He can’t plan more than three days in advance
- He can only spend money on food and drink
- If he gets more than one offer, he can choose; if he only gets one he has to take it with 48 hours
- If he can’t move on from a location in 48 hours, the challenge is over and he goes home
“Twitter is an infrastructure that facilitates a global conversation, a social club, a newswire, a group hug, a support network, a human search engine – all at once. And it’s growing exponentially,” Smith said recently, “Spend a while cultivating your Twitter account, and you could develop contacts in every timezone.”
Smith’s unusual adventure will begin on March 1. For more information, check out his site Twitchhiker or follow him on Twitter and watch this incredible social networking experiment unfold; we certainly will be.
If you want to join the RWW crew on Twitter, check out this slideshow of our accounts.
Image credit: Bickel
