Around the World in 80 Tweets

Posted April 3, 2009 by Katie Blais

Truly a tale for these times. British traveler Paul Smith has completed a trip around the world solely using the good will of others on Twitter. While most people use Twitter to stalk their favorite celebs or tell everyone they are stuck in traffic on their way to work, Smith decided to use it for a good cause, helping him get from London to New Zealand all while raising around $7,000 for his water charity. The rules were that he couldn’t plan anything more than three days in advance, he couldn’t stay in any destination longer than 48 hours, and it had to come from one of his friends on Twitter.  

At the end of his journey (he was just shy of his final destination of World Heritage Site Campbell Island because the next ferry doesn’t depart until November), Paul had 11,000 followers on Twitter and had gained enough media attention that he was able to score a free flight to New Zealand and got his picture taken with Liv Tyler—not too shabby if you ask me!

It makes me want to use my Facebook and Twitter accounts for than just posting pictures from last weekend’s shenanigans and picking my top five favorite cartoons.

Categories: Asia, UK, United Kingdom