Home / Interviews /Podcasts / 093 – The Twichhiker, Paul Smith
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Paul Smith hails from Newcastle upon Tyne, England but he’s hoping to get as far away from there as possible. He calculates the furthest landmass is tiny Campbell Island, south of New Zealand.
It doesn’t seem too difficult, but Paul is attempting to do this in 30 days. And he’s “hitch-hiking” by only accepting offers of transport and accommodation from users of a social media site called Twitter.
We wanted to get past the press and talk with the Twitchhiker himself. During the interview we discuss his motivation, the charity he’s supporting and the trip itself. Click the play button at the top of this post to hear it, or subscribe in iTunes and download it for free.
1. I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation on Twitter, from users who are following @twitchhiker
This means if a Twitterer’s sister’s boyfriend’s father has a spare train ticket, I can’t use it; the help the person has to be a Twitter user, and they have to be able to directly action the offer of help. This may be too restrictive, but I want to draw on the support of the Twitter community, not to use Twitter as a search engine to find third party services.
2. I can’t make any plans further than three days in advance
It’s entirely possible that before I begin this challenge, I could have my entire route pre-determined and that would be no fun at all. So unless an offer of transport or accommodation is made within 72 hours of it being applicable, I can’t accept it. Damn.3. I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase
All travel and accommodation must be offered to me through Twitter. If I can’t, then I’m sleeping rough.4. If there’s more than one offer on the table, I get to choose which I take. If there’s only one, I have to take it within 48 hours.
I’m not entirely happy about this bit. If any part of this challenge is going to see me dead in a ditch or under a patio, it’s this part.5. If I’m unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home.
I hope my fellow Twitterers won’t let that happen.
Help the Twitchhiker by:
You can also find us on twitter (site news, Craig) and plenty of other social media sites.
We’ll be posting more about this soon, but suffice to say we’ve been nominated in the Lonely Planet travel blog awards and could really use your help. There are plenty of other great sites nominated across the categories and we’re honoured to be featured alongside our competitors. That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t love a win: please vote for “Indie Travel Podcast” under the “best podcast” category.
NOTE: The chance to speak with Paul came through at the last minute, after we had already recorded this week’s show. Next week we’ll also talk about some of the same things and, strangely, call it show 93. We know … thanks in advance.
Your thoughts on the trip? How far will Paul Smith, the Twitchhiker, get? Tell us in the comments.
Written by: Craig and Linda
Posted on: Friday, February 27th, 2009
Posted in: Interviews, Podcasts
Responses: 8 so far
Your Spanish is… something else, but you’re English is perfect. Befriending… Friending…. “Friending is giving one of those red squiggly marks, so you must be correct on that one.
@twitchhiker – If you come my way, I’ll hook you up for sure.
February 27th, 2009 at 10:45 pmWhat an amazing experiment! Not sure if he’ll get to this side of the world (South East Asia) but if he does I’m hooking him up for sure
I have qualms however, about that last rule #5. 48 hours sounds like such a short notice, he won’t really have much time to enjoy his travels now won’t he? And what is a “location” supposed to mean? A city? What if another guy offers him a ride and a place to stay on the same city, but on a totally different part of town?
4×24 hours sounds more to my liking… but ah well.. he’s the man. His rules, his way.
March 2nd, 2009 at 12:24 pmWhat Paul is doing is fantastic. I can’t wait to see how far he makes it.
March 5th, 2009 at 4:55 pmAre you going to put some imaginary money on the table? How far do you think he’ll get?
March 5th, 2009 at 5:30 pmwow, that is an amazing experiment. good luck with it!
March 5th, 2009 at 6:07 pmglad it isn’t me doing it! bravo – and good luck!!
March 29th, 2009 at 11:09 amPaul’s made it to NZ! Amazing…
March 29th, 2009 at 4:58 pm