Here’s a guy (Paul Smith) who set out to travel as far as he could in 30 days, relying only on the goodwill of Twitterers. (Since Oprah is now on Twitter, I assume everyone already knows what it is, so I’ll dispense with the explanation.)
Beginning March 1, 2009 in the UK, his goal was to reach the Southernmost tip of New Zealand by April 1. His rules were strict but simple: Offers for travel and accommodation can only come from people following him on Twitter (@twitchhiker), no plans could be made more than three days out, he only spends money on food and drink, he gets to choose between multiple offers, and if he is unable to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and he goes home. No pressure.
I was particularly interested in how he crossed the oceans. The Atlantic crossing is described in his blog here. Crossing the Pacific is covered here.
With multiple twists and turns, his adventure was long but ultimately successful. (Not much of a story if he didn’t make it, is it?) While he couldn’t reach Campbell Island due to New Zealand restrictions, he got as close as a person could without any real planning. While long, his full blog is worth the read here.
A map of his adventure can be found here.
All on the kindness of strangers while raising money for charity. Well done, sir!