The Fearless Blogger

This month’s Twestival showed the potential of harnessing Twitter’s power to rally the masses to raise money and awareness for a cause.

On March 1, we’ll get to see what happens when one person’s fate is left in the hands of these same masses – again with the goal of raising money and awareness for a cause.

Meet the Twitchhiker
The Twitchhiker is also known as Paul Smith.  Paul used to “have a proper job in radio”, but now write about media for the Guardian, and blogs “about radio, TV and tech for several other websites”.

On March 1st, Paul will

attempt to travel as far around the world as possible in 30 days, relying only on the goodwill of people using Twitter.

His goal is to span the globe as far from his hometown of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK as possible within the month.   Paul has set his sites on New Zealand, since it is “closest to the opposite point on the planet” to his house.  More specifically, the Twitchhiker’s true goal is located at 52.546° S 169.173° E, “an island barely five miles wide that’s so insignificant that Google can’t be bothered to name it”.

The Rules
Paul has five self-imposed rules he’ll follow throughout the next 30 days:

1. He can only accept offers of travel and accommodation on Twitter, from users who are following @twitchhiker
2. He can’t make any plans further than three days in advance
3. He can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in his suitcase
4. If there’s more than one offer on the table, he gets to choose which one to take.
5. If he’s unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and he goes home.

Read the full description of the rules at Twitchhiker.com.

The Cause
Paul’s goal is to his part to raise money for the benefactor of the recent Twestival:  charity: water.  The Twestival organizers have recently announced a goal of raising one million dollars for the cause.  This month’s event raised over $250,000 towards that goal.

Right now, 1.1 billion people on the planet don’t have access to safe, clean drinking water. That’s one in six of us.   charity: water is a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. They give 100% of the money raised to direct project costs, funding sustainable clean water solutions in areas of greatest need. Just $20 can give one person in a developing nation clean water for 20 years.

Connect with the Twitchhiker
The Twitchhiker blog is at twitchhiker.com.  Other ways to track Paul’s project and/or help him on his journey:

• Follow @twitchhiker on Twitter
• Track twitchhiker @gmail on Google Latitude
• Sponsor twitchhiker at justgiving.com (100% of the money is donated to charity: water)
• Watch the Twitchcasts on YouTube

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Inspirational or Insane?
Personally, I love what Paul’s doing.  Too many people let their lives pass by talking about pipe dreams without taking any action. I’m not sure I’d be brave enough to go through with a similar endeavor – but my hesitance stems from being a bit paranoid about the personal safety of a gal traveling in unknown parts of the globe on her own.

I wish Paul the best of luck on his adventure and am looking forward to seeing which way the Twitter winds send him!

What do you think about the Twitchhiker’s plans?
Inspirational? Insane?  A little of both? Do you think you have what it takes to do something similar?

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