How One Man Travelled to New Zealand Relying on Twitterers
A brave traveller has made it all the way to New Zealand without buying a single ticket along the way.
Paul Smith - dubbed the Twitchhiker - made the 11,000-mile trip using only donations from people who use the social networking site Twitter.
He gave himself 30 days to complete the trek, and was forbidden to spend a penny on so much as a taxi journey.
On completing his epic trek he wrote on his blog: 'The Twitchhiker project showed that kindness is universal, that the whole can be infinitely greater than the sum of its parts, and that social media may begin online but it will converge with the real world whenever and wherever you let it.'
The Twitchhiker: Paul Smith made the 11,000-mile trip, relying solely on his social networking contacts, in less than 30 days
End of the road: Paul reaches Stewart Island on a cloudy day
Since leaving Gateshead on March 1, the Twitchhiker's journey has seen him cross to the Netherlands, Germany and France.
He then doubled back after being given flights from Frankfurt to Amsterdam, before crossing to New York.
Mr Smith then made his way through Washington DC, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chicago and LA.
A final flight from LA saw the 33-year-old arrive in New Zealand with days to spare.
Paul, of Low Fell, Gateshead, told how a woman met him in Auckland before taking him home to meet her husband, who hails from Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
Paul said: 'He recognised that my diet for the past three weeks had been lacking in bacon and egg sandwiches, and quickly righted that wrong.
'After breakfast, we disappeared into the bush on Auckland's west coast and were plunged into the richest, most spectacular landscapes of my trip so far.
Midpoint: Paul enjoys the lights of New York
'For the people of Auckland, this is their back yard. For me, it was paradise.'
Paul also featured on New Zealand radio station Kiwi FM to talk about his adventure on a breakfast show.
Paul's journey, which has already raised more than £5,000 for charity, was governed by two key rules.
He set himself the task of moving on from each destination in no less than two days, and was forbidden to plan more than three days in advance.
His job as a freelance writer and new wife Jane are waiting for him in Gateshead.
His goal was Campbell Island, a remote outpost off the south coast of New Zealand, but the final hurdle was just too high. It would have relied on a ship's captain prepared to cross treacherous seas on a six day round trip for free.
Round the world in 30 days: Paul's route from Gateshead to New Zealand
So instead he headed for Stewart Island, population of just 400.
'I wasn’t going to see Campbell Island, but it honestly didn’t matter anymore,' he said.
'The aim was to travel as far as I could from home as possible within 30 days, and by reaching Stewart Island I’d travelled to a place the majority of New Zealanders have never set foot on.'
Twitter is a social networking website which allows its users to post information about their day-to-day activities.
People can then read other users' updates, known as 'tweets', which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.
Users can 'follow' other Twitter users if they wish to regularly view that users' updates.
In this way, senders can restrict delivery to those users in their circle of friends.
For more information on Paul's journey visit www.twitchhiker.com
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