Orbitz Blog

By Kate Schwartz

It all began in the bread aisle of Paul Smith’s local supermarket. Somewhere between white and wheat, he decided it was time for an adventure. And not any ordinary adventure — Smith was determined to travel the world in 30 days without so much as buying a plane ticket or paying for a cab. He would rely solely on the kindness of people who follow him on Twitter, a social media micro-blogging site. Dubbing himself the “Twitchhiker,” Paul Smith set off from England to find out just how far the kindness and generosity of others can take you.

The adventure began in Smith’s hometown of Newcastle, and ended on Steward Island in New Zealand. Traveling by bus, train, air and car, Twitchiker made his way across the map. This 11,000-mile journey took him through Europe, the United States and finally on to New Zealand. Along the way he raised money for charity: water, a non-profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.

I had the opportunity to meet the infamous Twitchhiker when Orbitz Worldwide flew him from Pittsburgh to Chicago. My colleague and I had been communicating with him for some time via Twitter and were eager to learn about his adventures first hand. Although exhausted and somewhat frustrated by his experience in Pittsburgh, he was good company. Over beers, pizza — and then more beers — he shared the story of the journey thus far and his hopes for the road ahead.

Smith’s journey is a testament to many things — the power of human kindness, as well as the actualization of social media. As he so eloquently put it, "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."

Related Orbitz resources:

• Airline tickets
• New Zealand vacation
• Pittsburgh hotels
• Chicago hotels

Other resources:

• Check out Twitchhiker’s blog: http://www.twitchhiker.com
• Follow Twitchhiker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/twitchhiker
• Follow the author on Twitter: http://twitter.com/OrbitzGal

Kate Schwartz works on the Marketing team at Orbitz Worldwide. When she’s not tweeting about the latest travel deals, she’s out taking advantage of them. From hiking the Rockies to lounging on the beaches of Barcelona, Kate is always looking for her next adventure. Follow her at http://twitter.com/OrbitzGal