On March 1, Twitter user, Paul Smith, started a 30-day journey to travel to New Zealand without spending a dime. Instead, he decided to rely on the generosity of the Twitter community to see how far he could get. The “Twitchhiker” succeeded in traveling 11,000 miles relying solely on donations from other users.
On his blog, Paul writes about his experiences during the trek and posts some amazing photos of the journey, allowing users to see what he sees and interact with him as he travels; all the while raising money for Charity:water, a non-profit organization that brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
Paul met quite a lot of Twitter users along the way that helped him by giving him rides, food, encouragement, and financial contributions. In his own words, Paul says:
“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. Twitter proved without a shadow of a doubt that it is much more than a social network, but a user-defined network that can be harnessed to change lives and expectations, and provide unique experiences and viewpoints.”
Paul’s story offers a unique view at how powerful connecting through social media can be. Maybe your goal isn’t to travel to New Zealand, but whatever it is there are newer, more creative ways to spread your message. If you’d like to learn how you can do that for your brand, feel free to contact The Cyphers Angency, we’d love to hear from you.
