Believe it or not, a British freelance writer has tweeted his way round the globe for free.
Thirty four-year-old Paul Smith came up with the idea of using micro-blogging site 'Twitter' to wangle free travel around the world while suffering post-holiday blues after spending his honeymoon in New York.
Surrendering himself to the goodwill of the 80 million or so tweeters - he would appeal to them to provide transport and accommodation, 'The Sun' reported.
Paul's dream was a 30-day journey that would take him to Campbell Island, some 200 miles off coast of New Zealand - and slap bang on the other side of the world. His wife Jane backed him and told him to put the dates on the calendar.
"A challenge had begun to formulate in my mind and I knew I'd have to run with it. As a freelance writer, I don't work nine to five and I suspected somebody else would pull off a similar stunt if I didn't do it first," he said.
Paul posted his aims on Twitter some 28 days before he wanted to leave but, at first, there was little interest. That changed when Stephen Fry found out about him and mentioned him to his many followers.
{{/usCountry}}Paul posted his aims on Twitter some 28 days before he wanted to leave but, at first, there was little interest. That changed when Stephen Fry found out about him and mentioned him to his many followers.
{{/usCountry}}Soon a tweeter called Leanne offered him ferry ticket from Newcastle to Amsterdam. From Dutch capital, Paul caught the train to Paris courtesy of two French tweeters. There, he was given a free bed at a hostel before taking the train to Saarbrucken, where a German helper, Andrea Juchem, picked him up and drove him to Frankfurt.