Twitchhiker - Paul Smith

There were five rules of Twitchhiker: I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation from people on Twitter; I can't make any travel plans further than three days in advance; I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase; If there is more than one offer, I choose which I take; If there is only one, I have to take it within 48 hours; If I am unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home. Bored in the bread aisle of the supermarket one day, Paul Smith wondered how far he could get around the world in 30 days through the goodwill of users of social networking site Twitter. At the mercy of these rules, he set his sights on New Zealand - the opposite point on the planet to his home in Newcastle.

Why Read - Was recommended this by a friend who said it was good.

I loved the idea of this book before I read it, using new technology and trends, mixed with travel writing. Brilliant. And the book did not disappoint either.  It was a great little story, amusing, well written and entertaining. It was a great social experiment to see how people would help him in his quest across the world.  Smith has a great writing style which made me laugh out loud at points, and also brought home realism when he let slip a few home truths in this story.  One point he made, he did so fantastically well as he did not dwell on an aspect of his life, but just kind of casually slipped it into conversation (I won't completely spoil it) but it just made him feel like your everyday guy.

My only criticism, and I'm not sure if this is of the book, or my own personal comprehension of the story but i felt like their was a lot crammed into a short novel. And because of this I felt bits were skipped, or plans were changed without explanation. Several times i felt myself thinking - i thought he was meeting so and so, or he was going to this place next, and found him having changed his mind. And when flicking back could not fully understand where he made the leap.  Also because it was a lot of places crammed into one month as he travelled round it was hard to keep track and associate fully with his journey.

But that criticism aside i thought this book was great fun to read, enjoyable and un-put-down-able. A brilliant book for anyone who is interested in modern trends, the internet or travel writing.  Great book.