Paul Smith, a journalist for the Guardian, really believes in the power of Twitter and wants to prove the world he can do something out of the ordinary with it. That is why he is starting a quest that will take him as far as Twitter takes him, with the ideal final destination of New Zealand (the furthest known point from where he is now, in Newcastle, UK). He will do that by following a few rules:

I can only accept offers of travel and accommodation on Twitter, from users who are following @twitchhiker
This means if a Twitterer’s sister’s boyfriend’s father has a spare train ticket, I can’t use it; the help has to come directly from the person using Twitter. This may be too restrictive, but I want to draw on the support of the Twitter community, not to use Twitter as a search engine to find third party services.

I can’t make any plans further than three days in advance
It’s entirely possible that before I begin this challenge, I could have my entire route pre-determined and that would be no fun at all. So unless an offer of transport or accommodation is made within 72 hours of it being applicable, I can’t accept it. Damn.

I can only spend money on food, drink and anything that might fit in my suitcase
All travel and accommodation must be offered to me through Twitter. If I can’t, then I’m sleeping rough.

If there’s more than one offer on the table, I get to choose which I take. If there’s only one, I have to take it within 48 hours.
I’m not entirely happy about this bit. If any part of this challenge is going to see me dead in a ditch or under a patio, it’s this part.

If I’m unable to find a way to move on from a location within 48 hours, the challenge is over and I go home.
I hope my fellow Twitterers won’t let that happen.

On the way, he’s also collecting money for charity, through JustGiving.com: the charity of choice is Water.

So, what can you do to help him out? First of all, follow him on Twitter. Remeber he can only accept help given from people who follow him. If you don’t have a Twitter account, get one, it’s easy and very fun. Secondly, read his updates and follow where it is using the brand new Google Latitude: if he happens to be on your way, and you have a spare bad or train/ticket to offer him, make yourself heard on Twitter. It’s very easy: just make your tweet preceeded by @twitchhiker and shout it out. Third: donate. Water needs you, and many people need water. Hop on JustGiving, and do it.

Update: Paul just joined TripShake! You can wish him luck by leaving a comment on his page. Thanks Paul!

Valentine’s Day is approaching, and for those of you who still haven’t decided where (and with whom??) to spend it, here’s a series of inspiration sources to draw from.

For those of you who are based or heading to the US, our friends at Tripwolf prepared a list of the best places of the nation where to watch romantic sunsets from. You can read more on TripWolf. Again for those of you in the US, Uptake concentrates on Florida, with 5 ideas you can’t miss.

What about Europe? Well of course there are those evergreens, like Venice and Paris. But what about something different? The Mandarin Oriental Hotel has a very interesting Valentine’s Day offer for those of you who love comfort and luxury.  From London with love, here’s what The Berkeley offers to lovers who are landing in the snowy lands of Great Britain.

For those of you who want to live a truly immersive Eastern European experience, and are not scared of freezing cold temperatures, another option is Moscow. You can enjoy one of the many Valentine’s Day packages and fly to Russia’s capital equipped with the hottest clothes you’ve got.

For those of you who are looking for something really different, how about a trip to Lebanon’s capital, Beirut? This treasured, popular again travel destination has a lot to offer, like the amazing Le Royale Beirut, where you can take advantage of their luxurious package offers.

And if you are on a budget, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a great Valentine’s Day! The Hostel Bloggers offer us a great set of tips for every pocket.

Have a great Valentine’s Day, and don’t forget the flowers!

Publishers, too, are specializing: Lonely Planet and Rough Guides (to name two big boys in the market) are always publishing new titles to answer these needs and they have started to cover more states and territories – Giorgio got a LP Syria & Lebanon guide, already at its second edition after the 1st one in 2004. We’ve also seen the first travel guide about Iraq, an encouraging sign for the country’s new course.

To add to the balance from Destinations is: 4kg of new books with lots of inspiration and new ideas for travel, courtesy of LP, Rough Guides, Travel&Food, Responsible Travel and many others. So, now, off to read some! See you guys at Travel Technology Show next week?

1. France
2. USA
3. England & Wales
4. Italy
5. Spain
6. Argentina
7. Norway
8. The Netherlands
9. Switzerland
10. Belgium

Especially in these time of recession, hostels and budget accomodation came back and bookings hit a 14% in the last months on the HI Hostels website alone, says the HI. You can read more about that plus the top 10 hostels on the Lost Girls blog.

Starting today, we’ll start a weekly appointment with travel stories from all over the world.We already have a few in our archives, like our CMO’s recent trip to Israel, which you’ll see published later today – so stay tuned!

But most of all, we want to hear from you. Did you just come back from an amazing trip and you want to tell us about it? Send us an e-mail at travelerseries@tripshake.com, with your story, your pictures, links to your travel blog or your Flickr account, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Giorgio

Antonio

It’s far below our average – Giorgio has been whining for 2 hours since he saw the report about the fact he hasn’t been anywhere from January to May -, but I guess that’s a startupper’s life.

If you are a Twitter user and you want to follow his adventures, log-in and follow @Novecento. Not a Twitter user? Don’t worry, we have it covered: add the RSS feed to your favourite reader (we use NewsFire, popular tools are also Google Reader or Netvibes) and you’re all done.

Best Western’s new blog, “You must be trippin‘”, is a great example of how a brand can make something useful and good for them at the same time. They started from a simple principles: let’s use what they know about our customers and what their problems are while traveling, so why not start using these information to actually help them and promote our services while we’re at it?

The result is this blog, where contributors write about share their traveler wisdom with their readers and from time to time promote a few of the services Best Western and his partners offer and can really be useful to readers. They are also trying to stimulate users to become contributors and talk about their favorite trips, tips, and doubts about traveling. There are four main channels: “Packed&Ready”, for travel tips and ideas, “Road warriors”, for business travelers (who are surely a big chunk of Best Western’s client base), “Checking Inn”, events and happenings around the world, “Are we there yet?”, all about destinations.

This is part of a broader social media strategy by Best Western, articulating on different media like YouTube (brands still feel more comfy with TV-like media) and more blogs, making Best Western one of interesting case studies to look at.

So to sum up, here are my favorite sources for travel planning: travel guides, in my case Rough Guides for the general outlook and practical information (what currency will I find? do I need insurance?), and a headstart on restaurants and party venues (Rough Guides do a particularly good job in this part I think); whenever I get to the place, if there is a local edition of TimeOut, I always grab one to know what’s hot and what’s not. Blogs and conversations tracked on the internet, either through services like Outside.in, or in their absence, using search engines. Books, movies, photos and a number of other great resources about the place I’m going to: a novel or a movie can do much more than any travel guide in helping you find the right mood for your trip. Not any place in the world has the same appeal on people as New York, but if you’re lucky enough, you can find your local version of Metropolitan Diary, often hidden in local magazines and newspaper- always check the free press for that. Locals and other travelers are a great source of insights, do’s and dont’s, and curiosities you wouldn’t otherwise be able to grasp. Travelers and especially expats in particular share with you the experience of exploring a new territory, and have the same sensitivity as you do: they can be a very precious source of advice. Websites like CouchSurfing or HospitalityClub are also a great way to get to meet people- locals, travelers or expats wherever you are going.