Travel Tweets: Using Twitter for Travel

I’m the first to admit that Twitter often baffles and overwhelms me. But some traveling Twitter gurus are experimenting with Twitter in interesting ways. Long before the mainstream news media had picked up the US Airways flight 1549 crash into the Hudson, twitter followers of Janis Krum saw a photo of the event, snapped on Krum’s iPhone. Twitterer “2drinksbehind” tweeted a photo and comments when the Continental Airlines flight slid off the runway and burst into flames in Denver. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai were also on twitter before they were reported. 

But besides the rapid dissemination of travel disaster news, there is potential for Twitter to change the way we all travel. Stuck in Newark overnight? (Why does that always happen to me?) Twitter for recommendations of where to stay or what to do. Shoes stink? Gary Arndt twittered for advice when his sandals started to smell on the road, and got plenty of deodorizing advice.

Benji Lanyado, a travel writer for the Guardian recently set off on “TwiTrip” of Paris–a trip solely using Twitter for inspiration. He started by asking for hotel recommendations, and then spent a day following twitter followers recommendations for museum, bookstores, pastries and hot chocolate.  

 Paul Smith, the twitchhiker, is using Twitter, too. His goal?  To see how far he can travel in 30 days (starting March1) relying only on the hospitality and advice of the Twitter community, and raising money for charity: water as he goes.

The idea has some facinating possibilities.

Of course, there are advantages to leaving the devices behind and going twitter-free when traveling. Sometimes serendipity and paying more attention to your surroundings than your iPhone has its own charm.

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