I know a guy called Ramon Stoppelenburg who did this back in 2001 using the then similarly new medium of blogging without spending a penny: http://letmestayforaday.com/ .. he lasted about two years on the road just "staying for a day" at people's homes. He now runs a movie theater in Phnom Penh of all things :-)
After reading for a bit, it became apparent that the title is misleading. This guy from England has indeed made it half way across Europe, but he has hardly traveled the world.
Not only does he have yet to complete his circumnavigation of the globe, his experiment was stonewalled in Athens for the gross majority of the time he spent abroad, and he then bailed back to the UK.
"London, Paris, Amsterdam, Harderwijk, Emsdetten, Munster, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Zurich, Milan, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Athens, courtesy of Google+ users from one side of the world to the other."
So one side of the world is England, and the other is Bulgaria?
Generally these things feel awkward to me. I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is getting a stipend/support from Google since it is great PR for them (although I think the blogging rules would require he disclose it). I enjoyed the youtube videos of the guy dancing all over the world, that was just fun.
In general a very interesting experiment. Assuming this is not a Google PR thing, why limit yourself to only the G+ community though? There's lots of other communities to connect with interesting people (HN could be one of them).
I would frankly just stop right there. This smells too much like the couple in the RV visiting walmarts across the USA and blogging about it. I smell astroturfing. Maybe it's just me.
If Google desperately needs a G+ user base, why don't they run a few text ads on all their home pages? Like a line or three right under the search bar with the localized trending posts on Google+.
Not to be a hater, but it sounds kind like mooching on an incredible scale. I hope at least he's planning to provide something in return for all the hospitality he intends to receive.
The hosts are probably getting enjoyment from hosting this guy. That's their payment. Some people enjoy the company of others and might also feel this is an adventure. I don't think anyone feels like they're being taken advantage of.
Either this guy is very lucky or something seems fishy here, how does he manage to get free hospitality by so many people to just invite a stranger to stay with them, I can't help but wonder if google is behind this somehow.
I spent a decent amount of time country-hopping after college.
I can assure you, if you're friendly, the hospitality of others is endless. Particularly of note was Central America -- you could just get off at a bus stop, wander to the nearest cafe and people would be throwing themselves at you to hang out and chat. I had my guard up at first, but after a while it got so normal that it wasn't uncommon to find myself on some random person's couch/floor for a night/week here and there.
Nevertheless, it's 2013 people are to concerned with security and threat, I would be nervous to bring a stranger into my home I'm not familiar with let alone a family allowing this kind of hospitality would be strange but that's just my opinion.
"Concerned with security and threat" - not really the case in Europe...
As for hospitality, people always seem to enjoy something/someone new in their daily lives - as long as you're friendly and don't overstay your welcome, you'll always find someone to show you the city and give you a place to crash for a few days.
Westerners (esp. Americans) are a curiosity and don't seem threatening at all (what with the smiles and politeness) - no Hungarian, Bulgarian or Turk will ever think you're a threat when you're alone and they've got a whole neighborhood to back them :-D.
