Bitcoin Trip, Around the world.

[opticbit]

Sounds very interesting, please keep us updated and good luck!

Already it looks it is getting some interest.  I won't be starting my trip for atleast a few weeks and probably a couple months.
I will post a new thread when it starts.  I think I'll be useing my established twitter FB and so on accounts.  I might set up new accounts with a relavent name.

[1714909918]

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[opticbit]

Provided you can convince people to actually accept BTC, this'll be a great way for Bitcoins to move into more markets, and spread publicity.

I hope so too.

[opticbit]

you can crash at my place for 5btc per night

I was hopeing to find some places a little cheaper.  While I like nice things, I'm trying to keep things cheap, unless I somehow get a large sum of btc.  Most hotels I've stayed at across the country have been in the 20-60 USD per night.  5BTC at the current exchange is roughly 70 usd.  I think some Hostels are starting to Take BTC.  Have a friend at Hilton Hotels too.

[opticbit]

I would plot a bitcoin friendly route before you go, and see how far you'd get in theory. Once you're on the road you'll get a few "Dancing Instuctions from God"( as Vonnegut called them) anyway.

Had to google that one.  At first I was thinking Hitchiking with Vogons and 42, but the quote didn't sound like the 2nd worst poetry in the galaxy.

[kostia]

Interesting idea.

I got a friend in Moscow who run a hostel, if you need I will contact him - he will accept bitcoins, rates in his place are cheap by Moscow standards.

Also I can help you in Thailand, mainly in koh Phangan island. It's a nice island for partying, very unlike for example Pattya. I'm one of the team that makes koh Phangan booking website, phangan1.com , we can accept bitcoin for bungalow/hotel/villa bookings, and for any of the places listed on our website you will be able to put bitcoins on a hotel tab to pay for the restaurant.

[opticbit]

Interesting idea.

I got a friend in Moscow who run a hostel, if you need I will contact him - he will accept bitcoins, rates in his place are cheap by Moscow standards.

Also I can help you in Thailand, mainly in koh Phangan island. It's a nice island for partying, very unlike for example Pattya. I'm one of the team that makes koh Phangan booking website, phangan1.com , we can accept bitcoin for bungalow/hotel/villa bookings, and for any of the places listed on our website you will be able to put bitcoins on a hotel tab to pay for the restaurant.

Looks Like I'll have to check out Red Cube, Moon Paradise and First Villa.

Yes Let me know about Moscow prices.

On check in I'll be posting photos, and a link,

not sure what I'll use for my central posting location, probably http://opticbit.com/active/blog.html

[opticbit]

Anyone go through Customs with bitcoin? -  Are you Carrying More than $10K? I think thats on about Cash though for US.  Any other countries more strict?

I expect to have under 10k, but it would be nice to have more by the time I go.

I've been through customs a few times in the past so I'm not too concerned, but you never know when they will miss understand something and decide to make an example out of someone. and things have changed since last time i went through.

Also wiping the storage devices clean, and doing a fresh install of Lion, and Gingerbread.

[ptshamrock]

when u come to bavaria u can stay at my place for a few days and watch my 15ghash rig u can pay me in btc but dont need much..just symbolic

EDIT:

it`s a pretty cool place directly in munich !

[wareen]

Anyone go through Customs with bitcoin? -  Are you Carrying More than $10K? I think thats on about Cash though for US.  Any other countries more strict?

I wouldn't take any chances: use an online wallet service or encrypted wallets on some online storage provider.
That way you would never need to "carry" a significant amount of BTC with you.

Apart from that: great idea with the trip!

I suggest setting up a wiki where everybody can enter places where you can stay, eat or get transported for Bitcoins. You can then plan your route accordingly and we can help you finding local people in areas where you could run into problems (Bitcoin-wise). The forum isn't very well suited for such a task.

[RogerR]

Anyone go through Customs with bitcoin? -  Are you Carrying More than $10K? I think thats on about Cash though for US.  Any other countries more strict?

I expect to have under 10k, but it would be nice to have more by the time I go.

I've been through customs a few times in the past so I'm not too concerned, but you never know when they will miss understand something and decide to make an example out of someone. and things have changed since last time i went through.

Also wiping the storage devices clean, and doing a fresh install of Lion, and Gingerbread.

Well, apart from the fact that it should be extremely difficult for customs to check up on your bitcoin wallet (if you keep it well-hidden and encrypted), you could always argue that since your bitcoins' credibility needs to be established by the network, it is the transaction history within the network that holds your net worth, not your e-wallet. But even if this doesn't hold - what's stopping you from receiving more or less small transfers on the road? Just send your bitcoins to a wallet on a home server before you cross the border and program it to send it back upon request. Ooohh, so many nasty things one can do here.

But I like the general idea. I'm flying from Germany to the States to China myself next month - hoping to promote BTC and perhaps hit some bitcoin meetups along the way!

Btw - do enjoy your trip. But if you plan on going public with this story, you should keep it as professional as possible. What bitcoin needs is credibility, not some half-baked promotion that could easily be run as a story against us.

[Herodes]

Much Negative tought in this thread.

It all depends on the attitude and how bad you want anything. If you want to travel around the world using bitcoins, I say it's not impossible, but it's not easy either. I think you will find people in most countries willing to trade stuff for BTC. Also if you hold an online diary telling where you go, and get some attention on the bitcoin show with bruce wagner as well, I am sure people would be willing to help out.

However I think it would be good to have a credit card or fiat money for backup in case a meeting with a bitcoiner did not go as planned, so you won't have to starve. But it should be only used as a last resort.

Good luck! Anything is possible when you set your mind to it 100%!

[opticbit]

Well, apart from the fact that it should be extremely difficult for customs to check up on your bitcoin wallet (if you keep it well-hidden and encrypted), you could always argue that since your bitcoins' credibility needs to be established by the network, it is the transaction history within the network that holds your net worth, not your e-wallet. But even if this doesn't hold - what's stopping you from receiving more or less small transfers on the road? Just send your bitcoins to a wallet on a home server before you cross the border and program it to send it back upon request. Ooohh, so many nasty things one can do here.

But I like the general idea. I'm flying from Germany to the States to China myself next month - hoping to promote BTC and perhaps hit some bitcoin meetups along the way!

Btw - do enjoy your trip. But if you plan on going public with this story, you should keep it as professional as possible. What bitcoin needs is credibility, not some half-baked promotion that could easily be run as a story against us.

I've heard they were planning on checking/copying the contents of people's drives, I guess that one got thrown out, or someone realized how unreasonable that would be.  Or its only done to a very small number of people, that have some type of bad history.

And yes I'll be diversified, so it won't all be on the usb key.

Not sure what to do about going public.  Everything is out in the open.  I don't have any real press contacts, and don't plan on any.  I have no major backing so it is sort of half-baked, but I won't be doing anything that could be used against the community.  I'm a fairly quiet calm person, worked for the Gov that had a bunch of rules I tended to follow naturally- the ones that make for a professional appearance, not the restrictive rules, don't want to get into that.

Thanks and enjoy your trip, maybe we'll meet at a meet up.

[opticbit]

Much Negative tought in this thread.

It all depends on the attitude and how bad you want anything. If you want to travel around the world using bitcoins, I say it's not impossible, but it's not easy either. I think you will find people in most countries willing to trade stuff for BTC. Also if you hold an online diary telling where you go, and get some attention on the bitcoin show with bruce wagner as well, I am sure people would be willing to help out.

However I think it would be good to have a credit card or fiat money for backup in case a meeting with a bitcoiner did not go as planned, so you won't have to starve. But it should be only used as a last resort.

Good luck! Anything is possible when you set your mind to it 100%!

Thanks.  I will be carrying a Visa, MC, and AMEX.  Diversity is very important.  I was in Venezuela and needed some cash, where I was wouldn't take Visa, but they took MC.  I'll have some USD on me, maybe I should pick up some Euros and Gold?

and yes I'll have a Blog of whats happend and whats next.

[cartman]

In my opinion this is a great idea!

I could probably offer a place to sleep and warm lunch in switzerland, but generally buying basic food, using bus/train here is always very expensive, so there may be better places to go for you. I would strongly recommend ptshamrocks offer to stay in munich. Munich is a great place and it is possible to live really cheap. Although I dont know, where to pay with bitcoin yet.
For travelling from one bigger city to another I would recommend to use portals like www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de (Literally: travel-with-oppotunity) Maybe someone can name some non-european equivalents.
There you can (early) setup a request, that you are looking for someone driving from A to B with his car and add a note, that you only pay in bitcoin. I think it is possible to find someone because within a period of a few days, there are a few dozens of "travel-with-opportunities" between big cities, mostly young males, so maybe there is some bitcoiner as well. Usually this is much cheaper than train or something else, for example 5h trip Munich-Bern 25 Euro. Of course you could also hitchhike.

I will follow the thread a little, maybe I have some more ideas when you can tell more about your plans (e.g. which cities you want to stay in)

cheers

[opticbit]

In my opinion this is a great idea!

I could probably offer a place to sleep and warm lunch in switzerland, but generally buying basic food, using bus/train here is always very expensive, so there may be better places to go for you. I would strongly recommend ptshamrocks offer to stay in munich. Munich is a great place and it is possible to live really cheap. Although I dont know, where to pay with bitcoin yet.
For travelling from one bigger city to another I would recommend to use portals like www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de (Literally: travel-with-oppotunity) Maybe someone can name some non-european equivalents.
There you can (early) setup a request, that you are looking for someone driving from A to B with his car and add a note, that you only pay in bitcoin. I think it is possible to find someone because within a period of a few days, there are a few dozens of "travel-with-opportunities" between big cities, mostly young males, so maybe there is some bitcoiner as well. Usually this is much cheaper than train or something else, for example 5h trip Munich-Bern 25 Euro. Of course you could also hitchhike.

I will follow the thread a little, maybe I have some more ideas when you can tell more about your plans (e.g. which cities you want to stay in)

cheers

Thanks I'll have to try mitfahrgelegenheit.de

I'm not sure what  cities I'll be going through, I have some places I'd like to see, but I'm more interested in where I end up going, due to the path of least resistance in bitcoin.

I'd like to be sure to go through the countries more well known to americans
Australia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China, India, Russia, Poland, Dubai, Germany, France, Spain, UK. Sweeden  Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, then come back up through Mexico.

Eastern Europe, Western Russia and the middle east has changed quite a bit since I studied geography, not sure where I want to go.  Also want to try some place in the middle east but not sure about safety in those areas.  Also with the War still active not sure where would be safest.  Dubai is the only place I know of that seems safe.  I think Dubai could be cost prohibitive though.

Africa seems like it will be difficult. I've got the impression that it is mostly desert, undeveloped, and rarely traveld. I feel that many places could be so poor, that it would be expensive to travel through, and other places could be dangerous for an American.  I've met someone who's parents Are Dr.s that permanently went to South Africa to do Charitable services.  I would like to check out South Africa, and learn some more about other places in Africa.  Current Political activities also concern me- Places Like Egypt, I'd like to visit, but not sure what is going on.  Then to add the Bitcoin complication of going through Africa.  I have heard stories of the Locals being very welcoming to strange new people, but have also heard of cannibals.

I'll be traveling mostly on land, but expect to have to fly/Cruise US West Coast to Asia/Australia, at some point fly to South Africa, or skip South Africa and stick to some place in northern Africa.  Then a Flight to South America from Europe, or Africa.
I'd like to go on atleast one Cruise, Could be interesting.

[BitcoinPorn]

+1 support for this idea, seems neat.

[Jalum]

Thanks.  I will be carrying a Visa, MC, and AMEX.  Diversity is very important.  I was in Venezuela and needed some cash, where I was wouldn't take Visa, but they took MC.  I'll have some USD on me, maybe I should pick up some Euros and Gold?

Why would you bring physical gold?  Are you going to shave off a sliver to pay for your meal?  Nothing about your trip seems well thought out.

[aandreas]

i don´t want to dissapoint u, but that route seems hard with 10k... anyhow, if u make it to germany, and need a bed near frankfurt, pm me..

[TraderTimm]

Why would you bring physical gold?  Are you going to shave off a sliver to pay for your meal?  Nothing about your trip seems well thought out.

Troll Grade: C+

You did the requisite baiting with the 'bashing of payment choices', but you really fell short on the last bit. I know you can do better. I realize you aren't out of troll preparatory academy just yet.

[CurbsideProphet]

Thanks.  I will be carrying a Visa, MC, and AMEX.  Diversity is very important.  I was in Venezuela and needed some cash, where I was wouldn't take Visa, but they took MC.  I'll have some USD on me, maybe I should pick up some Euros and Gold?

Why would you bring physical gold?  Are you going to shave off a sliver to pay for your meal?  Nothing about your trip seems well thought out.

Bullion is sold in amounts as small as 1/10th of an ounce.  While that's quite a bit to pay for a meal, it's small enough to cover other expenses such as travel and lodging.