STA travelbuzz’s Travel Blog Hall of Fame: Where the Hell is Matt?
I had a lovely coffee with our STA Explorers Meg and Mojo yesterday, to gossip about travelling through social media (and, OK, the joys of red lipstick) before they set off on their interrailing trip. One thing we discussed was the surprising lack of good travel video clips and video blogs on the web, despite the medium being perfect for capturing and remembering journeys. So, this morning I got hunting to see what I could find.
And although I found a few worthy dull Judith Chalmers-style video diaries, I absolutely knew when I saw Where The Hell Is Matt? that it had to be part of our Hall of Fame. Matt, ‘a 31-year old deadbeat from Connecticut’, became famous for his 2003 world trip where he, well, did a stupid dance in loads of amazing places and made a video out of it. This led to another trip in 2006 to repeat the project in 39 countries, and a third in 2007 where he danced with his online fans.
Yesterday’s Times got it spot on when they said:
This kind of travel bragging should be annoying, but strangely, it’s rather sweet
It is. It makes you feel very good indeed, for all it’s gimmickry. You may want to ‘do a Matt’, as many of his fans have done (their own travel-dance videos can be seen at the bottom of Matt’s Video page). Or you may want to just learn from the spirit of his project: sharing travel online can be joyous, and personal, and silly, and moving.
Oh, and that video is a perfect way to do it, especially if you add music.
