'I'd sleep on couches, beds, floors, kennels ... If someone was kind enough to put a roof over my head, I was game enough to go meet them. And I'd just pray they were who they said they were.'
There's nothing like a blog post to inspire angry rants from anonymous readers: it's the talkback radio of the digital age. So why is Australia's leading travel blogger Ben Groundwater setting out to put faces to his readers' made-up names?
Armed with a backpack, a laptop and a cover story in case of emergency, Ben has a plan: to travel the world, relying purely on the kindness of his sometimes frightening, but always interesting, readers. After posting a cry for help on his blog, he has a globe-circling itinerary of apparently friendly strangers who have offered him their homes - not to mention their radio shows, hallucinogenic drugs, beachside eco-resorts and daughters' weddings.
This is Ben's chance to dig deep into the realms of his digital universe: Who's out there reading his blog? Where do they live? What are their lives like? And how do you carry a goat home in Ethiopia? Over 14 weeks, 14 countries and about a thousand beers, he answers these questions and many more. Five Ways to Carry a Goat is the hilarious tale of putting virtual friendships to the test of reality.
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