The Media About this Project
The Letmestayforaday.com-project received world-wide attention within one month after the online launch. Nowadays, we can call that going viral, but in 2001 we were not that tight-connected. The project needed it from exposure in the media, and back then that meant newspapers, television and radio. And that is exactly where it was launched globally.
Prologue: The Tiny Ball
March 12, 2001
Undaunted by doubts of my friends and family, I launched my website on Monday, March 12, 2001. On the preceding evening I had gone to a nearby pub. In the course of a little game of pool billiards with the barkeeper I told him about my travel plans.
'I take it you're well-prepared?' he enquired.
'Oh, yes, certainly; that is, as well prepared as one reasonably can be.'
'I mean, have you got sponsors yet? And ads for your site? You'll have to raise a lot of publicity over this, you know.'
'Yes, I have. And I'm not going to.'
'What do you mean, you're not going to?'
'Well, I want to find out if I can turn my idea into a success without making a song and dance about it, you know. Just trust to the chemistry between kindred souls. It will set only a tiny ball rolling, but it will roll a long way. And eventually it will bring the sponsors and advertisers in, coming running after it.'
And the tiny ball was set rolling: two hours after my website had been launched, several Dutch bloggers had already spotted it. At six o'clock p.m. of my very launching day, the Dutch news site www.nu.nl made mention of my project.
An overview
The Letmestayforaday.com-project received world-wide attention within one month after the online launch. Nowadays, we can call that going viral, but in 2001 we were not that tight-connected. The project needed it from exposure in the media, and back then that meant newspapers, television and radio. And that is exactly where it was launched globally.
The website was launched on March 7, 2001 and it was first mentioned by Dutch bloggers who kept an eye on any new website with free statistic services, those counters you could put on your homepage. Most of these services also offered an overview of "newly registered counters" and that was the holy grail for bloggers: that is where you found new stuff to blog about.
When a few bloggers wrote about Letmestayforaday (which went from "Nice idea, Ramon" to "Who would ever invite you into their homes?!"), a journalist wrote little piece for the local newspaper of the town Zwolle, the Zwolse Courant.
It was this piece that was then read again by another journalist, who wrote his version for the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf a few days later.
And within a week I was a guest on a Dutch Radio 1 talk show to explain my plan to start off from May 1 that year.
Within that same week the Brazilian website Revista2K had an email interview with me.
Then it was quite for a while. I kind of needed a bit more international attention to actually start collecting places to stay all over the world!
And then Leander Kahney contacted me. He wrote for Wired.com (WIRED.COM!). "You don't have to be rich to travel the world. All you need is a website, the will to ask strangers for a bed for the night and the wanderlust to go, go, go." Read the full story on Wired.com.
What followed after this was the totally unexpected avalanche of media attention for this project.
April 2001: 675 Invitations
The Tour Operator & Real Sponsors
In April a major Dutch tour operator got in touch with me. He had it all mapped out: I was to be his travel organization's new figure head, prominently displayed in TV commercials, advertising campaigns, and booklets. In return for my cooperation he offered me a six months' trip round the world.
What really made me reject his offer was that I certainly did not want to become his company's smug, smiling, fat Michelin puppet. My goals and aspirations were more targeted at experiencing the world through real people who would be my hosts and allow me to see their surroundings through their eyes.
Not to worry. Other offers of sponsorship soon materialized. A telecom company offered me mobile phones; radio station Q The Beat offered to cover my phone bill in return for weekly radio talks.
By about mid-April, I was all set to go. But where? You see, even in my sunniest expectations I had always taken for granted it'd take me weeks to clear the sleepier provinces. But my website had become such a hit that my anticipated itinerary was in need of some upgrading.
There was no sense in going to Dutch destinations like Almelo, Den Helder, Molenhoek or Eindhoven now that I could pick and choose from such places as Australia, Brazil, India, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Egypt.
March 2001
The Italian Repubblica: "Il viaggio di Ramon Gratis grazie alla Rete"
the Israeli Adcanet newspaper:
"A student is recruiting good-hearted surfers to help him travel around the globe"
the Croatian Internet Monitor:
"Kako proputovati svijet praznog džepa uz pomoć weba?"
the Hungarian website Index:
"Dotnet Turismus"
Eric La Rouche on the Canadian Planet Québec:
"J'avoue que j'aime cette idée!"
the Russian CNews.ru:
"Вокруг света можно объехать бесплатно"
The EyeForTravel.com:
"Internet Provides Novel Approach To Travel"
The Internet-Magazine.com:
"Dutch student ask for free travel accommodation"
The news site Ananova:
"Penniless traveller's website asks for free board" can be read on her website.
Metro London:
"Web Bid For Free Worldwide Tour"
Greece's EOne.gr:
"Μουσαφίρης… με το ζόρι!"
UKplus (now part of the Daily Mail):
"Brother, can you spare me a bed"
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet:
"İnternetle bedava tatil 5 yıl sürecek"
German Academie.de:
"Per Anhalter durch die Galaxis der Netizens"
Russian Netoscope.ru:
"Голландский студент идет по миру".
Dutch Journalist Gerben Hoetink in De Sassenpoorter:
"Gratis Globetrotten, the Jules Verne of the 21st century"
French website Infinit.com:
"Virtuous hitchhiking"
New Zealand Herald's Daily Hotlinks!
The French LesInfos.com:
"Ramon passe du cybersquattage au squattage réel des internautes"
The Dutch daily newspaper De Telegraaf:
'Student na internetactie in hele wereld welkom'
The Indian search-engine RediffSearch:
'All Ramon Stoppelenburg wants to do is see the world, at your expenses'
Interview on Dutch tv-station RTL5's "5 In Het Land"
Chile's La Tercera:
'Viajero holandès solicita alojamiento a travès de la red'
Guest starring on the Dutch RTL4 television show "Heb Ik Dat?"
Marta Centenara 'Le invitas a tu casa?'
('Would you invite him in your house?') for the Spanish news-site En.Red.Ando
The German computer-newssite ComputerBILD.de:
'Ist noch ein Zimmer frei?' ('Is there any room left?')
April 2001
The Yugoslavian newspaper Krstarica.com:
'Put oko sveta uz malu pomoć prijatelja sa Interneta'
The Brazilian Cyberfam.cjb.net:
'Viajando pera Internet'
Windesheim University newspaper HSK:
"Ramon mag overal blijven slapen" (Ramon can sleep over everywhere)
"Ik blijf nog wel een jaar of drie reizen" (I'll travel for another three years)
Interview on Studio Brussels radio station in Brussels:
The French ComputerChannel.com:
'Un internaute qui s'invite chez vous'
('A web user invites himself to your premises')
Dutch Arnhemse Courant:
'Zwolse student wil wereldreis voor een prikkie regelen via internet'
(Zwolle student wants to arrange worldtrip for less than a dime')
The Italian newspaper LEGGO:
"Un giovane olandese ha creato un sito per girare il mondo senza spendere una lira"
Cherrymagic.com: 'Ten Questions -
The Cherrymagic Interview with Ramon Stoppelenburg'
The British Independent newspaper:
'Great Links from the WWW'
The Canadian newspaper La Presse:
'Un gîte pour la nuit, s'il vous plaît'
The Zwolse Courant:
'Zwolse student overstelpt met gratis overnachtingadressen'
('Zwolle student overwhelmed by free places to crash').
The Financial Times Deutschland:
'Virtuelles Schnorren'
The Dutch Financial and Economic weekly magazine FEM De Week:
'Overdewereld.com' ('Aroundtheworld.com')
Windesheim University newspaper HSK:
'Wereld ligt aan voeten van Ramon' ('The World Is At Ramon's Feet')
The German Telepolis:
'Romantic Worldwidewander-project of Ramon Stoppelenburg'
Miles Mendoza's Website of the Day on BBC Radio 2's
Steve Wrights in the Afternoon Show and the required radio talk that went with it:
The Spanish El Mundo:
"Sólo un día" ('Only One Day')
Whitney Matheson in her column Hip Clicks in USA TODAY.
German Bayern3.de in their Websites Of The Week:
"Entschuldigung, darf ich bei Ihnen wohnen?"
(Excuse me, can I live with you?)
The Catalan webportal LaMalla.Net:
"Convides en Ramon a casa teva?" ('Do you invite Ramon at your home?')
De Journalist, the Dutch professional journal for journalists:
"Gezocht: slaapplaatsen wereldwijd"
('Wanted: worldwide sleeping-accomodation')
Guest in RTL Live on the Dutch tv station RTL4.
Dutch tv-guides Veronica:
"Gratis Reizen" ('Free Travelling!')
Utrechts Nieuwsblad:
"Wereldreis voor een habbekrats" ('Worldtrip for the merest trifle').
Belgian Tijd.be:
'Wie wil een Nederlander in huis?' ('Who wants to have a Dutchman in the house?)
British Sunday Telegraph:
"Student looking for hospitality: Do you dare add your name to the list?"
Belgian portal Squirrel: Topsite of The Week.
Belgian 6Minutes.net:
'Inviteer een wereldreiziger bij u thuis'
(Invite a worldtraveler in your house')
Norwegian ABC Startsiden.no:
'Den ultimate gratispassasjer!'
('The Ultimate Free Traveller').
Radio interview with Dutch radio station Q The Beat.
The Paparazzi Problem
May-June 2001 — On The Road
Todays became yesterdays and tomorrows todays, as they always do: but the media kept at their work of getting the word out.
I had to leave Holland, eight days after the start of the project, because I had become a celebrity. I had paparazzi in the houses that welcomed me and hitchhiking became a danger since, when they recognized me, cars stopped in both directions.
TV cameras were zooming in on the tearful eyes of my mum as she sat on the couch in the student room where I departed on day 1. Photographers would be arranged by my hosts, so the local news can get a story.
Life gets quite scary if you are just having breakfast with your hostess you only met yesterday and she says there is a journalist coming in about 5 minutes and "she wants to know everything about you".
"I was kind of a surprise host right back a month after the project started — I say surprise host because the first I knew of it was when my housemate Chris said 'by the way we've got this Dutch guy from the internet staying in about half an hour'.
The amount of work he had to do made my teaching workload look totally insignificant! I actually thought he'd left by about 1.30pm because I hadn't seen him for a while, but a few hours later he emerged from behind Chris' computer. I have never known anyone spend that time working voluntarily! I personally have never seen anyone work quite so hard."
And from when I started traveling after May 1, 2001
The Citizen (Johannesburg, South Africa):
"The Flying Dutchman: The whole world, it seems, wants to take Ramon home"
Reuters.com: "Around the world in 800 days - for free"
Austrian Der Standard:
"Online auf Schnorrer-Tour um die Erde"
Dartmouth Chronicle (Devon, England):
"See the world - for nothing!"
The Brazilian newspaper Notacias Popular:
"Homem cria site e viaja de graca pelo mundo"
The Daily Dispatch (Eastern Cape, South Africa):
"A crazy Dutch hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy"
Ananova.com: "Student's free world trip could last five years"
Daily Mirror (UK): "Have Website, Will Travel…"
Interviewed by Arthur Black from Basic Black on Canadian CBC Radio 1.
Computerworld, New Zealand: "Online room and board"
USA's WRAL.com: "Worldwide Freeloader Wants To Stay At Your House"
Spanish newspaper El Pais:
"Un holandés da la vuelta al mundo invitado por internautas de 67 países"
In Spain they give two kisses, I told him, and refused his outstretched hand. If her dream was to travel the world and meet people, now is the time.
El Clarin (Argentina):
"Un holandès da la vuelta al mundo gratis"
Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet:
"Travel around the world for nothing"
The Exhaustion
July-November 2001 — 18-Hour Days
I had become the tired boy. I was invited by people that didn't follow me around and read my updates that I wrote daily until deep in the nights, they sat me on their couch and wanted to know everything from me personally.
That was mentally draining, especially as you don't want to be an ego selfish person who says "just read it on my website". I had to do these talks. Every other day.
When you work at an office, you have about 8 hours a day to get your things done, then it is your own life again. Traveling like me made me work 18 hours a day, but I'd never know when and where I would be working. A conversation with anybody was actually work, I had to remember facts for my report.
Understandable, you would get me over the moon if you would be my host and tell me you were planning to just watch movies tonight. Oh my, heroes, they were.
"Ramon is not trying to travel the world by being lazy, despite what some people might think. His project involves and requires a hell of a lot of work. He has many things to do, not the least of which is keeping this website up-to-date. He has to arrange his travels, his accommodation, and he has to find time to attend interviews with many media.
It may seem like a holiday to you, but Ramon spends many hours each day working hard. It is a full time job with all the stress of a 'normal' job, and then some."
"My oldest son Todd had asked me to ask Ramon if he could take Ramon to school as his 'show and tell'! I asked Ramon if he would mind doing this for my son and he didn't hesitate to say yes. The look of joy on my sons face as he got to introduce Ramon to his teacher and classmates will be with me forever.
To see the way Ramon spoke to and fielded questions from 25-30 nine year olds was amazing. Ramon is a real peoples person and he is living proof that Anything is possible!"
The Tonight Show
After more than twenty months, I received an email from the producer of Jay Leno's Tonight Show. Would I mind giving her a call? Using my sponsored mobile phone, I called from Montreal to Los Angeles.
"Hello, darling Ramon! What if I help you fly to Los Angeles for a few days? Of course, I would like to ask you to be a guest on The Tonight Show."
"That's not possible," I told her. 'If I appear on the Tonight Show, my website will be inundated by people who invite me, just because I'm the guy from the Tonight Show they can order online. And I don't really want that.'
There was a moment of silence in Los Angeles.
"And Ramon... promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Don't secretly visit David Letterman."
"No, darling."
December 2001: Christmas Break
Seven Months & Web Personality of the Year
Seven months. Seven months of non-stop travel. Seven months of 18-hour days.
I fell in love with a lady my friends had brought along to Barcelona. Irina. She made me realize that after all these travels I am allowed to catch my human breath again and have a bit of a longer break.
Remember, I never knew what and where I would be next week. Of course I could never stop. The alternative would be getting a job and make a salary, while I was just proving the entire world I could travel the world for free!
"It's 9:15 in the morning and Ramon has been waiting for me at the airport for almost two hours now. Ramón Stoppenlenburg, a 25-year-old Dutchman (today is his birthday), is travelling around the world. Since he launched the idea, he has received 2,600 invitations from 67 countries.
'I'm a criminal with an axe in my backpack,' he would say with a smile as he left the airport.
In Spain you give two kisses, I told him, and I rejected his outstretched hand. Once at home, he sleeps all morning. However, the hours spent with him reveal a tired boy, worried about friends he hasn't seen for more than seven months.
'It's a real mental exercise to face different people every day. They get to know me by reading my stories, I only know their name and address.'
His favorite answer is: 'You can read it on my website' or 'I'll save that for my book'.
'I can't remember the 250 people I've lived with so far. That's why I write daily on my website. My last night will be spent in the White House.'"
🏆 December 24, 2001
On December 24, 2001 the British Sunday Times declared me Web Personality of The Year.
Followed by The Guardian: "Net Personality of the Year"
Dutch Zwolse Courant:
"Zwolse wereldreiziger wordt 'Web-personality'"
(Zwolle world traveler becomes web-personality of the Year)
The Phenomenon Continues
2002-2003 — The Badge & The Business
You don't need a business to travel the world. If you have one, you can't travel the world.
So getting myself to travel the world for free, was a smart business idea (instead of money I earned the freedom of what a lot of money would provide), that I did in a way others would see me as a Freeloader was just a badge I wore with honor.
How is your 9-to-5 job going?
"As Ramon's main sponsor to South Africa, it was very important to us that the integrity of his 'project' remained intact and that he retained the ability to feel as 'free as a bird'.
The letmestayforaday project was a one-off marketing opportunity — and very profitable for our company in terms of free advertising. We received about 10 times the value of what it cost us to bring Ramon to South Africa."
"He is an exemplary guest; easygoing, tolerant, flexible and totally without expectation. On top of this he is prepared to participate and provoke discussion on a wide range of topics and as you can imagine he is good at it. His stay was our gain."
"I have learned so much about places I have never known about, and probably won't visit in my lifetime. But your personal travels really bring a special touch to learning about the places, versus just reading about them in a book. And your hosts and the places you stay are really interesting."
HogeSchoolKrant (HSK), university newspaper in Zwolle:
"Verliefde Ramon terug in Zwolle" (Back in Zwolle: Ramon In Love)
Le Monde newspaper (France):
"Le coup d'Internet magique"
Interview with John & Ross on their breakfast show on Radio 4BC (Brisbane, Australia)
Terra Informática (Brazil):
"Caroneiro da Web, agora apaixonado, volta a estrada"
Zwolse Courant: "Columbus of the Internet packs up again"
Zwolse Courant":
"TV-opnamen wereldreiziger" (TV-filming world traveller, about the Australian tv show A Current Affair visiting Ramon at home)
Australian television Channel 9 in A Current Affair:
"The Professional Freeloader". Here is the video:
The Courier Mail (Australia): "A Night On The Net".
'Stoppelenburg travels around using the power of his thumb and the kindness of his hosts'
Tiscali.nl Netherlands: "Website of the Day"
Campus Magazine, Italy:
German radio Hr3: "Der Gratisreisende" (The Freeloader)
German RTL Television broadcast the Australian A Current Affair footage.
Daily News, Tweed Valley, Australia:
"'Freeloader' visits Tweed"
AT&T Worldnet Service:
"FREELOADING HITCHHIKER: Dutchman uses cyberspace to find free places to stay"
Dutch Panorama magazine: "Around the world for free thanks to the internet"
Denver Post (USA): "Dutch traveler a free spirit"
"Website's links good as cash"
Minneapolis Star Tribune (USA): "Dutchman uses cyberspace to find free places to stay"
"It shows, even after Sept. 11, that people don't need to be scared. There are so many good people out there," Ramon says.
The Register Guard (Oregon, USA): "See the world for $35 a year".
"Cyberspace puts the planet on a platter for freeloading backpacker"
The Miami Herald (Florida, USA): "No money, no problem for hitchhiking Web celeb"
San Francisco Examiner (USA): "Freeloading Dutchman makes good use of Web"
My Orange Country (MOC), South California, USA: "Freeloader's guide to the galaxy"
The Indianapolis Star (USA): "Dutch traveler uses his Web site to see the world - for free"
The Boston Globe (USA): "He travels for free, courtesy of cyberspace"
Seattle Times (USA): "Man finds host of help freeloading around globe"
The Australian, national newspaper of Australia: "Webfreeloader travels the world"
Sunshine Coast Daily (Australia):
"He's the world's biggest freeloader"
Herald Sun (Melbourne, Australia): "Travelling the world on the very cheap is one man's goal".
KataWeb Network (Italy): "Grazie a Internet intorno al mondo"
Italian La repubblica:
"Giro Il Mondo Con Lo Sponsor" ("Around the world on the sponsors").
STERN (German magazine): "Eine Nacht Mit Ramon"
(One Night with Ramon)
Omaha World Herald (USA): "Your chance to download a freeloader"
AME Newsletter.de (Germany):
"Ein Jahr danach: "Let me stay for a day" hat funktioniert!" ("One year later … it works!")
Mackay local newspaper (Australia):
"Dutchman makes free call on Mackay"
Houston Chronicle (Texas, USA): "Dutchman uses cyberspace to find free places to stay"
Ekstrabladet (Denmark newspaper): "Hvor skal jeg sove i nat?"
Australian tv station GWN about how the police helped me out after I got almost arrested for hitchhiking in the middle of nowhere.
Dutch Apeldoornse Courant: "Hackers kraken internetsite Zwolse reiziger" (Hackers hack website Zwolle traveller)
The Examiner (Tasmania):
"Going Dutch means he doesn't pay"
2003: Canadian Tour & Beyond
The Journey Continues
CJAD Radio (Montreal, Canada) with Peter Anthony Holden on his show "Holden Overnight"
Stan & Henry on the breakfastshow of 98.3 CIFM in Canadian Kamloop.
Dutch newspaper Het Parool:
"Gratis de wereld rond; iedereen kent Ramon" ('Around the world for free; everybody knows Ramon')
Guest on Business Radio Netherlands (BNR).
Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant: "Portefeuille Ramon" (Ramon about money)
Dutch newspaper Spits:
"Heel de wereld wil Ramon in huis" ('The whole world wants Ramon at home')
Live on Weekend Morning & Noon News on Global Television in British Columbia (BCTV)
Canadian Television CTV, guest appearance on "Vicki Gabereau Live".
The Whistler Question newspaper (Whistler-Pemberton, Canada):
"World traveller visits Whistler, for free"
Free Press Community Newspaper (100 Mile House, BC, Canada):
Quesnel Observer, Canada:
"Globe-trotting traveller gets others to pay the bills"
CBC TV in Ottowa featured a report by Paul Morisset about Letmestayforaday.com on "CANADA NOW"
Peter Anthony Holder invited me as a guest on the Holder Overnight radio show on CJAD 800 AM in Montreal.
Lucy van Oldenbarneveld interviewed me for CBC Radio One's "Ottowa Morning"
Dutch Financial Dagblad in English:
"Going Dutch means not paying at all"
The Toronto Star:
"Global travel as a 'freeloader'"
Dutch man's Web site is calling card
Generosity gets him through the night
Dutch magazine VIVA:
FYI London (Ontario Newspaper, Canada): "Drifter just wants to stay for a day"
Canadian newspaper The National Post: "Globetrotter relies on strangers"
Contacts made online: Dutchman touring the world, without spending a dime
Newstalk 1010 CFRB (Toronto): On the air with "Randy Taylor" on CFRB
Dutch magazine TopSanté: 
Hot103 FM in Winnipeg: Guest on the Breakfast Show with Frankie Hollywood & Jojo in the Morning
CBC Radio Saskatchewan: Interviewed on Morning Edition
Erin Collins from Calgary interviewed me for CBC Radio. His report was broadcast on CBC Calgary and a shorter version was aired nationwide on CBC's World Report. You can play both reports here:
the German magazine Die Welt has a good round-up of the adventure (in German)
"Virtuelle Weltreise" (Virtual Worldtravelling)
"He has just this evening left for Bundaberg on his way north to Cairns. He is a faaaabulous house guest, a wonderful storyteller, great company, clean, loves dogs, and very easy to entertain and keep amused.... I would recommend you to invite him to stay over at your place... He is welcome to stay here again if he comes back this way and I look forward to reading his daily reports for a few years yet..."
"Well... where do I begin? It took about an hour with Ramon to cement our friendship into one that felt like it was formed years ago! He blended into my crazy family instantly, and the jokes and laughter didn't stop between us and him! Ramon is welcome at my house any time, the door is always open."
Epilogue: What It Proved
From March 12, 2001 to 2003, the Letmestayforaday.com project was covered by over 150 media outlets across more than 50 countries. Major newspapers like The Guardian, Le Monde, USA TODAY, and The Boston Globe. Television networks like BBC, CBC, and Channel 9 Australia. Countless radio shows worldwide.
All of this happened before Facebook, before Twitter, before Instagram — when "going viral" simply required newspapers, television, and radio.
It's a snapshot of how the internet connected people in the early 2000s, and how traditional media embraced digital innovation.
But more than that, it proved something the barkeeper in that Zwolle pub had doubted:
"It's a real proof that it's the simple ideas which are the most effective ones. Of course, I must admit that it also makes me a bit jealous and feel stupid because I didn't have the idea in the first place. But that's the way it is."
"I have been following you for seven months now and can understand that it is not an easy thing at all. To meet so many people and to always be on your best behavior, not to mention the distances you have to travel each day, to deal with so many conflicting opinions, some senseless, must be exhausting.
You have done an excellent job so far and I have the greatest confidence that you would in future too. You are a remarkable person, no matter how many times you have heard that from your hosts, they do speak from their hearts as you have, with your project, managed to bring the world together."
Before social media.
Before influencers.
Before viral marketing.
One website. One idea.
One tiny ball, Letmestayforaday.
2004...
I received an email.
And then Casey Fenton emailed me. If I could share the invites I had received for Iceland, as he needed places to stay for his internship on the island and I had not even gone there at all. I told him I couldn't share the invitation as all these people had invited me. My website was my profile. Perhaps he could try it another way?
Fenton hacked into a database of the University of Iceland and randomly e-mailed 1,500 students asking for a homestay. He received between 50 and 100 offers and chose to stay at the home of an Icelandic rhythm and blues singer. On his return flight to Boston, he came up with the idea to create a website.
Couchsurfing was launched on June 12, 2004.
Rolf Potts on Vagabonding.net: "Before Couchsurfing, there was LetMeStayForADay"
Michael Yessis on WorldHum.com: "Interview with Ramon Stoppelenburg: The Godfather of CouchSurfing"