How a die-hard Bitcoin fan uses Bitcoin to travel around the world

菲利克斯•韦斯is used to people rolling their eyes when he pays for things. What's going on? Since January, the 28-year-old computer programmer from Luxembourg has been traveling around the world using only Bitcoin.

Most of the store clerks, bartenders, and travel agency operators he met along the way had never heard of Bitcoin. But these were exactly the people Weiss was targeting.

Wes says:

“Bitcoin is the most exciting global economic experiment going on right now, and I totally believe in it.”

To show his trust in Bitcoin, Wes converted all his savings into Bitcoin and cancelled his credit cards.

When he convinces someone to accept Bitcoin as payment, three or four people usually gather to listen. Then he pulls out his selfie stick and records the moment. Weiss has traveled to 14 countries so far and has taken dozens of memorable photos of people holding up their phones to show they have completed their first Bitcoin transaction.

Weiss plans to visit 21 countries by the end of the year, which he said is to commemorate the total number of 21 million bitcoins.

Weiss set three rules for himself during his travels: 1. He must use Bitcoin to pay for food, accommodation and travel expenses whenever possible; 2. He must never use debit or credit cards; 3. He can use a certain amount of local currency, but only if he can exchange Bitcoin for local currency through the localbitcoins.com website.

So far, Weiss has visited most of Europe, plus Turkey, Israel and Ukraine. Weiss booked accommodation through travel companies that accept cryptocurrency payments, such as Expedia.com, which allows users to pay for hotel reservations with cryptocurrency, and CheapAir, which allows people to pay for air tickets with cryptocurrency.

In Israel, he toured the Israeli port city of Haifa for free with the help of a tour guide, but afterwards, Weiss offered to tip the guide in Bitcoin. In this way, the guide had to download a Bitcoin wallet application on his mobile phone, and Weiss scanned the QR code of the guide's Bitcoin wallet with his mobile phone. A few seconds later, the guide received a Bitcoin tip worth 30 shekels. Weiss then showed the guide the area (Tel Aviv, Israel) on coinmap.org, telling her all the nearby shops, restaurants and service agencies that accept Bitcoin payments, so she could spend money at these places.

In other countries, Wes used Bitcoin to pay for diving lessons, paragliding, and bungee jumping. Wes's travel experience in each country varies, depending on the region's Bitcoin adoption rate and people's awareness of Bitcoin. Sometimes, there are few services that can be paid for with Bitcoin in a certain area, and he is not always successful in convincing merchants to accept Bitcoin payments.

During the few days in Varna, Bulgaria, Weiss's only meal was the free hotel breakfast. Budapest and Berlin are the places that accept Bitcoin payments the most. In May, Weiss arrived in Turkey and happened to catch up with "Bitcoin Pizza Day", but it took him two days to find a pizza restaurant that accepted Bitcoin payments.

Despite his enthusiasm for Bitcoin, Weiss does not encourage others to be as extreme as he is, because like other digital technologies, Bitcoin wallets are vulnerable to hacking or file corruption, and there is currently no authority to protect them.

In addition, the price of Bitcoin is very volatile: in 2013, the price of Bitcoin soared to as much as $1,200, but a month later it fell 70%. A few days after he started his trip, Weiss decided that if the price dropped to $180, he would have to shorten his trip by two months. He had previously estimated that the price of Bitcoin would be at least $250. The current price of Bitcoin on the Bitstamp exchange is $255.

Last week, Weiss flew to Hong Kong to begin his Asia tour, which will take him to South America this fall. He hopes to experience how different economic factors affect Bitcoin usage during his travels. For example, in the Philippines, personal remittances account for 10% of GDP, and Bitcoin transfers are cheaper.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela and Argentina, bitcoin use has been spurred by high inflation and capital controls. At least 65% of Latin Americans do not have bank accounts, but many have smartphones, which give them access to bitcoin as a cheap way to transfer money. Argentina is the largest bitcoin market, according to塞巴斯蒂安•塞拉诺, founder of BitPagos.

The last stop of Wes’s trip will be Berlin, which is also the starting point of his trip. He also wants to create a software company in Berlin to make it safer and more convenient for people to use Bitcoin. He plans to accept Bitcoin payments and keep his savings in the form of digital currency.

Wes says:

“Now that I know I can live with Bitcoin in 14 countries, why would I go back to the old, boring system?”