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Do you think Hilary Clinton will make a good Secretary of State?

Yes, she's a great pick.

67%

Couldn't Obama find someone else?

I hope Bill doesn't screw it up for her.

17%

Are we still talking about politics?

17%

Total votes: 6

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Hitchhiking 50 State Capitals In 50 Days

One of the golden rules: They must get a photo in front of every state capitol building.

If we can't achieve [our goal of hitchhiking mission to visit 50 state capitals in 50 days] by the deadline, we'd never be able to show our faces in public again. We'll be in disgrace, feeling like clowns.

Matt "Fiddy" Fidler and Scott "Scotty" MacDonald , Canada

Date Posted: 11/06/06

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When recent college grads Matt "Fiddy" Fidler and Scott "Scotty" MacDonald left Vancouver to New York's Times Square on their hitchhiking mission to visit 50 state capitals in 50 days, they weren't sure whether the idea would take off. All they had was a somewhat crazy dream and a high tech marketing arsenal. They set up their own Web site (Hitch50) to blog about their experiences and allow people to contact them with rides and travel suggestions. They also got a satellite phone with GPS, a pocket digital camera and an account on YouTube, the Internet phenomenon that showcases more than 100 million video clips a day.

The quest started on October 10 and they had visited 30 state capitals by November 2. They have 22 more days to make the last 19, and should make it without a problem if they keep getting ride offers through their Web site and their cell phone. So far their unusual idea is proving to be successful. They've gotten not only free rides and accommodation, but also a growing group of new friends who have treated them with tickets to a Football Game in Florida and an exclusive tour inside the Pentagon. But they're still not sure how they'll get to Hawaii. Here's the story of Fiddy and Scotty's ongoing journey, in their own words.

What happens when all of the sudden you have tons of time on your hands, a fair amount of dreams and your best friend is willing to join you in whatever crazy endeavor you want to pursue? Fiddy and I found ourselves in that exact situation by the end of August this year. We've just finished University (we both got a business degree from the University of Victoria) and we didn't exactly want to pursue the typical business jobs our classmates were chasing. We wanted and needed to do something, but we weren't sure what.

Fiddy: There were lots of things we wanted to do that didn't include finding a job. We wanted to travel, meet people and have fun.

One day, during one of our usual rambling conversations we finally got it. We'd visit each and every state capital in the U.S. without spending a single dollar on transportation. We just needed to find the right way to advertise our idea and do it.

Scotty: My older brother, Kyle, was certainly an inspiration for us. He became famous this year when he started trading a single red paper clip for a fish pen and he ended up receiving a house. That experience showed us that people like to get involved in these kinds of seemingly impossible causes.
Kyle liked our idea and helped us with some tips. Very soon he became one of the many on our legion of fans.

We designed a couple of T-shirts with our names on them (I have a green one with my name on it and Fiddy's got a blue one). Then we set up a Web site where anybody can check where we are and where we are heading off.