This week we caught up with WAYN member David Partridge who is embarking on a once in a lifetime trip cycling from Cornwall, UK to Australia in April. David will keep us updated with his whereabouts and will upload pictures to his profile page, you can also check out his website for more information on this amazing trip.

1) We can see on your WAYN profile that you’re going to travel through almost a half of the world on your bike!  Where did this idea come from?

As youngsters, my wife and I were both told we had ‘frivolous imaginations’, always dreaming up wonderful adventures. When we met in Genoa, Italy the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, we could only be expected to keep the tradition going!  As our individual passions lay in athletics and water sports, we wanted to find a sport to pursue together. In 2009, we went on our very first bike ride together; 1,500 miles around the British Isles. Having discovered the ultimate means to travel anywhere in the world, for extended periods and relatively cheaply, we immediately realized the unlimited possibilities that cycle touring can offer.

2) Wow! 18 months sounds like a long trip.  Will you have any companion during your journey?

I will have my beautiful wife Holly alongside me for the whole journey and whoever would like to join us for a stint on the road.

3) You mentioned that WAYN has helped you in realizing some of your plans.  Which of the functionalities have helped you the most?

The ‘who’s around’ function on WAYN has been incredibly helpful in allowing me to contact people from all walks of life. I am fascinated to hear from people from around the world and learn about their culture and local recommendations. I believe WAYN is a fantastic hub for like-minded travelers to share their knowledge and experience.

4) The number of destinations you have marked on your profile as “visited” is outstanding!  What was the best local food you have tested?

I have been lucky enough to have tried so many mouth-watering foods around the world, that this is a particularly difficult choice! However, I think the prize goes to a wonderful tavern that Holly and I came across in Pošćenje, near Šavnik, Montenegro on the edge of the Durmitor National Park. When we asked the owner to recommend the local specialty, we were told to try the ‘hippy lamb’ and the fresh-water trout (caught with bare hands).

“What makes them hippy lambs?” we ask.

The owner replies; “They are happy lambs, they do what they want, eat what they like and roam where ever they wish, it is a very hippy lifestyle!”

The local, authentic cuisine and spectacular surroundings made this an unforgettable find.

5) You also mentioned that you’ve been on the road for the past five years.  Surely, it is a great opportunity for meeting new people. What was the nicest thing you have experienced from a total stranger, if there was any?

During our bicycle tour around the British Isles, after a tough day on the road, we arrived in the city of Kilmarnock, Scotland, slightly disheveled and looking for a place to camp.  Along came a couple of whom later became known as Danny and Eileen.  The ex-publicans offered us to stay with them at their home in Troon, another 15km from Kilmarnock.  We could not resist such a wonderful offer, so we pedaled ferociously to make it before dark.  Upon arrival we had hot soup, red wine and an offer to the local beer festival that was celebrating Robert Burn’s 250^th anniversary! We had a fabulous evening of dancing, local ales and great company, with a warm bed to boot.

6) Here at WAYN we love fancy gadgets.  Are you going to use any during your trip?

YES!  Please check the ‘Equipment and Reviews’ page on our website for tech spec on all the gadgets that we are taking with us.

Our favorite gadgets are ‘The Plug’ by Supernova, which is a USB charging device, powered by a front dynamo hub. Creating our own electricity by cycling, that’s how we roll!

We are also loving the super light and super small ‘Omni-fuel stove’ from Primus. This little gem can burn any kind of fuel you can get your hands on!

Also, we can not bypass our Enigma custom steel bike frames being meticulously hand-crafted as we speak. We look forward to putting them to the challenge!

7) This is sounds like challenge to be followed with bated breath! Do you think we could expect some updates on your WAYN profile?

YES!  We shall be offering live updates throughout our journey, here on WAYN and also via our blog on our website.

We wish David and his wife, Holly all the best on their amazing adventure, we look forward to reading their updates from the road!!

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• FLIRTY TEXTS DEEMED WORSE THAN SHARING EMOTIONS
• FRENCH AND ITALIANS MORE LIKELY TO CHEAT THAN BRITS

 18 February 2013: WAYN, the world’s largest travel and lifestyle social network that re-launched last week, has some good news for lovebirds recovering from Valentine’s Day: the majority of 15,310 of the website’s members polled this month claim they would never cheat on their partner. The survey questioned WAYN users in 176 countries and the results suggest that French and Italian men are more likely to cheat than their British neighbours, and most people regard sending flirty texts as worse than sharing emotional closeness.

Almost half of Italian men claimed to have cheated on their partner – with more admitting to multiple cheats than a one-off. In France, over 30% of men responded to say they had cheated on their partner at least once. Closer to home, women can take heart, perhaps, that 73% of men in the UK said they had never cheated.

But beware those of you who have strayed as the survey shows that 32% of people would never forgive their partner if they cheated, while 56% would forgive but never forget.

Peter Ward, Co-founder of WAYN, said: “Our survey proves that it if you stray from your partner whether through sex texting, kissing or confiding emotionally, you’re unlikely to be forgiven, so it’s best to avoid straying if you value your relationship!”

The majority of respondents claim to be faithful and believe their partner to be, too. However, once cheated upon – four times as many men admit to it than women – many seek revenge, and whilst some have taken the extreme step of cutting up their partner’s clothes, most of the broken hearted find that breaking up to move on is the best step.

The survey revealed that partners should perhaps be most wary when their lover travels abroad for business or on holiday, as more than half of respondents admit they’d consider cheating when in a different country. And bad news for ladies: 48% of men claim they would cheat while on a stag do…their own or a friend’s!

Ward said: “Our light-hearted survey suggests that people around the world have different attitudes to fidelity in relationships, with the Latin lovers of Europe living up to their lothario reputations and flirty texts being seen as more of a betrayal than sharing emotional closeness. Here at WAYN travellers love sharing views – whether about relationships, cultural nuances, business etiquette or specific events and locations – and as a result benefit from gaining a global perspective.”

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WAYN the world’s largest travel and lifestyle social network today goes live in its core markets, with a fresh new design interface and a complete transformation of the platform to enable its users to better discover where to go, what to do and who to meet.

The new site helps users on a journey of “destination discovery”, provoking inspiration on where to travel to next as well as what to do when you get there and who to connect with to make the most of your experience.

Peter Ward, CEO and Co-Founder of WAYN said: “We are extremely proud of the new platform, which whilst only 10% of the vision, is designed to encourage users to share their experiences, meet people and discover the best places to go to as well as what to do once they get there. We have re-built parts of the site from the ground up, consulting our users at every stage. A selection of current and new users have had the opportunity to test the site in advance, to ensure that we get the first version of the new vision, absolutely right. Now, engaging with locals, experienced travellers who’ve been and budding jet-setters who want to go to any destination, has never been easier. ”

The platform includes a Pinterest-style wall, in the context of every destination around the world, showcasing not only pictures added by users of that destination, but also who lives there, who has been and who wants to go, as well as tips and questions added by users, places to visit and more. Members of the platform can search or browse any destination and filter it by their WAYN, Facebook and Foursquare networks with a click of a button, so that they can quickly find recommendations on where to go and what to do, based on what others have already experienced. Users can also filter the results by people or content type, making it easy to find what they are looking for, by destination. Content that they like can be pinned to their profile and eventually, they will be able to create customised collections of their favourite things and share them with others.

WAYN currently has over 50 global tourist boards, airlines, hotels and travel operators as partners and has become one of the world’s leading platforms for driving user engagement and influencing travel decisions. The re-launch of the platform has drawn interest in the industry from reputable brands, the launch partners include the likes of Gauteng Tourism, Indonesia Tourism, Roomwise and Topdeck Travel to name but a few.

With headquarters in London and a team in Poland, WAYN now has a global network of offices in Cape Town; New York and most recently in Delhi, via its partnership with India Today Group (ITG). WAYN currently boasts over 21 million members, 15 million visits per month while 70,000 trips and activities are added each day, establishing the site as the world’s largest travel and lifestyle social media platform.

Peter Ward said “We believe that we are on the road to developing the next generation social travel platform. The re-launch is the first step; we have numerous exciting features still to be released over the coming months. Our focus in the past has been on connecting people, whereas our focus is now on building a recommendation engine for where to go and what to do, as well as who to meet”

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Hi WAYNERS!

We hope that those of you who indulged in pancakes last night enjoyed them, check out WAYN blogger V-Dog’s take on Pancake Day here: All Hail Pancake Day – How Do You Eat Yours?

Pancake Day also signals the start of lent, which lasts for six weeks/40 days, leading up to Easter. Lent is traditionally a time for giving things up and is very much a test of self-disciple. We did a quick poll in the the WAYN office today and it seems the most popular things to give up for lent are:

1.  Chocolate

2.  Twitter

3.  Alcohol

4.  Swearing

5.  Takeaways

Are you planning to give anything up for lent? Do you think you’ll be able to manage the whole 40 days? Let us know!

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New York fashion week kicks off today so for all you shopaholics, brush off your credit cards, put on your flats and hit the shops as WAYN looks at the top destinations around the world for fashion…

Milan:  Walking around Milan you feel as though you’re on the set of a high end fashion shoot. The Milanese  look is perfectly preened, high heels and designer items are essential. Milan is home to a number of flagship stories including Armani, Versace, Dolce and Gabanna, Ermenegildo Zegna, Missoni and Moschino to name but a few.The best shopping can be found in the adjoining streets north of the Duomo known collectively as the Quadrilatero d’Oro (Golden Quadrilateral): Via Montenapoleone, Della Spiga, Via Borgospesso, and Via Sant’Andrea. It’s also worth checking out the Garibaldi area which is the trendy new place to live, eat and shop.  We’d also recommend that you visit the city’s outlet stores for cut price catwalk fashion, many of the outlets are stocked full of items at a 50-70% discount. Also for the devoted bargain hunters arrange a visit in January or July when the end of season sales take place.

 Tokyo: is a shopaholics paradise, from the latest electronics to trendy fashion and traditional shoppers there is something for everyone. Bright colours and eccentric details are the name of the game in Tokyo. Head to Shinjuku, one of Tokyo’s largest shopping and entertainment districts or if high end fashion and art galleries are more your thing Ginza is the place for you, Apple also has a store here with all the latest high tech gadgets.

Berlin: If you’re a lover of vintage fashion, then be sure to check out Berlin’s fashion scene. Numerous flea markets offer second hand clothes at bargain basement prices, there’s a gem just waiting to be found!   It is also worth visiting Kurfurstendamm which is the city’s most lively and famous shopping area. There are over 100 shops and restaurants to choose from, with lots of interesting side streets to explore.  Also worth exploring is the Kaufhaus des Westens – KaDeWe Berlin’s most celebrated department store. Other shopping regions nearby are the elegant Uhland-Passage and the Kempinski Plaza. There is something for everyone in Berlin, from exclusive and upmarket to cheap and cheerful.

Delhi: is fast becoming a centre for fashion. The fabric patterns and use of colour are having an impact on fashion around the world. The markets around Delhi are a feast for your senses, check out the fabric, jewellery and carpets among numerous other delights!  Away from the markets, Connaught Place is Delhi’s leading shopping complex offering wide range of fashion accessories, books, electronic commodities and handicrafts.

New York: Arguably the best shopping destination in the world and home to legendary department stores Macy’s, Barneys, Bloomingdales and Saks. The stores are full of designer goods and you can window shop to your heart’s content.  You should also explore the open air markets dotted around the city including the Green Flea Market.  If you’re travelling with children or just want to unleash your inner child head to famous NYC toy stores FAO Schwarz and Kidding Around. We’d also recommend you check out the seriously hip meatpacking district which has been transformed into a cool area with excellent bars and quirky shops – ideal people watching territory!

WAYNERS, do you have any other recommended destinations for fashion?

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