The tour is sponsored by the UN Secretary General’s Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group and will take Brandon to ten different countries, meeting the people there and learning about their lives.

He wrote on the blog that "since there are only ten countries on the itinerary, it would be rather foolish to claim that these portraits and stories somehow represent ‘the world,’ or humanity as a whole. The point of the trip is not to 'say' anything about the world. But rather to visit some faraway places, and listen to as many people as possible."

The blog's stories are some of the most compelling and beautiful on the internet, and the readers have created a community with their kind responses.

One recent story, about a girl who lost her parents at a young age, and told the blog "I’m always fearful because I don’t have a safety net. I’ve moved 80 times in my life. I don’t have any savings. I don’t have any room to make a mistake", prompted comments including "You're part of the Humans of New York family now."

Powerful 'Humans of New York' blog begins a worldwide tour