I am lucky to have some hitchhiking friends who shared their experiences with me. I heard a lot of crazy stories like: "I wanted to go to Spain, but suddenly I got into the Sahara desert!" or "We were just sleeping in this cave in Cappadocia, when a few guys with guns woke us up and gave us food and drink". Seeing their happy faces and hearing those unbelievable stories, the dream of my own hitchhiking journey began to grow inside of me. And so I started big - by flying to Japan with my friend and hitchhiking from Osaka to Tokyo.
It was by far the best thing I've done in my life - testing my own abilities to adapt to cold weather, sleeping in weird places, eating the worst things any European can imagine (and enjoying it!) and of course walking through crazy-long distances, trying to find a place where cars could stop. There is no better way to discover a foreign country and its culture, that's for sure. People are usually very open and helpful, allowing hitchhikers to sleep in their own houses and explaining various traditions. You can see, taste and feel everything like a normal, everyday inhabitant. It's impossible to do it with a travel agency!
With a little knowledge of finding cheap flights and willing to hitch-hike the whole road ahead, you can travel basically for free. However, a tent in your backpack and tent-friendly country is required - not every driver is eager to let a stranger sleep in his house. If you want to try it yourself, be prepared to spend few nights outside and have some bucks left for food, drink and in case of emergency situations. A mobile phone with GPS is also required to be 100% safe.
People should avoid this method of travelling if they want to focus on what's the best in a chosen country - like travel agencies do. Free exploring often leads you to less popular city districts, slums, even regions which are not visited by tourists at all. In Asian or African countries, this can lead to a situation when you are clearly the one and only foreigner in some area, which causes a bit of sensation amongst the locals. The good part? Discovering beautiful places unknown to a typical tourist, of course. And there are many of them!
Our country is the host of one of the biggest hitchhiking events in the world. Have you heard of Auto Stop Race? Every year a destination city is chosen and the great race begins! Groups of 2-3 people dance and jump on the side of the road to attract cars, and the one which gets to the target city first receives a reward.
Have you ever tried hitchhiking? What would be your dream hitchhiking journey? Or do you consider hitchhiking a total waste of time or a pretty risky business? Tell me! :)
It's looks really fun.. but i will be a litle afraid of going with strengers people with we can meet on car. There are a lot of informacion about kill someone in that way...
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I watched the video. My brother used to hitchhike with his best friend, who's kind of big, and looks pretty dangerous, and my brother is tall and very thin... so he would stand on a road with the sign, so when the car slowed down and decided to pick them up, his friend would come out from his hiding place... so cool :)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, that kind of transport is on my bucket list. Just need to overcome my another fear...
I tried hitchhiking for the first time this summer and it was pretty exciting. The rush that you get after standing with a piece of cardboard with your destination for an hour and finally somebody stops to pick you up is amazing. It wasn’t too long of a journey but it was in Cannes and I didn’t speak a word of French. Anyhow I know that there is a yearly hitchhike New Year’s trip where people decide upon location and meet on the 31st of December.
ReplyDeleteThere is an alternative which is not very popular in Poland and it’s called InterRail. You buy 1 ticket and you can travel around Europe (not only EU) for the given time of the ticket, plus if you’re under 25 you have a 35% cheaper ticket :)
Thanks for the info, Przemek, I've never heard of it. And congratulations for your Cannes hitchhiking - I can imagine how hard could that be with all those tunnels and highways all the way through French Riviera! I was there during one journey through Austria, France, Monaco, Italy and Spain. Me and my friend had buses booked days ahead, but we missed two of them - one in Cannes, second one in Venice - and that resulted in two wonderful nights spent on dwelling those cities. Loved the vibe so much.
ReplyDeleteDalvia - you should totally do this, but I recommend doing it with a male friend (or better - your husband :D). Being a girl, you can lure cars more easily. When I was hitchhiking through Japan, the longest we waited for a car to stop was 1 hour. My friend alone had to wait even for 5-6 hours! Girl-power gives some advantage, that's for sure :D
ReplyDeleteDarkia - there are some countries which are safer for hitchhikers than another. You can never be 100% sure, but USA is known to be pretty risky, while Japan and South Korea are the safest. In Europe, it's the worst in Spain, as I heard from my hitchhiking friend.
ReplyDeleteI’ve hitchhiked in many countries, and it’s always been a nice experience.
ReplyDeleteA while ago, me and my friend went to Serbia there and back, and we counted 37 vehicles that gave us a lift. Some drivers, however, only took us for about 2 km or so.
I think it’s a great way to travel, you can learn a lot from that.
Dalvia, we used to do the same! Usually the girl was waving at cars, and the boy was hiding in the bushes. Drivers pick girls up more often; a big guy seems less trustworthy.
Przemysław, I agree – InterRail is great! I had the pleasure of travelling that way when I was still under 25. Unfortunately, it was quite expensive back then, but the comfort of being able to travel through Europe by any train was cool. I recommend it!
While I was kind of scared to go hitchhiking in Poland, I tried it when I was in the US and Canada as cars are often the only way to reach certain places. My experiences are mostly good. I achieved what I wanted by getting to the place I wanted to get and people giving me a lift were often really great to chat with. I even met a friend who was giving me a longer ride across the island once. We're still in touch on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI would probably recommend trying hitchhiking to all adventurous people, but it's true that there are some risks, even if they are really small. I would be more likely to recommend trying in countries where it's more popular, as it's more likely to actually catch someone willing to take you with them.
I don't have any experience with hitchhiking. You wrote above that men are waiting over 5 hours – terrible. I like to plan ahead and have everything arranged. Maybe this is my problem :).
ReplyDeleteSounds like good fun.. but is that really safe? I think Hitchhiking could end in two ways. One is when we get to palace where we wanted, and another way when something goes wrong and we end up in the middle of nowhere, which is not the end of the world. On the other hand it alway can get worse. And probably this is why some people do it. This way of traveling is exciting and free for sure. But like with everything... it is not they way to travel for everyone. I never tried it myself. I would not find it comfortable as i like to have my journey planed from start to end.
ReplyDeleteI personally never try this way of travelling. I think this is great and cheap way to travel for students. Some of my friends visited all europe this way, and they were very excited. I personally like traveling but I don't like to be dependent on others. Hitchhiking is risky and it's true, maybe guys have a little better situation but its still dangerous.
ReplyDeleteŁukasz hitchhiking in europe it's much simpler than in Poland. People are much more civilized rather the our country.
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ReplyDeleteI read the comments and I have to say that i agree with Łukasz and Wiktor - I myself like to plan everything ahead and I have concerns about safety when it comes about hitchhiking...
ReplyDeleteSo I have never tried it and I don't plan to. Maybe I am to ola hahahah. No..I just don't enjoy it at all. I like to travel in comfort. I also think that it can be extremely dangerous, you never know who you can meet. But on the other hand you can meet some interesting people as well, I admit.
ReplyDeleteAll in all I have better things to do than stand on the side of the road for 5 hours and wait for the transport
But for some it might be fun.
I consider hitchhiking an amazing form of traveling. I tried it once and it was a wonderful experience. This kind of traveling is of course destined for people who are not expecting business class trip and 5-star-hotel comfort. You have to be patient and have to trust completely strangers. But if you are ready to give up some conveniences you can count on a liftime trip. During hitchhiking you can learn a lot - you can improve your English (or other languages!) or learn how to communicate when a huge language barrier exists; you can meet all kinds of people, listen to their stories, sometimes eat or drink with them - and that seems to be the perfect form to get to know a new country.
ReplyDeleteBut apart from all the advantages there is always a risk that either you will get in the car of some psycho or you will end up on the road in the middle of nowhere during the night. So I guess you always have to prepare yourself as much as you can for a trip like this. If you are looking for some tips, maps or hitchhiking spots www.hitchwiki.org may be useful - you will find a lot of stories in there and learn a lot from it.
Martyna: yeah, now I just need to convince my husband. Maybe I'll go with my younger brother: if anything would happen, he could kick some serious asses :D
ReplyDeleteBTW I did use InterRail several times. It's really great!
When I was in high school I used to spend my holidays in Chałupy. It's a small tourist town at Hel peninsula where hitchhiking is a common way of transportation. Everyone who has a car usually takes hitchhikers so you wait for a lift maximum 10 minutes. While hitchhiking I met many interesting people. Although distances weren't too long, usually to other town or just to a shop I had good fun. At that time it was for me the only possible way to commute.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I haven’t tried a long distance hitchhiking. I think that I'm not brave enough to travel with people I don't know in a foreign country. It can be really an awesome adventure but if you have bad luck you can also get rubbed, injured or even killed. It looks to me pretty dangerous, tough, who knows, maybe one day I'll try it with my friends. The fact that you don't pay for transport is a big advantage for young people who are not so well off.
I've heard a lot good thing about hitchhiking but I still can't convince myself to try. I prefer situation when everything depends on me, when I don't have to rely on strangers. It's close to what Łukasz said, waiting for few hours for someone who graciously stops and takes me on board is totally not for me. I like to travel by bicycle instead, I don't have to worry about transport, in most part of time I can unpack tent that travels with me and for sure I can make a decision where to go now in every moment of trip
ReplyDeleteI never used hitchhiking as a way of transporting myself even though I tried many times. I think the reason why it is not so popular in Poland is safety. Many thieveries were committed by hitchhikers, especially young ones.
ReplyDeleteThe moment I first drove my very first car as a driver (Fiat 125p) I realized that being a passenger or hitchhiking is not for me anymore. But if I would like to do it I would like to travel through USA from one Ocean to another :)
“Maybe not risk-free, but who cares anyway! :)”
ReplyDeleteYet, I think that most non-hitchhiking people do care ;) However, I do think that “information about killing someone in that way” is mostly exaggerated. Incidents happen, of course but there are many more stories with happy endings. I have tried hitchhiking but for rather short distances which is different to travelling thousand of kilometers. For some people, hitchhiking is just a cheaper and more interesting way of getting from point A to point B. I know a girl that recently started studies in Wrocław and regularly hitchhikes to Warsaw where she lived before. She’s a very open and easy-going person who easily gets on with others but the main reason she hitchhikes is her limited budget. It works for her but she can never predict how long her journey will take. For instance, last week she waited on motorway ramp for four hours until someone picked her up…
The best stories are from friend's hitchhiking! I never tried it myself, but maybe one day... :)
ReplyDeleteTo the point - I have a friend who travels only by this kind of transportation. With his dearest girlfirend, they wanted to see a little bit of France. Tents, backpacks,few coins in the purse and they were ready to go. As I remember the begginig of their journey started at the "Te Je Ve Station". The couple get off the train and wisely tried to stop some cars on the HIGHWAY. Very smart of them :) My friends waited on the road two days, spending the night in tent, on the nearest square of grass.
Second day, the girl needed to go to the toilet very badly. She found nearest provisional forest and intentionally went out of sight from her boyfriend eyes. Unlucky, at this moment, when the girl was doing her thing, police noticed that her boyfriend was hitchhiking. Of course it's illegal to do this on the highway. My friend did't want to pay any penalty, so he pretend to be not very fluent in french. His only answear was "te je ve". So after few minutes and a lot of questions unanswered, they took him to the same train station he took off later. It's a pity I couldn't see his girlfriend reaction, after she found out that he is missing. It took him some time, but eventually he came back to her. After a while they catched a ride :)