Hitchhiking is a journey that cannot be planned in advance
How many rides will you need to change to cover a distance of 5,500 kilometers to the small French town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port? Where is the best place to hitchhike on the road? What apps should you download on your phone if you're traveling by hitchhiking? The correspondent of Lenta.ru learned about this and much more from his own experience.
The hardest part of hitchhiking is deciding to do it. There are many prejudices. First of all, the thought that it is unsafe is frightening – you never know who you might meet on the road. However, this fear is no more justified than the fear of riding suburban trains, traveling in open-plan carriages on long distances, or simply going outside in the evening.
On my way, I met many people who, upon learning about my hitchhiking trip, were amazed at my courage and bravery. I still don't understand what courage and bravery have to do with it. Patience is a different matter, when the count of cars passing by exceeds four thousand, and the waiting time at one spot exceeds five hours. Or the ability to find common ground using gestures and some universal words, not only to explain where I'm heading but also to try to tell a little about myself and understand the story of another fellow traveler.
Perhaps I'll make a reference to gender – I was lucky to be born a boy, and I will never know if the opposite sex often tries to get more than words of gratitude for a ride. But I am two hundred percent sure that those drivers who became my fellow travelers on my journey through European countries would not allow themselves such behavior.
Several times my hitchhiking on the highway ended with an overnight stay at the driver's house – at his invitation. That was the case in Bosnia, where Milan left me at his dacha, and in the morning came to pick me up to take me to the bus stop from which a minivan departed for Budva, where I was heading. In Italy, farmer Sasha invited me to his home; he and his wife cooked barbecue and treated me to the finest wine. The next morning he drove me to Genoa.
Hitchhiking is a journey that cannot be planned and marked on a map with stars for hotels or hostels. Most likely, there will be no problems with accommodation, especially if you reserve evening time in your daily plan for searching. Even better is to download a couple of apps on your phone to find nearby hotels and campsites. Several times these apps seriously helped me out.
Ten kilometers from Dubrovnik, which turned out to be prohibitively expensive (50 euros for the right to pitch a tent within the city limits), I found a hostel offering a bed for 16 euros. In Bologna, where I hadn't planned any overnight stops at all, I had to spend several evening hours unsuccessfully hitchhiking, after which I gave up and at the nearest McDonald's (free Wi-Fi!) found a campsite just two kilometers away.
A tent on your back inherently provides much more freedom. And I'm not just talking about campsites. Although in some countries (Italy, Spain) wild camping is prohibited, almost everywhere you can find a secluded spot where no one will notice you and where you can easily spend the night.
The site Hitchwiki.org – a Wikipedia for hitchhikers – describes every city, offering directions where to go, places where it's easiest to hitchhike, and, moreover, public transport that can take you to these places. First and foremost, hitchhiking is a matter of luck, but if you know that dozens of other tourists like you have found a ride from your spot, there are fewer doubts and less desire to look for another place.
However, no Wikipedia is universal. For hitchhiking, you need to understand that the best places to hitchhike are exits from gas stations and toll booths on highways. That is, places where cars stop most often. Several times I managed to catch a ride on a highway in Eastern Europe. But in many countries, it is forbidden to walk on such roads. In Italy, I encountered gloomy police officers who tried to chase me off the shoulder and even threatened a fine of 40 euros. True, then, still unfriendly, they gave me a ride to the nearest exit and left me there.
There are far more drivers who are willing and want to help than you can imagine. Much depends on simple things – the ability to stop, not brake sharply, not interfere with other cars. All this is the responsibility of the hitchhiker.
The time for hitchhiking is limited to daylight hours. There is a high probability (though there were exceptions) that no one will stop near a hitchhiker in the dark. For a reason I cannot explain, I started getting lucky with rides in the afternoon, after three or four o'clock.
Several times I tried to go on local small roads instead of highways. Cars stop much more often, but the distance they take you is significantly shorter. The road from Venice to Bologna on the highway I covered in one day with two cars. From Bologna to Florence, roughly the same distance, but on local roads I changed five cars, and that is certainly not the limit.
Most often, passenger cars stop. Most often, when the driver is traveling alone. Most often male, although women also gave me rides. Stopping a truck driver is akin to a miracle. An even greater miracle is stopping a motorhome, although it's obvious that they are travelers like you, only with a car.
Of all the countries I've traveled through, the most favorable for hitchhiking is France. Not once did I spend more than half an hour waiting on the road – and I didn't always choose the best spots for thumbing a ride. And this despite the fact that English (I don't speak French) is not exactly widespread here. Rather, few people speak it. Once at a campsite, I had a long conversation with an elderly couple from Germany. "We don't understand," they told me, "we learn four languages at school. What are they doing at school?"
Hitchhiking is, of course, a highly adventurous form of tourism. I've had many stories, many encounters, conversations, and just random people who decided to help me. Rides are not just a means of moving through space, like a train or a plane. But it's an adventure in itself, ready to compete in emotional thrill with Renaissance basilicas, Raphael's paintings, a concert at La Scala, a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, and anything else.