When I first decided to hitchhike I didn't know what I was doing, just wanted to go. I made a sign that said West and left from Budapest, Hungry. My destination was Lisbon, Portugal with a long stop in Madrid to visit my best friend.
I went wherever if the driver was more or less going toward my goal. On my first day I figured out that holding a sing and waiting doesn't get results, so I started walking up to people at petrol stations and asked for a ride. I was refused maybe 5% of the time, the rest either they were full, didn't go where I wanted to, or it was a yes.
On the first day I covered over a 1000km and arrive in Italy after midnight and since there were no accommodations in this small town so late, I was forced to sleep on the street like a homeless person. It was scary and I cried a bit because I didn't understand why am I putting myself through this. But the next day I woke up with my bag and both my kidneys and that feeling is indescribable. I DID IT! Nothing could stop me after that.
After 3 days I got to Madrid and a few days later in only a few hours I made it to Lisbon, then on the way back I had a travelmate who I met in Lisbon and the trip just got way more fun.
What I've learned from this experience was to not be afraid to talk to strangers and ask for help, that there is so much more good in people and they are much more helpful than I thought, that I can trust strangers even when one driver got weird with me, 1 crazy out of a 100 was still a great average for me. I pushed my limits and learned so much about myself.
After this experience, I went on hitchhiking a boat and crossed the Atlantic, then cars all across Central America. And my whole world was open just because I decided to take a chance.
YES! Love the adventure! I want to try hitchhiking outside of my country at some point.
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I can definitely attest to the fact that no one stops for people on the side of the road haha. I'm super curious about how hitchhiking went in South America. When I was there, I certainly would not have been comfortable with it.
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It was easier then in Europe because people are not as distant, plus I was not the only one hitchhiking. It is still more common there. I haven't hitchhiked south america because the distances are too big, but central yes and it was fun, a bit more stressful than Europe, but way more fun :) Will write about that soon and show you some photos just how different that is
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The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @mysevenworlds to be original material and upvoted it!
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