Hitchhiking: pros and cons, rules, reviews

Hitchhiking is more than just an opportunity to go somewhere with minimal expenses, it's a whole culture that allows you to take a fresh look at the world, expand your spatial range, feel all the colorfulness and fullness of life, make unexpected acquaintances and experience your own endurance And ingenuity.

I wonder when people came up with this kind of movement?

Lomonosov and the hitchhiking

They say that hitchhiking around Russia has a history of 300 years. The first happiness in this field was experienced by Mikhail Lomonosov, who is jokingly called the first hitch-hiker. Indeed, in order to get an education, he overcame a distance of almost 1000 kilometers, from Kholmogory (Arkhangelsk region) to Moscow, then on foot, then on someone's cart. That's how strong a person had a thirst for knowledge.

Hitchhiking: why is it necessary

The modern tradition of such trips, too, brought the students - the people are fussy and ready for all kinds of extreme. But this was dictated not so much by lack of money (although low scholarships are also the engine of all insane ideas), as a desire to "tear oneself to the full" with the help of a mass of new impressions.

To nothing to deny, the monetary aspect is still one of the incentives on such trips. Who will refuse extreme rest, which is possible not in spite of, but thanks to such a cheap way of movement?

Although it is extremely unreasonable to start your own hitch-hiking without any preparation; The pros and cons should nevertheless be considered in advance. On one enthusiasm, you will not go far in a literal and figurative sense.

Also, the skills of hitchhiking will be useful when there are no tickets to the right place at the height of the season, when the transport schedule is extremely inconvenient, when you want to explore some country or country and immerse yourself in the reality of what is happening. It seems that every person at least once in life should taste this smell of dusty roads, in order to feel what it is. And for someone, it can become a way of life.

The advantages of hitchhiking: saving money

When we hear that someone has managed to go round half the world with $ 100 in his pocket, then immediately there is a thought: "Is it weak for me?"

It's true that the drivers of money from hitchhikers basically do not take. Considering the considerable cost of travel in Western Europe, this is a significant plus. An original payment for the service is simple human communication. Usually fellow travelers take long-distance truckers into their cab, who sit for hours at the wheel, and they just want to turn off the radio and listen to a living person. Here such mutual assistance.

This does not mean that you do not need to take money for a trip, because anything can happen on the road (for example, you have to go to a hospital), you just need to save a lot. It is better to exchange large bills for smaller ones.

Emotional aspect

So, from all the above it is clear that lack of funds and a lot of free time is by no means the main reason that makes a person slow down unfamiliar cars. A real hitchhiker is guided by the desire to see the country as if from within, to get acquainted with local residents, to listen to the bikers of talkative truckers.

Of course, there are unspoken rules of hitchhiking as to which companion one should be. The driver basically takes a fellow traveler for his own fun, and if he starts the conversation, it is better to support him and answer not in monosyllables, but giving more details.

Depend on your luck or someone else's arbitrariness is not always convenient, because you never know how long it will take to wait for the next ride, will it rain on the road, will there be an overnight stay in the new city or will it be necessary to spend the night in the field under a bush.

But it is this, at first glance, lack of travel hitchhiking so attracts its followers. If we exaggerate the essence of such trips, then we can say that a person creates an extreme situation for himself, heroically finds out of it an outlet, while increasing his sense of dignity - and voila: then there is something to brag to friends.

Freedom of movement

It's nice to feel that you do not depend on the availability of tickets, bus schedules, etc. This condition is called "your own boss." Travel hitchhiking gives you the opportunity to follow your unexpected impulses, for example, after seeing an interesting picture outside the window, you can succumb to an inner impulse without a twinge of conscience and come out to consider everything near. And you can spontaneously change the route or even linger somewhere for a day or two.

Security

It can not be denied that a hitchhiking journey carries a considerable share of risk. This is the most significant drawback of this type of movement. As for girls and women, it is extremely dangerous for them to do this alone. The men of the stronger sex are simpler, but they also need to be extremely attentive and not sit in suspicious cars. If possible, you should never take expensive mobile phones or tablets on the road, do not keep a wallet in sight.

Of course, there is still the danger of getting into an accident. It's sad, but the fact that a hitch-hanger becomes an accident victim on average once per 100 thousand kilometers. Although such a danger equally applies to those who travel for money. But the bereaved God protects, so the experienced hitch does not slow down those cars that rush at frenzied speed.

Knowledge of the language

Without this, nothing at all. Pantomime and gestures do not always help out. Communicate essentially with the driver just will not work, but this negates almost the whole meaning of the hitchhiking. Of course, does not mean that you need to know the language in perfection, a fairly conversational level. It is not superfluous to take a phrase book or a gadget with an online translator, as well as a map of the area in the language of the country you plan to travel to.

The benefits of this are substantial: the locals can give very practical advice as to where to stop better, where you can eat cheap, what to see and so on.

Nameplate

Known in almost all countries, the gesture of hitchhiking is an elongated hand with a thumb up. Typically, if the driver takes such a passenger, it implies that he agrees to a free ride and is ready to throw a newly made fellow traveler along his route. True, in some countries (Russia, Ukraine) it is better to clarify this delicate moment, or you can find yourself in an embarrassing situation if the driver does not know about any hitchhiking or knows what, but wants a monetary reward for his service.

Plus, it is desirable to have a sign in your hand. This is the main helper on the road for hitchhiking around the world. It's one thing to stand with a raised hand (especially on branched international routes leading in many directions: drivers are often too lazy to stop to clarify), and quite another - with a specific destination sign. Just in case, you can write two or three tablets (one with the final destination, where you need to get to, and others - with the intermediate), because not always the car goes straight to the right place, sometimes you have to make transplants. Marker and then what to write (cardboard, sheets of paper), it is better to take from home, and then somewhere in the middle of the field on the road, they will not appear by themselves.

Exploring the route

This is the key to success. It is necessary to collect as much information as possible about the possible places to sleep, calculate the mileage, estimate how much distance to actually cover a day, shovel a bunch of reviews from yourself about a specific section of the road (because everywhere there are points where you can get stuck all day, and it's better To consider in advance).

The navigator will be a great help in this whole undertaking. It is also desirable to know the weather forecast or to ask about the average temperature indicators for a particular time of year, it depends on what to take on a hitchhiking trip, and what will be superfluous.

Tips for beginners

• There are whole communities of hitchhikers who are ready to provide free night lodging, it is enough to register in one of them and agree on an overnight stay.
• It's better to stand half-turned to the passing car, so that the backpack behind the back is visible (it disposes to stop).
• On a hitchhiker trip, be sure to bring a plastic card with you just in case, which can be used in the country of destination. Otherwise, customs officers can find fault with the lack of cash.
• At the gas stations, as a rule, there is a free toilet, as well as a wash basin. To forget about hygiene in any case it is impossible, the hitch-hiker should have a neat appearance that the driver took it into the cabin.
• Access to free Internet is available in public libraries.
• If there is a nigromous musical instrument, it is not out of place to take him on a trip: you can even earn extra money playing on the street.
• Sleeping bag and warm blanket are also necessary.
• For safety of movement at night it is necessary to have светоотражающие strips on clothes and a backpack, катафоты, headlamps.
• It is better to vote outside the city, especially after gas stations. But near the signs prohibiting the stop, or at the corners of the chances are almost there.

Hitchhiking: reviews

If we evaluate the possibilities for hitchhiking in Europe, then they say that the most responsive drivers are in Germany, and the most indifferent are in Spain. So if you plan to tour the countries of the West, then it's better to get by train to Berlin, and already there you start to catch the rides.

There are far more chances to catch a car in hitchhikers under 25 years old (so to speak, a socially acceptable age, it is believed that older people stop cars unreasonably).

Dressing should always be tidy, clean, but preferably with some special features: you need to have bright wardrobe elements to customize the drivers benevolently and approach in appearance to the image of an eccentric student, and in any case not to resemble a potential terrorist.

In the company to catch a car more fun, and more reliable, but it is very difficult for the whole event; A hitchhiker alone will get to any point faster than a couple of lovers (although they are unlikely to be very upset).

And if some shortcomings of this kind of tourism did not become an obstacle and a decision was made to try hitchhiking, what is needed first of all is the spirit of adventurism.