Before I left they called me dumb,

For travelling and sticking out my thumb.

I’m back home now and all was fine,

So you do you and I’ll do mine.

Most of the time when I told someone I was hitchhiking alone I was met with shock. Sometimes pity or an admiration like that of a soldier walking to her death. The most common question was “aren’t you scared?” I confidently replied that I was not. The world is full of good and kind people and I want an adventure.

The truth was that although the world is full of good and kind people and I do crave adventure. I was scared. Mainly, I was scared because my whole life I was told that I should be scared. Especially of men, because men are bad and will hurt you if given the chance. Women are weak and suggestible. To sit inside a strange man’s car was like being the innocent lamb being coaxed into the slaughterhouse.

But, if my ten gender studies classes taught me one thing it was that bravery is not gender specific, I can do anything and I will. The real truth is that I spent 66 days hitchhiking in The Balkans and Eastern Europe and I made it out alive.

The first hitchhiker I met was a year ago. We were sitting together on a budget airline flight from Bangkok to Germany. There was no food or TV available so we spend hours talking about his hitchhiking and urban camping in Japan and adventures in Central Asia. I exchanged some of my food for some his stories and I always hoped we would meet again. Maybe we will, but this time I will have a lot more stories to tell.

Over the next year my confidence grew while my bank balance sank and I decided to give hitchhiking a try. So I stood for three minutes near Ljublijana airport and got a ride in a truck straight to the village where I was Couchsurfing, from then on I was hooked.

I hitched alone and with new friends I had made. I much preferred having someone to laugh and joke with as I waited but alone I knew I would get to where I was going fast.

You can see which parts of the route I ended up hitching on the blog.

So here are some tips if you’re thinking of hitchhiking

What to bring with you

Smartphone: this is the most important thing, not only can you check your route or location but you can also call for help when needed. It is also useful for showing pictures of your travels and family to humanise yourself.

Portable charger: the second most important thing.

Water: you guessed it- third most important thing.

Food: bring some filling snacks like bread, pastries and fruit. Keep some cereal bars or similar for emergencies.

Marker pen: for writing signs. You can find cardboard on the street, in bins and in shops.

Tent/hammock/tarp/sleeping bag/sleeping mat: some combination of these items is useful from being stuck anywhere on the road.

Boots: bring comfortable shoes since you’ll be walking a lot. I take boots from New Look or Teva sandals.

Gifts: depending on where you’re hitching you may want to share smokes, coins or snacks with drivers. I didn’t bring anything myself but have heard of people who do. I share snacks if I have any.

Pack light! You’ll be walking a lot. Learn about ultralight packing here.

Resources

Hitchwiki: the main resource for hitchhikers

Nomadwiki: also useful for budget travel

Hitchhiking Maps: the green app with a yellow thumbs up on it shows you hitchhiking spots all around the world

Couchsurfing: you can find hitchhikers to ask them questions about certain locations

Reddit: you can also find detailed answers here

Facebook groups: Nomads, Girls Love Travel and Hitchhiking groups are all good ones.

Google: plenty of blogs to be found

How to hitchhike

First use the resources to find a spot. Out of town is better and you need space for a car to safely pull in. Don’t stand right after a bend as you need drivers to see you from a distance to give them longer to stop. After traffic lights is good.

You can also stand at fuel stations and ask people. If you don’t speak the language you can just say hello in the local language and say the name of where you’re going. Perhaps pointing to your sign. If you do speak the language, you can tell them you’re hitchhiking and ask nicely for a ride, maybe some friendly conversation will convince them to take you.

Parking lots at attractions are also good, you should be able to find people heading in your direction easily if you’re going towards a nearby city.

Hold up your sign, stick out your thumb and smile!

You might be waiting a minute or a day. Some people travel only hitchhiking. If you are in this category, take breaks for food and water, sing songs and stay positive, your ride will come! Some of us are less hardcore, if I don’t get a ride in around 3 hours I take transport, I always have a back-up plan. This was possible because I travelled to cheap countries. In other parts of the world I’d probably fall into the first category. But I can write about that when it happens.

Don’t get frustrated if you don’t get a ride, no one has to pick you up and you chose to try to get somewhere for free. You’re basically begging for a ride and so the world owes you nothing. You’ll get your energy from the kind person that will give you a ride.

In the car, chat to your driver using gestures if you can’t speak the language. Ask for pictures of their family and show them yours (drivers in The Balkans are wonderful at multitasking).

There you go! You’ve hitched a ride!

Sleeping

My main method was Couchsurfing. Read my Ultimate Guide to Couchsurfing for more information. I Couchsurfed most nights.

Hostels are my second option, you can get some good deals on booking.com. I paid 1/3 less than my friend for the same room by booking on the day. If there are no deals I just walk in or email ahead. I don’t really use HostelWorld, it seems to show only the more popular and expensive places that will be full of backpackers. Not that I don’t like them, but I prefer to find out that my hostel is a room in an old lady’s house like I did in Mostar.

Airbnb for some reason never comes to mind but is a great option. Sign up using my link and we both get some credit: www.airbnb.co.uk/c/ssisodia8

Wildcamping: I didn’t want the weight of a tent. If I did I’d camp a lot more. Find an elevated spot for good views and less people. A green tent will blend in. Make sure to clean up after yourself! Beaches are great for camping if there are less people nearby and forested areas around town are also great. Make sure to ask before camping on private land if possible- they may even let you in to sleep inside!

Organised camping: I paid five euros a night to camp in Albania. To me it was worth it to have showers, toilets, people to hang out with and a restaurant all nearby. I’d never camped in my life and some friends helped me to put up a tarp. The owner said I was welcome to set up my sleeping bag on the balcony or veranda if it rained or if I was uncomfortable but it was actually quite fun outside!

Stations: you can sleep in bus or train stations but airports are the most secure. sleepinginairports.com is a valuable resource.

Side of the road: some places have quite comfy ditches or covered shelters.

Sleeping rough: I was close to resorting to this but never had to. You can just sleep on the streets. Since I didn’t do it I can’t say whether it’s a good idea or not but I suggest you research the area beforehand.

Safety

Hitch reasonable distances: I tried to only hitch a few hours drive a day and start early, that way I wouldn’t risk being stuck somewhere at night. In some places where hitchhiking is easy, you could leave later.

Talk to your driver, if they think you’re nice, they’re less likely to want to harm you

I’ve never felt the need to carry a weapon but it wouldn’t harm to

The question that is always asked is what to do if you have a pervert driver. I have had some that put their hand on my leg and ask for sex. Most importantly you should stay calm and confident. Move their hand immediately. If they ask for sex say “no sex” and give them some silent time so they know you are offended. After they ask this, don’t be so forthcoming with conversation as you were before. This will also indicate that they offended you. I usually do not advocate ever making up a fake boyfriend but if your safety is on the line you can have some pictures of you with a male friend/partner handy to show your driver. You can also lie and say you are meeting him. Make up a story about why you’re not with him. You can say he works in the destination and you are visiting him.

If you feel unsafe, ask to leave the car at a safe place where your driver can stop. If he says no, you can try to convince him further (as in my situation, the driver just wanted to drop me as close to my destination as possible after accepting that he wasn’t getting any sex). As a last resort, you could threaten to call the police if he doesn’t stop or try to get the attention of a passerby. You’re very unlikely to need to do this.

Hitchhiking is not as dangerous as it seems, many women hitchhike alone with no problems and fight against the media telling us the world is dangerous for women. You are doing amazing things by breaking stereotypes and showing everyone that the differences between men and women aren’t as simple as they seem and we should think more about how we stereotype each other.

On the other hand, the world is not all rainbows and martinis. Bad things do happen anywhere at any time. This is a risk we take every day so don’t relax too much, stay on guard and keep an eye on your driver.

That was my brief guide to hitchhiking, ask me anything below😊