It's time to take stock of the financial results. In this article I will tell you about the trip route, what its length was and how many days I rested, about expenses and share useful tips.
Solo travel to Europe flew by like a whirlwind, like one day. For 16 days of stay in Northern Europe it was covered 4,182 km round trip. The route was as follows: Moscow - St. Petersburg ( 687 km), St. Petersburg - Turku ( 559 km), Turku - Stockholm ( by ferry 200 km), Stockholm - Helsingborg ( 587 km), Helsingborg - Copenhagen ( 58 km).
Budget for independent travel to Europe
Equipment costs
I had an 80-liter backpack with me, packed with the most necessary things: a sleeping bag, an inflatable mat, a first aid kit, and some other things. Everything was already in stock before the trip began. I didn’t spend a penny on this expense item.
Transport costs
For most of my trip there simply weren't any because I was hitchhiking, which works great in Europe despite the ban on voting on highways. I didn’t have to stand on the side of the road for a long time; the distances between large settlements in Europe, unlike Russia, are small, and the road surface is perfectly smooth.
As a result, I quickly moved between cities and European capitals. The only time I paid for travel was when I bought a ferry ticket between Turku (Finland) and Stockholm (Sweden) and back.
Food expenses
They were small because the buffet system is ubiquitous in Scandinavia. In almost every cafe and restaurant you can pay a small fixed amount and have a gastronomic feast.
For this small fee, you have the right to approach the food trays as many times as you like, on which a variety of dishes are placed - meat, fish, side dishes, vegetable and fruit salads, desserts. I usually ate a hearty meal once a day and this diet suited me quite well. There was no need to waste time buying food and preparing it.
Expenses for excursions
I didn’t have to spend money on this either, because I myself arranged good educational walks around European capitals. In addition, close acquaintance with the local population greatly helps to find such interesting unexplored places that are not listed in any guidebook.
So: what were my expenses for traveling to Europe on my own?
NB! For 16 days of hitchhiking, I spent 150 euros or something like 6,000 rubles. in terms of Russian money.
For this amount I traveled to three European countries: , and , received a lot of positive impressions, met interesting people, and discovered the mentality of the inhabitants of the Old World.
Useful tips
How to get a Schengen visa
The Schengen territory includes the following countries of the European Union: the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Luxembourg, Portugal, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Malta.
Among the countries that are not part of the EU, the Schengen territory includes Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
The most loyal European embassies to Russian citizens are Finnish and Spanish. But I believe that the simplest procedure for obtaining a Schengen visa and the smallest package necessary documents to issue a permit to enter the EU - this is at the Finnish Embassy.
To do this you will need to provide the following:
a) completed application form;
b) original passport;
c) photograph measuring 36×47 mm;
d) an insurance policy with a limit on the sum insured of at least 30,000 euros;
e) documents that justify the purpose and conditions of the trip.
To confirm the last point, a printout of the reservation from the website booking.com or a travel plan drawn up in free form is sufficient. A visa application can be submitted no earlier than three months before the start of the trip.
The most important convenience of submitting documents for a Schengen visa to the Finnish embassy is that Finns do not require a certificate of employment on company letterhead or a bank account statement.
Quite a lot of people now earn money either informally or on the Internet ( freelancers), so these conditions are very suitable for them.
It’s easier to cross the border as an illegal immigrant, sneaking through the control strip and keeping in mind the thought: “How to avoid touching the barbed wire with your butt!”
You can find out detailed requirements for documents submitted for a Finnish Schengen visa.
Where to live while traveling in Europe
In Finland, I stayed with a friend whom I was officially visiting. In Sweden and Denmark I spent the night in guest rooms at Orthodox churches.
In fact, in Europe there are no problems with placement, because in the Old World there is a developed wide network hostels , where for 10-15 euros per night you get a separate bed, a clean bed, free Wi-Fi, a hot shower and sometimes breakfast.
This set is quite enough for backpacker , which is more focused on the educational part of independent travel than on personal super comfort. The first in no way cancels out the second, but an experienced wanderer maintains an ideal balance between comfort for the body and food for the mind in the form of new impressions and knowledge about the country.
Booking.com is here to help you.
Knowledge of English
If I say that it helps, I won’t say anything. This is probably one of the most basic requirements for traveling to Europe. But I don’t want to scare you either. You don't need to be an expert linguist or polyglot to communicate well with Europeans.
In Scandinavian countries, English is the second most commonly spoken language after the native language and the completed basic course in English. English language within the framework of the school curriculum, I had enough to communicate clearly with foreigners.
If you do not have the necessary language knowledge, buy a good Russian-English phrasebook that will prevent you from getting into trouble in any situation.
European mentality
They are friendly, responsive, and quick to help of any kind. Never hesitate to once again address a passerby. They will always answer you, advise you, and help you. I will not talk about the psychological traits of the population of the Old World hidden from tourists, because this article does not aim to explore the deep layers of the European subconscious.
Features of hitchhiking in Europe
I have already said that voting is officially prohibited on highways, but: what is death for a German is good for a Russian.
For your convenience, follow these recommendations: if possible, choose a place to vote where it is convenient for the driver to stop. The width of the shoulder must be sufficient for the car to stand up and not interfere with the movement of the main flow.
It is best to semaphore where cars slow down. Usually these are turns, traffic lights, parking lot exits and other similar places. Use your brain and put yourself in the shoes of the person sitting behind the wheel to understand these nuances.
Europe is very interesting, unusual, beautiful. I'm sure you'll love it there! Have a nice trip!
Photos and text: Alex Bogolyubov for the project
In the first part of Hitchhiking in Europe, I will tell you about my journey from home to Amsterdam. Trains, planes, the first part of hitchhiking, new cities and countries.
Background
It's been over a year since my last great trip. Then my friend and I set off to hitchhike across Georgia, taking a course from our native Simferopol and hitchhiking about 1,500 kilometers. True, this is a completely different story.
So, having worked all year, I couldn’t help but think about the next trip, and I was just waiting for the moment when I could quit my job, pack my briefcase and rush off to discover new countries.
Unfortunately, well-known political events took place in Ukraine, and it so happened that Crimea, where I live, became a gray zone on the world map. Obtaining an EU Schengen visa was now in doubt. But I did not give up hope of trying my luck. In addition, I was laid off from my job and I already knew for sure that if they did not give me a visa to the EU, I would go to those countries where entry for citizens with a Ukrainian passport is visa-free.
My route options were:
- 1. Simferopol - Baikal-Mongolia;
- 2. Simferopol - Portugal;
- 3. Simferopol - Georgia, Türkiye, Iraq.
Initially, I was most inclined towards the third option, it seemed that I would always have time to go to Europe, and our lifestyle and culture are still European, but I wanted to see something exotic. As a result, it was not possible to find a partner for this adventure, but there is still more to come. I put aside the option with Baikal for the time when I want to take a ride to China. That’s how I chose a trip to Europe and decided to try to get a visa.
Preparation
I was considering traveling alone to Portugal. Then my girlfriend expressed a desire to go too, plus I persuaded my friend Kirill to come with us. The composition of the group was determined, all that remained was to hope for a visa. As a result, we were issued visas, but for a much shorter period than required for a trip to Portugal - only 15 days. Considering the distance from the Ukrainian border to Lisbon is 3.5 thousand kilometers, it was decided to make changes to the route and abandon the idea of hitchhiking the entire route.
As a result, the route looked like this: Lviv - Debrecen (Hungary) - Eindhoven - Amsterdam - Brussels - Luxembourg - Barcelona - Budapest - Lviv.
On the sections Debrecen - Eindhoven and Barcelona - Budapest, we used the services of low-cost airlines (). Tickets from Debrecen to Eindhoven cost 500 hryvnia (34 euros), Barcelona - Budapest about 1,500 hryvnia (90 euros).
Having bought tickets for the Simferopol-Lviv train on July 13, we planned to stay in Lviv for a few more days before crossing the border with Hungary on the 17th.
Simferopol-Lviv-Chop
On July 13, waking up in the morning, I packed my briefcase to the minimum, because I wanted to travel light, unlike the last trip, when my backpacks weighed 15 kilograms.
1. This is the minimum luggage I had:
It was with this baggage that I left the house. Having met Kirill at the station, we boarded the train to Lviv. We reached the border between Crimea and the Kherson region. Russian border guards punched the passports of citizens in their base and the train moved on, now towards Kherson, which became a border city.
In Kherson, everything is serious - Ukrainian border guards walk around the cars with AKs, while the platform is cordoned off by machine gunners with dogs. With Russian passports, Crimeans are immediately removed from the train and turned towards Crimea on the next train. Sometimes, men from 18 to 60 years old with Crimean registration in a Ukrainian passport can expect the same thing. But in the end, having inquired about the purpose of the trip and having checked our things, they give us the go-ahead for further travel. Now the Lviv train takes 30 hours instead of the previous 24.
Lviv
We arrived in Lviv at 6 pm, and my beloved and her friend met us at the station and we went to her house to swim, do laundry, and relax. In the evening we went for a walk around the city. It’s worth saying that Lviv is one of my favorite cities, and I never get tired of walking its streets, despite the fact that I’ve been there about 10 times. Kirill was impressed by Lvov, and after the trip he ranked it among his favorite cities, placing it above Budapest and Brussels on the list.
After spending a couple more days in the city and walking its streets, we met a girl from Zaporozhye who came to see the city herself. After seeing her off in the evening to the apartment where she lived, we walked home from the center. Tomorrow the next stage of the trip awaited us - departure to the border.
It’s worth mentioning separately for the prices: in one of the cafes we ordered 4 pizzas + 4 glasses of beer and all this for only 100 hryvnia.
Chop
On the evening of July 16, we boarded the Lviv-Solotvyno train, which made its way through the Carpathians and the westernmost point of Ukraine - the city of Chop. Unfortunately, once again, I’m traveling through the Carpathians by train at night and I can’t enjoy those beauties, even though I saw them once, but that’s not enough.
2. Train Lviv-Chop-Solotvyno at Lviv railway station: 
Around 3 am we disembark at the Csopa train station and go to buy tickets to Debrecen, the second largest city in Hungary, from where our flight to Eindhoven departs. Having purchased tickets for the locomotive, having passed Ukrainian customs and border control, we board a carriage running between the two border towns of Chop-Zakhony.
Debrecen - Eindhoven - Amsterdam
At the Hungarian border there are standard questions: the purpose of the trip, what we are bringing and the long-awaited stamp in the passport about entry into the Schengen country. Next, we transfer to the high-speed Intercity and rush at full speed to the destination station.
The first impressions of the meeting with Europe were positive and it was difficult to hide my joy and happiness about what I saw - every building, every manicured lawn with a lawn - everything caused surprise, like everything was not like ours. First of all, what we planned to do in the city was to eat.
3. To do this, it was necessary to exchange money for Hungarian forints - as for me, one of the most inconvenient currencies that I have ever used. The forint to euro exchange rate is something like 1 to 300. 
In general, having exchanged 5 euros for 1500 forints, we went and bought ourselves puff pastries - probably the most popular food in Hungary. By the way, the Fornetti campaign originated from there - they are found on almost every corner.
4. The city is quite neat, convenient layout, beautiful architecture: 
5. Yellow color is a priority in the city: 
The city turned out to be small, and after walking around the center, the general advice was that we should go to the airport and wait there for our flight to the Netherlands. The anticipation that we would be in Amsterdam in the evening haunted us. The journey from the center to the airport, located outside the city, took us 40-50 minutes on foot.
At the airport, due to the fact that we did not pay for luggage on the plane to save money, we had to go through certain procedures with putting on clothes in two layers and compacting the contents of the briefcases into the dimensions allowed as free hand luggage.
Then Kirill and I went behind the trees on the airport grounds and began changing our shorts into pants, putting on T-shirts, shirts, patches, and caps. And at that moment, when we were washing our feet with mineral water, two policemen approached us. Having taken our passports, our invitations (and officially we were going to a cultural forum in the city of Miskolc, Hungary), they clung to us, saying why are we flying to Eindhoven when we have visas for cultural program in Hungary. As a result, they took our passports and went through their channels to find out something there. An hour later, our documents were returned, and we, happy, went to check in for the flight.
6. Going to board the plane: 
Eindhoven — Amsterdam
Having landed in Eindhoven, we left the airport quite quickly, without going through any controls there - this is what freedom of movement and a world without borders mean. The Netherlands, in particular Eindhoven Airport and its surroundings, impressed much more than Hungary. It’s immediately obvious that this is a different level - buildings, cars, roads, lawns, bicycles, it’s impossible to describe everything.
Having somehow got onto the autobahn outside the city, we tried to stop the cars heading towards Amsterdam. It turns out that this is not possible in Europe, at least like this, on the sidelines. Many drivers honked at us, but no one was in a hurry to stop, so we stood for about 30 minutes and moved further along the road in the hope of finding a convenient exit. While we were walking, the police drove up to us and asked us to get into their car. Having explained to us that it was impossible to stop here, they said that we should only go by bus or train. We replied that we really needed to go to Amsterdam and would spend money (about 20 euros) on public transport We have no intention.
7. This is how we tried to hitchhike when we first got onto the autobahn near Eindhoven: 
As a result, the cops, after consulting among themselves, took us further along the highway. It feels like they want to offer us two options - either smoke with them, or give us a lift to Amsterdam, which is about 150 kilometers. As a result, they dropped us off at some junction a couple of kilometers later, where, as they said, they could stop cars.
And then, lo and behold, as soon as we got out of the police car, a car stopped next to us. The driver beckons us over and invites us to get into the car. We didn’t even have time to understand anything, everything happened in seconds - we just got out of one car, we were already driving into another and straight to Amsterdam.
So, at 3 o’clock in the morning we were still in Chop, and at 8 o’clock in the evening we were already going to Amsterdam.
Hitchhiking is a very economical option, so it may be suitable for students who would like to get to know the country not through the windows of buses. However, there is an opinion that this is dangerous and generally reckless. Whether this is true or not, we learned from Alina Adaeva, a student of the OP “Logistics” at St. Petersburg HSE. For her, this is not only a lot of memories, but also a kind of practice, since constantly choosing a route teaches her to calculate time and choose a place more competently
About hitchhiking
It is important to understand that hitchhiking is like couchsurfing, that is, you ride for free, but still have to give something in return. And in return you must give yourself and your communication
And no matter how tired, exhausted you are, you must give them this communication simply because this person helped you. Help him in return.
Hitchhiking has many advantages, and freedom is the most important thing. In addition, it is mobile, cheap, and allows you to take a fresh look at the place you are in.
And you already feel the country from the inside. But, of course, there are downsides. These are internal attitudes in the head: if you are afraid or the public opinion is imposed on you that it is scary, that a girl cannot be alone, whatever. I've been told a lot of things, and this can be a very big barrier to getting the full buzz. 
As for how long you have to wait for a car, firstly, it depends on your internal state, and secondly, on the time of day. And from the place - this is also important. The dependence on the time of day is due to the fact that when you are standing late in the evening, you begin to get nervous, and therefore it is difficult to catch a car, and when you catch a car in the morning, you agree to everything, because you understand that you still have a whole wonderful day ahead of you and you will have time to get to the point.
Internal state - you need to smile no matter what: even if it’s raining or snowing. No matter what happens to you, you need to be focused on the road. Something must trigger for the driver to stop, an external factor or an internal one.
About the path traveled
Hitchhiking began to gain popularity quite recently, about three years ago, when the first travel blogs began to appear. Everyone then began to slowly crawl out of their nests and look at this big and beautiful world.
My hitchhiking started last summer, although my friend and I also tried it the summer before, but we had a slightly different format.
In general, it’s difficult to say how many times I hitchhiked, because almost always when I had a trip, they said to me: “Let’s hitchhike?” "Lets do it!" For example, in Ulan-Ude we had a train to Irkutsk, but the next day we met some guys who said they would hitchhike, and we decided to go too
We didn’t plan in advance that we would travel like this. In Lisbon, we also thought that we would go back by bus, but we were fined by Rainair, and we had no money left for anything. Then we realized that hitchhiking was the only option. And most often I travel in a group. However, traveling alone is also not scary, since there is nothing to be afraid of.
I believe there is no such thing as danger in travel. There is danger in life. If you have your head on your shoulders, you won't get into dangerous trouble, and if you do, you'll be able to get out of it.
About the peculiarities of hitchhiking in different countries
Mostly my hitchhiking destinations are Russia and Georgia. I traveled in Europe, but not all of it - Portugal, the Baltic states, Poland, a little in Italy. In principle, everywhere I’ve been, drivers are willing to take travel companions, including Russia and Europe
We were just so scared to go to Portugal, because, it seems to me, this is the only European country about which there is little information related to hitchhiking. The three of us went to Portugal, and although we still made it successfully, there were days when we didn't manage to complete the entire route, but we caught up the next day. The Portuguese are good people, open-minded, but it seems to me that they have a very similar mentality to the Russians: either only very rich people who are not afraid of losing anything will pick you up, or very poor people who have nothing to lose at all. The middle class doesn't take it. And in Europe, it seems to me, this is the case almost everywhere.
About preparing for the trip
There are a few things to consider before your trip.
Be prepared to not plan anything in advance. The main thing is internal readiness for the fact that you can stay on the road. Because it's probable. The question is whether you will give up.
There are no problems when crossing borders, because you are driving a car. The borders with Russia are most often not pedestrian and you cannot cross them, you just negotiate with the driver, he says that he is your uncle or you are his aunt - whatever you like, because for most customs officers this is not so important. I heard that there are such problems in South America, because it is not customary to cross borders there, they are not for pedestrians, so travelers often have problems, but this is not the case here. Or, if we take the borders with Finland, you can always move safely, because there are always a lot of cars and it’s not a problem to ask the Russians. And the border with Estonia is pedestrian, as it is located in a city where you can cross Narva.
About impressions
My first impression of hitchhiking was that it was incredibly convenient. Because it seems to me that you don’t feel so unattached in any other way of traveling.
Because you get into the car and along the way you understand where this person is going, where you are going with him, and this is cool, because there is an opportunity to always change plans. In general, the main thing that I have learned during all this time is not to make guesses. You never know what will happen in a minute, an hour or a year, and making some distant plans is not about me at all. This way there are much more opportunities to catch a cool moment.
There was one dangerous moment when, honestly, I was ready to cry, I simply didn’t know what to do. We were returning from Poland to St. Petersburg.
Everything went well: We crossed Poland in about half a day, from Warsaw to the border with Latvia, further on the border with Latvia we caught a truck, it incredibly saved us, because we had to cover a huge distance, and the truck takes a long time
But in Europe it is almost impossible to catch a truck, because they are prohibited from taking fellow travelers. It is also prohibited in Russia, but they turn a blind eye to this, since everyone understands that the distance is huge and you will hardly find police anywhere on the road, whereas in Europe this is more difficult.
We then stopped at a gas station, a truck driver came up to us and said that if we lay down in the back, he would give us a lift. Naturally, we agreed, because we were already ready to go to bed - we only slept at the airport, or rather, we hardly slept
And he took us to the border of Latvia and Estonia, 450 kilometers away, which is about 1/3 of our journey. But he arrived there at 10 or 11 pm, and there is no border there as such, there’s just a gas station in the forest, he spends the night at this gas station and says - that’s it, goodbye. We go out, it’s -6 outside, we’re wearing sneakers after Portugal, where it was very warm. Winter, forest, we are on the border of two countries, where there are really no settlements, the three of us are standing on the highway. We stood for about forty minutes, four cars drove past us - no one, of course, stopped, although we were shining our flashlights in them, shouting, I was ready to lie across the road so that they would slow down.
Hitchhiking is a journey on a passing vehicle, when the driver can, if desired, pick up a fellow traveler and give him a free ride to the agreed upon location. “Payment” is considered to be live communication, for the sake of which most drivers agree to take strangers on board.
Hitchhiking is chosen by especially desperate and adventurous people. But is it really dangerous? Hitchhiking is developed to varying degrees around the world, in some places it is commonplace, in other places it is risky, and in others it is not accepted at all.
My experience as a “hitchhiker” spans several countries, but I have been closely involved in this issue and will tell you about the features of hitchhiking in Europe. But first, I’ll tell you about the unwritten laws of the hitchhiker, which are relevant all over the world.
- be sociable, sincere and polite;
- don't be too intrusive;
- do not forget to discuss all the conditions before the start of the trip: where they can take you, and whether the driver expects anything in return for his services;
- Before leaving, prepare well, take a map, find out about the culture of the country where you are going to travel. It is not enough to know the language, it is important to know the subtleties of mentality. Even body language can be radically different;
- if the weather is bad, take an umbrella or shelter from the rain. Nobody wants marks from your wet raincoat on the seat;
- if the road leads in several directions, prepare a card with the place where you want to go or the route number;
- Think in advance where you will spend the night. In a tent, in the nearest city, in a hostel or using couchsurfing, or perhaps you will be able to spend the night in the car of a local “truck driver”. Although, of course, you can accurately predict where the night will find you.
In the photo - our tent on one of the “non-functional” ones bus stops Amsterdam.
Europe is like a small planet, and every corner has its own customs, and hitchhiking is also different in different countries. So, the countries most “prone” to hitchhiking are: Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia.
It will be difficult to find a driver in France, Spain, Sweden, Greece, and Portugal. Although, of course, this does not mean: “don’t hitchhike in France!” I myself, at one time, got from Paris to Lille without any problems, albeit with some time, but by hitchhiking. Cars rarely stop, so you will have to wait longer. For example, in the photo there is a French grandfather with whom I still communicate. He drove me an extra 50 kilometers, which was not on his way, took my phone number and now periodically inquires about the state of my health.
So, it all depends on you and a little luck. Surely, someone has experience of successful and fast hitchhiking in “difficult” countries.
Hitchhiking in Germany seemed to me, and to many people I knew, the easiest.
The only thing important to know is voting, and being on the autobahn is prohibited .
You need to ask the driver to drop you off at a gas station or in a parking lot, where you can ask the people stopped if they can take you. Not knowing this nuance, I stood on the highway for about an hour, desperate and afraid of being hit by every passing car.
In Belgium I met kind, reliable drivers. One of them gave me this reflective vest. By the way, a very necessary item in a hitchhiker’s wardrobe.
But, of course, during my travels, there were some sticky situations. One driver who “saved” me, on the way out of Paris, insistently offered to go to his house for a “cup of tea.” But I managed to convince him that it wouldn’t work out now, maybe another time. Fortunately, the driver didn’t try to persuade me any more, and I began to take a more careful approach to the “choice” of the driver.
Also pay attention to the exit from the city to the highway. Look on the Internet, ask the locals, you may have to walk for some time. In the city itself it is better to use public transport.
Wonderful site, which I can recommend to travelers with knowledge of English - http://hitchwiki.org/. There are several articles in Russian, tips, maps and a lot of interesting things.
Safety
Having “stopped” one, I can say that there is still a risk of danger.
If you are a girl, you will be picked up faster on the highway, but it is better to travel in the company of a girlfriend or boyfriend. It's easier to leave a couple of women or m-f, but two men will have to wait a long time for someone who wants a ride.
If you are traveling alone, send the car number and location to your friends, just in case. If you are really afraid, you can take a gas canister with you to be sure. But be careful here too: in some countries (for example, Belgium) they are prohibited.
And most importantly, as in any business, don't be afraid to say no. Didn't like it appearance, the look or manner of speaking confused you, it’s better not to risk it. Apologize and look for another car.
Conclusion
Of course, this type of travel has many advantages. This is also an opportunity to save money, talk about yourself, your country and city, find out the opinion of foreigners about the situation in the world and their state, communicate with indigenous people, feel the difference in accents and dialects in different corners planets...
The disadvantages include the danger present in hitchhiking, the human factor, the likelihood of meeting a bad person is small, but it still exists. In addition, you get tired from hitchhiking for a long time: constant conversations, answers to the same questions, when you just want to sit and look out the window, sleep and relax, but you need to be alert.
Despite these disadvantages, I still advise you to try hitchhiking for yourself at least once. This is not just traveling in a group, this is a whole exciting adventure, where at any moment you can change your destination, you don’t know what will happen tomorrow, you live here and now and enjoy the road and its “intermediate stations”.
"Hitchhiking" was invented by poor travelers: they had no money, but to ride around different countries really like. Now thousands of people abroad use this method of transportation. Mostly, of course, young people. For example, when he goes on vacation to the south or returns home for a student vacation.
Europeans are quite willing to accept fellow travelers into their cars. The easiest place to get a car is in Germany (especially in the western part). The Germans believe that in this way they encourage thrift and activity among young people. You can find a ride in Belgium and Holland without any problems. In Italy, hitchhiking is full of surprises; Italians take travel companions so that they have someone to talk to and while away the journey. In France, hitchhiking is more difficult: the French don’t really like free passengers, but if you want and are persistent, you can travel around this country for nothing.
In the West, a person with an outstretched hand on the highway looks as normal as if he were hailing a taxi in the city. So you shouldn’t have any complexes about this. For many, hitchhiking is a search for romance, and not at all a severe necessity. Many celebrities traveled this way in their youth. For example, Rod Steward. Hitchhiking, a quintessentially bohemian way of life, adds a thrill of adventure to everyday life.
One day I hit the road on the worst day for hitchhiking. I was traveling from Belgium. In France, all highways were closed due to strikes and social unrest. I found out about this already on the way, when I crossed the border. The board read "1 route - Paris - 200 km". According to a friend, I was supposed to be in Paris in almost a couple of hours. No one in Belgium knew that labor France had decided to go on strike on that very day and all the surrounding residents had postponed their trips. The highway was deserted.
Fortunately for me, there was another Belgian veterinarian. He was on a call to a French village to visit his compatriot. He spoke only Flemish, “Ne, Ne, Paris ne,” he repeated, but for a long time he offered me something in his guttural language. Looking at his open face, I intuitively felt that he was not going to do anything bad. Indeed, he drove me to the bus station, where several “heavy trucks” - long-haul refrigerators - were parked. Their business trips were planned in advance, and they, like me, could not turn back. Many of them were from Germany and Italy. The first driver agreed to take me with him. Its huge cabin was very comfortable and clean, just like an international coupe. He was traveling from Gascony to the north, and with the typical Gascon temperament he laughed and talked about the south of France, his family, neighbors, children, dog and cat. He demanded that I talk about Russia and myself. At the same time, he was listening to a football match on the radio and shouting: “You idiots! I would show them how to play, but my feet are busy with the pedals!” Periodically, he exchanged jokes over the radio with drivers passing by.
“Hey, guy, let me into the first lane,” asked the overtaking van. He overtook us and, looking from his cabin into ours, waved his hand welcomingly.
“You’re lucky, you’re driving in women’s company,” this driver said to the Gascon. And the Gascon immediately briefly told him my biography. Say, a Russian journalist is going to Paris.
It's a pity that I'm not going to Paris. Maybe we can go to England? - He slowed down and rode alongside for some time.
“I don’t have a visa,” I said.
What nonsense! In my car you will never be checked at customs. Don't you want to take a risk?! No! Well, good luck! - and he rushed on.
Listen, why do you need Paris? - said the Gascon, - let's go to Lille. There is also a lot of interesting things there.
He immediately gave me a lot of information about Lilya and its surroundings. Then he told me about strikes, social problems and the work of car companies in Europe. We had a lot of time. We drove slowly along country roads. The multi-ton vehicle, similar to a short train, had difficulty turning around on the streets of provincial towns. But what can you do, the highways are blocked. The Gascon cursed in an untranslatable southern dialect, and I quietly rejoiced. On this most difficult day for him, I had the unexpected luck of seeing, albeit from a three-meter height, the whole of France in cross-section.
Before turning north, the Gascon, talking on the radio with passing drivers, found a colleague who was driving to Paris. He was a phlegmatic, silent Breton with a huge mustache a la Salvador Daly. He sat silently the whole way, in complete silence, with the radio turned off, and looked more like a dummy for testing a new car. His gaze was directed into the distance, over the highway.
The Breton's car was more modern than the Gascon's. There were many different instruments inside, like in an airplane cockpit. He was carrying pharmaceuticals. Along the way, the Breton mercifully made a detour, stopping in the center of Paris to give me a ride directly to the Parisian metro station, although I didn’t even dare to ask him for it.
I have the most pleasant memory from this hitchhiking. There was little trouble. I looked at almost all of France and met typical French people.
Once in Paris, in the Georges Pompidou Center, I met a Russian with a sleeping bag, a bowler hat and other belongings that were unusual for a Russian in Paris. The story he told was sad. Ten years ago he emigrated from Russia to South Africa and received citizenship of this country. At first everything was like in paradise, he lived on unemployment benefits, but felt like the master of the world. And then blacks won the election and everything changed.
Once, having learned that there were also big changes in Russia (but the blacks were not in power), he decided to hitchhike there. Just not directly, so as not to get lost in the jungle and be eaten, but along the coastal strip, where there is at least some kind of civilized life. Having reached Syria, he asked to work as a laborer on a ship and sailed to Marseille. I decided to rest in Parisian shelters and eat in charitable soup kitchens for the poor, and then move towards my native Urals. In Europe, I often met people who hitchhiked from Sweden to Greece or from Poland to Spain in a couple of days. But hitchhiking to Russia, from Africa is impossible! I never made it home...
My Parisian acquaintances, having learned that I had hitchhiked to France, were horrified. "It is very dangerous!" - they said in one voice. But I have hitchhiked within France and to other countries more than once, and every time it was convenient and interesting. And even more comfortable: more than once they drove me to the house itself. Sometimes drivers offered to make love, but when they refused, they were not offended and behaved quite correctly. For a long time I held this method as the best, safest and most exciting, until I read several reports about missing, brutally murdered and robbed hitchhiking tourists.
One of the criminals was found. He turned out to be the local Chikatilo, a quite successful, decent-looking traveling salesman with the typical French surname Dupont. Charming, sociable, rich, he had never been to prison, was not treated by a psychiatrist and was in good standing with the local police, which did not stop him from setting the French record for “serial murders for no apparent reason.” He often drove his car on business trips to the provinces and willingly took fellow travelers - girls and boys. And he invariably repeated with cynicism: “You are very lucky that you came to me.”
After some time (when the future victim was already completely relaxed), he turned into the woods, as he said, to have a snack in nature, took out a revolver from under the seat and threw the victim out of the car. He tied her to a tree with wire and began to torture her with a drill, saw, and car repair tool. He didn't like to kill, but to torture. The victims died from painful shock or blood loss. Only two managed to avoid death - they were then able to identify the maniac.
Robberies and rapes happen while hitchhiking. But, fortunately, in Europe this is very rare.
In general, if you choose this method of transportation, the risk of spending the night in an open field or being found on the side of the road by a morning police patrol is small. The chances of being brutally tortured are much lower than dying in an ordinary car accident. If we take crime statistics, we can see that many crimes are committed in elevators, but this does not prevent citizens from using them every day.
The main problem with hitchhiking is simply the long wait. But sooner or later someone will stop when they see your outstretched hand. At worst, you'll spend a couple of hours on the highway. Whether you catch a car or not depends largely on how you look. One of my acquaintances, a forty-year-old Parisian artist, shaggy, in the picturesque outfits of a king in exile, in fact a real intellectual, an exceptionally good-natured and poetic person, once stood for several hours on the highway, and not a single car stopped. Everyone took him for a crazy tramp.
Another problem: you can never accurately calculate how long it will take you to get to the place you need. The road may not be the shortest. Let’s say, according to the map, there are 200 kilometers from the place of departure to the destination. Theoretically, this path can be completed in three hours. But add here an hour to catch a car, an hour for unforeseen stops at cafes, gas stations, and so on. The driver may stop on the road in a completely different city than you want. It is clear that hitchhiking takes much longer than, for example, traveling by train.
Please review the map carefully before setting off. Mark several intermediate points - large settlements. Write down their names so you don't get lost on the highway. For example, when I was driving from Paris to Brussels, I understood that I was unlikely to quickly find a car that was heading straight there. Approaching a stopping car, I said: “vers Bruxelles” (towards Brussels), but if this was followed by a negative answer, I called all the written names of intermediate cities. It immediately turned out that the owner of the car was heading to one of these towns, Verdun or Reims, which were halfway there. From there it was much easier to get to Brussels. By covering short distances and changing two or three cars, it is much easier and faster to get to your goal than waiting for the only one that will immediately take you to your place.
There is not much difference in the way people vote on the road. You can jump on the side of the road, wave your arms, or just stand there holding a piece of cardboard with the city you're heading to written on it. Just don't try to stop the car on the freeway - the expressway: stopping there is prohibited. On small "country" roads it is difficult to find a person who travels far. Ask him to at least take you to the nearest gas station or parking lot. There, boldly approach all approaching cars. The very people who wouldn't stop on the highway will take you.
Some people don't brake because of inertia or laziness. Some are careless because they are immersed in thoughts about their own affairs. There are slow-witted people who react only five minutes after they see a person on the road: “But you could have taken…”. A simple trick: when you ask for a ride in front of witnesses, you are much less likely to run into criminals.
At a parking lot or gas station, you can contact drivers of large vans. In general, they are not recommended to take travel companions, because there is a risk of meeting a robber. But they can break this rule if they see a harmless student, and especially a girl. For young women, this type of benefactor is the safest: a truck driver (abroad, only abroad!) will not suddenly turn into a forest and begin to insistently offer to make love. Another advantage of heavy truck drivers: they usually drive long distances and large settlements. Their cabins are spacious and comfortable; they differ from our trucks, just as a Boeing differs from a corn truck.
If you have at least a little free money for travel, then you can also travel by car, but by sharing. Almost all European countries have special bureaus that bring together car owners and poor travelers. Motorists who want to earn extra money provide such bureaus with information about their future routes. The information is placed in a database. You come to the office and say: “I’m going there at such and such a time. Is there a passing car in this direction at this time?” You may be lucky, or you may not. But if there is no “flight” today, there will be one tomorrow. Many student centers have a special notice board where drivers, often students themselves, leave notes: “I’m going to Rome on May 5, I can give three people a lift, call me…” The fee for services is usually low, according to the agreement. Sometimes you only need to pay for gasoline.
The bureau takes a small commission, varying depending on the distance (for example, from Brussels to Paris - about $7). You pay the driver no more than 500 rubles per kilometer (Brussels - Paris costs 56 French francs, or 50 thousand rubles). They usually pay in the currency of the country where you are traveling. But it is also possible in dollars. Some people quote one price regardless of the number of passengers, but more often they require this tax from each rider. The driver can pick you up directly at home, but this is not necessary. Sometimes you can agree that he will pick you up on the street at a place convenient for both of you. He is also not obliged to take you to the very doorstep, but you can always try to persuade him. Of course, no one will feed you, but for gasoline and travel toll roads you don't owe anything. It is believed that the driver takes money from you in order to justify his journey. If he goes back at a time convenient for you, you can go back together. It costs even less.
