Is the Art of Hitchhiking Dead?

Is hitchhiking dead, a long-lost forgotten art relegated to the annals of history and traveler’s memories? When I first started traveling around Europe in the mid to late 80s it was quite common to see both travelers and locals hitching rides along the highways and byways. I want to share some memories and experiences here that may help provide an answer.

Ostend to Duisburg

In the old days, I used to take the ferry from Dover to Ostend in Belgium. I remember standing by the side of a cold, wet road in the late afternoon wondering how on earth I was going to get a ride somewhere, anywhere.

I had hitched rides before, in Scotland, but it was only short distances and I knew the roads and the language. Here, things were different, new, even scary. Signs in a language I did not understand at the time, car license plates I did not recognize, and no real clue as to how to start.

I made a sign because I had heard this was the way to do it and stood there thumb out, sign in the other hand and waited and hoped. I don’t recall how much time passed. It might have been minutes; it might have been hours. I wondered whether I should make my way back into Ostend and take the train. But that would be self-defeating I thought to myself. The whole point of standing here was to try something new, to experience something different, and to test myself. Could I really get a ride and where would I end up?

A large truck stopped and the driver asked in German where I wanted to go. I apologized and said I only spoke English. He said he was going to Duisburg and asked if that would help me get where I wanted to go. I had no clue where Duisburg was but I just wanted to get moving, to feel the kilometers roll away as I headed somewhere new. I climbed in, put my rucksack to the side, closed the door and off we went.

As it turns out, Duisburg is about 294 km from Ostend and we chatted the whole way about life, work, family, the weather. We arrived in Duisburg towards evening and quite unexpectedly he invited me to come meet his family and then go for dinner at a local restaurant.

After dinner, he took me to the train station where I caught a train to Bonn, a city I knew fairly well from previous travels.

What did I learn from this particular experience? Well, firstly hitching is about being patient. Secondly, expect the unexpected. This was not the first nor the last time I would meet people who extended hospitality and kindness while on the road.

Lake Garda to Bolzano

People told me that Italian drivers are erratic. I also knew that hitching in southern Europe is not quite as easy as other places but I remained determined to do what I could. I was traveling at the time with an American girl I met working in a hotel in Germany. Hitching with a girl has its pros and cons (but more about that later). A couple of days earlier we had been in Verona and were now working our way along Lake Garda. The intention was to make our way to Bolzano and then back over the Brenner Pass into Austria and onward back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen where we both worked.

We stood and waited. Nothing. We made signs in English and the German equivalent of Bolzano. Still nothing. No cars, no ride. Just empty roads. At least the weather is nice we agreed. We walked along a bit, staring back down the road from time to time hoping to see a car. Nothing. We weren’t in a hurry but still…

Time takes on a different meaning when you are on the road. It stretches, it bends, it takes on new meanings you might not have thought about before. And so we walked a bit, stopped to eat, walked a bit more and time, like the road, stretched out before us.

Finally, a car! We saw it in the distance, the sun glinting off the metal. We put our rucksacks down, got into position, thumbs out, and put on our best smiles. Did I say erratic? The car was going at quite a speed and at first it seemed the driver had no intention of stopping. Brakes screeched and suddenly he was reversing back towards us. In broken English he asked where we wanted to go. Bolzano, we told him. Get in, he said. Gratefully, we put our stuff in the small car, squeezed ourselves in, and off we went. He drove fast, even faster it seems when there was a curve in the road.

Suddenly, he stopped the car and said he had to go visit his grandmother. She lives in that village down there, he told us. Wait here and I will come back for you soon, he said.

Somewhat perplexed, we grabbed our things, got out, and stood by the side of the road again. We waited and waited. But as I said, time can take on a different meaning when you are on the road. We discussed our situation, whether we should try looking for another ride or just wait it out. It was indeed a dilemma. There we were, on a small side road in the middle of an area we didn’t know just waiting. We wondered if we had been taken for a ride, figuratively speaking.

But then, the unexpected happened again. We saw the little car speeding up the road erratically towards us. Get in, he said, we go now. Not long after we were at the train station in Bolzano. We thanked him profusely and both breathed a sigh of relief that we had made it and in one piece!

Munich to Frankfurt

I have to say that I loved hitchhiking in Germany. I never waited that long, always met nice people, and you just can’t beat the feeling of flying down the autobahn at more than 200kmh.

Scouring the map of Munich I looked to try and determine the best place to stand. Where you choose to start can be one of the most critical decisions when hitching. Choose the wrong place and you could wait for many hours or even not get out at all. Choose a place with competition and you might face a similar situation. Despite what some may tell you, I found that the entrance ramp to a motorway was not always the best place to start. Sometimes, you need to pick a place further back, but not too far. Ideally, you want somewhere easy for a driver to stop, easy for them to recognize in which direction you want to go, and easy for you to plan an exit strategy if things don’t work out. The last thing you want is to be stuck somewhere late at night on the edge of a large city.

I know that many hitchers swear by signs but to be honest I never found them to be that useful. My thumb certainly got plenty of practice over the years and I developed my own techniques and tricks, so to speak.

A squeaky-clean luxury BMW slowed down and stopped. An impeccably dressed man in a business suit, probably in his mid-30s, asked where I was going. I told him in the direction of Frankfurt. He told me to put my rucksack in the boot of the car and I came around and got in the passenger seat. As we sped along the autobahn at more than 220kmh we spoke about politics, art, culture, history and everything in between. He told me he had a successful business and was settled down with a wife and family, but in his youth had also traveled and hitchhiked his way around. I found this to be a not uncommon occurrence amongst drivers who give rides. Many had done the same thing when they were younger and wanted now to return the favor.

Driving at high speed along the autobahn talking time just flies by and soon I was where I needed to be. He got out of the car and helped me with my rucksack. We shook hands and then he reached into his wallet and handed me 20 DM, about $12 in today’s money. It may not seem like a lot but at the time it was a small fortune to me, certainly enough to buy a meal and some cigarettes. He told me it was a pleasure meeting me and wished me luck with my travels.

I met many people like him; complete strangers who gave me money on the road and thanked me for my company during the journey.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

To be honest, even though I met others who sometimes encountered less than pleasant experiences on the road I never had any bad experiences at all unless you count erratic driving as a bad experience.

I met some wonderful people along the way, kind people, generous people. There are many reasons someone stops to take a hitchhiker along. Often because they hitched when they were younger. Some people offer rides just to be nice and help someone out. Loneliness is another factor; many drivers told me they were just looking for someone to talk to along the way and for no other reason.

Fast & Furious

Aside from my experience with the erratic Italian driver I also had other interesting moments. For example, a ride with a Greek who lived in Germany in a fast sports car charging through the mountains of the former Yugoslavia on the way home to meet family. And I mean he was speeding; at one point I watched as the speedometer crept up to nearly 280 kmh! My legs were wobbly once we finally stopped and I got out.

Or the driver who gave me and my brother a ride from Stuttgart to Munich late one night. He drove at an average speed of close to 250 kmh the entire route. But that was not all; he never spoke one word to us, neither at the start, during, or end of the journey. Even after we thanked him, he just nodded and drove off into the night. But the weirdest part of the whole experience was during the ride he had a cassette tape playing “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like the song but he had the tape looped and it kept playing the same song over and over again for 2 hours!

Why did he give us a ride? I have no clue nor do I wish to know.

Tips & Tricks

• Stay safe at all times. Trust your instincts and never take a ride if you are unsure. I had a rule to never take a ride if I was outnumbered in the car. Exceptions to the rule were in the case of families or females
• Pick your hitching spot wisely. I used maps to guide me and look for the best places, not always closest to the main route I wanted to go on but certainly the most strategic
• Dress as nicely as you can and smile. I used various tricks during my time including hand and thumb movements, little dances, and more to attract attention. I might not have always been given a ride but I definitely got a lot of smiles from drivers
• Be open and honest about where you are going and be friendly during the drive. Most people want to talk, so talk and be pleasant to be with

Final words

In the nearly 7 years I spent traveling and working in Europe I was fortunate to have only good experiences when hitchhiking. Do people still do it today? I have no idea. It has been many years since I traveled around Europe like that and I can’t say how social or cultural habits may have changed. What I do know is that there was a certain art to hitchhiking, a certain camaraderie among travelers journeying along the roads from one place to another. I, for one, miss those times and hope you’ve enjoyed some of the memories I’ve shared here.

Useful resources

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/hitchhiking-europe-map

https://hitchwiki.org/en/Germany

https://hitchwiki.org/en/Italy

if you enjoyed this, take a look at our article about rock climbing in Greece for some ideas for your next holiday adventure.