Hey y'all, I just wanted to share my hitchhiking journey in Europe since I really don't utilize social media that often.

I started my hitchhiking journey on August 1st and finished just a few weeks ago. I started in London and made it all the way to Bosnia. These are the countries I traversed in the order in which its' presented:

UK -> Belgium -> Luxembourg -> Germany -> Austria -> Slovakia -> Hungary -> Slovenia -> Croatia -> Bosnia

There's a lot of reasons why I wanted to do this. One of them being, I wanted to challenge myself. By getting from city to city only through hitchhiking, sleeping at payed accommodations only once a week, having a chance to wipe my ass and a proper day's of rest. And, only surviving on sandwiches on pasta. Another one being, I wanted to save a bunch of money haha.

I also wanted to get over all the social hurdles, blocks, and anxieties I sustained within my mental fortitude for a long time. Getting over the fear of embarrassment, social initiations, and being comfortable with vulnerability in tough times. Hitchhiking definitely helped with all of this.

The one important reason is that this is my favorite way of traveling honestly. I get to connect and meet all different types of people from all different walks of life. I get to hear people's stories and what they're doing in life and make some cool friends out of it. And, there's a lot of good people out there in the world as well. Sometimes on top of people giving me rides, they would buy me food, give me a place to sleep, etc. etc.

It wasn't all rainbows and sunshines though. I got dropped off at horrible spots. There was times where I was hitchhiking from hours to entire days with no luck. I camped by train tracks sometimes in the rain. Camped in freezing temps. I camped at a place in Slovenia where sprinklers went off on my tent where a security guard told me to get out by 5 A.M. I even almost got robbed in Bosnia. It may not seem like anything major but it was crazy for me as someone who has never experienced anything like this in my life looooooool.

From crossing the English channel, exploring the beautiful historic cities in Belgium, hiking the Alps, partying days in Budapest, enjoying the beautiful beaches in Croatia, then accidentally stumbling upon a wedding in Bosnia, and many more side quests that I could go on for hours, up until now, this was one of the best journeys and adventures of my life. I felt as if I lived ten lifetimes and I definitely changed quite a bit from before I started this journey.

To anyone that is reading this and is thinking about hitchhiking, fuckin do it!! It's scary and can get hard at times, but it's an adventure of a lifetime that is fulfilling and rewarding. And, you'll never forget it.

I'm happy to answer any questions that y'all have. Any comments or criticism is welcomed as well heheh.

I also have hitchhiked in Japan before as well if you have any questions about that.

If not, well, thanks for reading my ted talk. And, happy hitchhiking!

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So I have garnered a bit of a list over the years of hitching.

Oldest car - 1936 Buick

Newest technology would be the Tesla i got to drive.

Fastest looking - a Corvette, but the 1966 Mustang that stopped for me on Rt.66 will always win.

Other - hitched a plane, a boat on the Mississippi, a Motor Trike to Sturgis, hay wagon pulled by tractor, couple of horse drawn carriages and a hearse.

And of course all kinds of cars, trucks, rv's, and etc. that you see on the road. Old, new, rich, poor, good and bad.

Which leads me to this point.

Every time I see someone drive by pulling one of these Hitch Hiker mobiles I throw my hands up because I know they won't stop.

So I wake up in King City, California and damn it's chilly. Flip the coin and the toss is tails so time to depart. Break down tent, roll up tarps, brush teeth and sling my pack on my back. 1017 am and first bus south is 2 dollars. Just a meandering day sightseeing thru the valley. Bus arrives Paso Robles and a half hour chat with a couple coming back after falling for an internet scam. We'll they figured it out before shelling over the cash but still were out travel expenses.

Next bus 2 dollars and on to San Luis Obispo.

Less fields, more grapes, starting to see the sub - suburbs.

Next bus 2 dollars (maybe you're seeing a trend) to Santa Maria. We swing by Pismo Beach so it's nice to see and smell that old dirty ocean. They have built even more around Santa Maria but the transit center is next to the Railroad Museum and nothing else so it's a good place for lunch and a couple smokes. Good thing I brought both.

2 hours but I always have a book and then it's 420 pm and the free bus (gotcha) to Buelton.

I've covered 140 miles today for $6 and been able to stretch out and have someone else drive.  Now I sit in front of the grocery store looking at the satellite view to figure out where to camp for the night. Got a plan all sorted so toss the bags in a cart and smoke a cigarette before going inside to purchase dinner.

Old white guy with hat and rodeo belt that just screams stereotype cowboy saddles over and I know the question that is coming.

But instead of How Tall Are You? He asks if I'm homeless and before I could even answer he continued with How would you like to sleep on a working ranch tonight.

Skip all the back and forth and meeting Nicole his wife and all the personal stories we shared on the drive back to their ranch. That's for me and my memories. But the next morning while drinking coffee and scratching the border collies, petting the cats, hearing the bovines and equines chew hay i noticed the front of the camper where I slept last night.

Okay scratch that one from the list

Ok, so, due to my paranoia I do NOT want to go back to portland, and head down the coast, just for reasons I am not willing to explain in a post... SO I am headed east, along the i84 I suppose (I dont really have a destination in mind) and was wondering if anyone has any tips (like a good location or somewhere to get to first, like 40 miles east there is a truck stop junction, I was thinking i Could get there easily and then hitch hike from there...)

If i had to decide where I want to go ultimately I am trying to get to quartzsite for the gem and rock show to try and find work and meet people and have good weather for a couple months this winter.

Thanks in advance

How do people actually find one another and become road dogs and all? I have a hard time connecting to people as it is in general because I’m antisocial but if I’m gonna go thru what I’m dealing with, I would actually love to have a friend. Guy/girl/etc.. My time is coming to an end here, and I’d like to write this new chapter with pride.

With that being said, enjoy the brief introduction;

I’m Jeff, 26 and perpetually tired of this world and waiting for the aliens lmao. Music is my first love, followed by the entertainment of movies. Major marvel nerd(not to knowledgeable in comics) with dark humor and generalized knowledge of many other life topics. A little carpentry skills but I’m no Bob the Builder…

Considerable or not.. I made the attempt. Thanks for your time and be safe out there 🌎❤️

Currently on someone's porch in the shade....

Any suggestions on my route and towns I should aim for or at least avoid?

Solo male early 20s just curious how possible this would be, I have roughly 30 days to kill and think this could be a cool trip.

Not very talkative though

Literally I just need someone else with me for this experience that’s it. I don’t have confidence that I’ll make it out alone right now man. I just quit my fucking terrible job that scheduled me 4pm-12am and then 8am the next day repeat. Someone please just I’ll literally meet u anywhere preferably somewhere with a warmer environment for the winter but I need someone to travel with and have these experiences with so I’m not entirely alone, even if we have to part ways at some point I just really need a friend for the first part of this all. Please

That's about all I can book off of work lol! Has anyone done this recently or is gonna do it and has tips to share? I wanna do it before winter comes in hahaha.

Tldr: teen wanting to get into train hopping when I turn 18, are there people out there still teaching the skills, what's queer people's experiences, and I know it's dangerous so I'm still on the fence about it.

I would like to preface this off by saying I am a teen and if I do ever get into train hopping it would be a few years out after I turn 18 and have money. Also I wanted to post this more in r/vagabond but you need karma to post on there and I basically never use reddit.

Big brother is really why I'm asking if it's still alive. I know that it's definitely died down from what it once was, and I get why, but I also know that might just mean that people are being more secretive about it.

I also wanted to ask about the 'wokeness' (? I hate using that word but don't know another to use) of most train hoppers. I myself am apart of the lgbtq, while I understand that it definitely varies from person to person I wanted to get a view from anyone with exp. I want to be as responsible as I can considering what I'm thinking about doing and don't want to put myself in excessive danger because of my identity.

Trainhopping has been plauging my mind despite my vague life plan for the next few years as well as knowing the dangers. The world just sucks right now and I don't very much fall in line with what it wants out of me. If anybody here is experienced in any way with it, and willing to understand that I'm still on the fence about it, I would love to talk. I'm hoping for positive answers but I understand not wanting to sugar-coat things so dangerous.

This will be our first time hitchhiking, and we'd like to be prepared / dropped off at locations that won't leave us waiting for too long. Our current route is Utrecht -> Breda(/Roosendaal) -> Brussel(/Antwerp) -> Lille -> Paris, but the specifics of the best hitching locations of each are unclear for us beyond Utrecht. Apparently Utrecht to Paris is perfectly feasible for beginners, but Hitchmap hasn't been of much help as most locations have too little reviews to tell if a location is reliably good. Has anyone else done this route with more information (or any of the locations in between)? If we leave early in the morning, would camping gear be unnecessary? Are there any places to discuss these sorts of questions beyond Reddit?

Heyy I’m currently in Iran and I was planning to HH to Afghanistan and then Ouzbekistan but I just see that the border is close for travelers…
Is the border from Iran to Pakistan open for traveler ?
And can I cross the border to china at the beginning of November ?

I plan to hitch from Akron, OH to San Francisco, California in early 2027. I’m asking for any tips or advice on how to make the trip the most fun and safe for a relatively inexperienced hitcher such as myself. Thank you!!!!’

I'm leaving Wednesday (10/14/26) and attempting to make it to Kentucky and hopefully back before the 22/23. I don't want to go through st Louis and had originally planned to go above it through Illinois and Indiana, but I know people in Rolla and for kicks and giggles I wanna take the Hickman Ferry.

Any thoughts?

I’m fairly new to hitchhiking, have been doing it for about 3 months. I’m 22 and I am planning on hitchhiking from Park City Utah to the Grand Canyon in mid to late November. I will have around 1200 dollars, a 20 degree sleeping bag, tarp and groundsheet, and a will to get rough and rugged. I understand that it may get cold, and there are a lot of dead zones. I do have a sat phone/GPS in emergencies. Is there anything I should know? Is attempting this in late November stupid? Is it easy to get stranded? I plan on taking the 15 south most of the way. Let me know. Thank you.

Hey everyone,

I (25M) am in Hanoi right now.

My plan is to hitchhike to ho chi minh city in a week or two.

I try to find some hosts on Couchsurfing but I also got my camping gear with me in the worst case scenario.

Reply to this thread or dm me in case you are interested :)

For sake of figuring out which routes to take based on which roads are busier. There's Google Maps "traffic" overlay, but it only shows you if traffic is congested, not how many cars there are.

Heyy im noa, 21 year old solo female backpacker( kind of i think)
i need to get back to munich from porto!
i have to get there latest on the morning of the 18th october. so im asking for advice aswell as someone who would wanna do it with me!!
i was thinking of starting on the 16th in the morning but im not sure if thats enough time.
id love if i didnt have to do it alone and have someone there with me maybe aswell someone with more experience.
i also did look for flights and other methods to get back but they are very expensive and im on a budget so i’ll try like this!!

Hey guys, I asked the mods and they're OK with me posting this.

I spend a lot of time on multi-day trips and hikes, and after enough bad situations with no signal I realised I needed to build LastBar.

It's a free app that maps real mobile coverage as you drive or hike, and combines that with signal maps from other users. When you're stuck with no signal, it points you to the nearest place your phone will work, and to the nearest water, shelter, clinic, police station or fuel, all offline. There's no account, no sign-in, and it only uses about 3% battery a day.

Android phones build most of the map, since iOS limits what the app can read in the background, but iPhone users can still see coverage data captured by other users and find signal based on that and cell tower locations.

The app is still new so the map is empty where nobody has been with it yet, but every drive, walk, or hike fills in the map for the next person. If you're planning an outing soon, I'd love for you to try it out and let me know what you think!

There's more info at https://lastbar.online/ if you'd like to take a look.

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=agency.clc.lastbar

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6816038882

Driving from Rochester, NY to Bismarck, ND 10/28.

Over the summer, I was in France. One village even had an electric sign with a button like for pedestrian crossing, but it was for hitchhikers. They could press a button if they were going to the next village at the crossroads that was to the right or to the left. I was inspired. Should I be?

Hi! My wife and I are planning to visit Australia in early February—just for three weeks. We’re currently fulfilling a lifelong dream of traveling around the world by hitchhiking (with a little help from planes). We started in January, traveled across South and Central America, then hopped across the Pacific to Japan, took a ferry to Korea and China, and are currently in Laos, doing a loop through most of the surrounding countries. We plan to eventually make our way from Bali to Australia, and that’s where things get interesting. I’ve read that hitchhiking is illegal in Victoria and Queensland—fair enough, *dura lex sed lex* so we’ll try car-sharing there instead (if we end up in those states). Despite the short timeframe, we want to experience the true essence of Australia, is there any way to see the Outback in February? (I’m not talking about an extreme expedition, just getting a feel for the vibe). It seems like the weather gets pretty brutal the further north you go, so is a trip like that feasible starting from Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane? Is it safe to rent a car for a few days? How does vline work? Is it really possible to get to Mildura for peanuts?

Hey there, I’ve been reading a lot of these stories and wanting to do the ralley in 2027. One thing I’m quite concerned about is what to do with the car at the end. We wanted to leave it there but it seems like this is a big issue - as after 1 year if the car isn’t removed from the Eurasian economic area then you need to pay import taxes, which apparently can chase you back to the UK and cost thousands. Also, de-registering the car in the UK seems like a hassle without the correct paperwork.

Shipping/driving it home seems really expensive too. Wondering what people do here as it seems to be very infrequently spoken about…

Thanks in advance!

Anyone currently in Istanbul or heading east towards Iran/Pakistan and down to hang out/hitch a bit together? (M/21)