Changes

'''Hitchhiking in winter''' can sometimes be very more complexbut with the right preparation one can secure the comfortability of winter traveling, too.

For the more advanced [[Category:Hitchhikers|hitchhikers]], as well as for the [[First time hitchhiking|beginner]]s, there are some essential rules to take care of:

* First and most important: Wear warm clothesand keep your feet warm and dry!* Limited daylight: In winter, most time of the day it might be is usually cold and darkfor the most part of a day. For example, around the 21st of December there is only 8 hours of sunlight per day in [[Western Europe]]on the third week of December, so and it's already dark at 5 in the afternoon. If you don't want to find yourself [[hitchhiking at night]] (when temperatures drop even further), you have to carefully choose your routescarefully.* It's good to stick to [[highway]] [[gas stations]] on the highway, where you can wait inside, e.g., next to the coffee machine , with a [[sign]]of your destination.* When If you know that you won't avoid thumbing on an [[on-rampramps]], bring a torch to shine light on yourself and your sign. You should also try to stand someplace where there is a lot of light from the streetlights.* Dry cold air is not as bad as when the air is a humidone.* Some people prefer to dress in layers like an onion to keep themselves warm , and unpack as when it is needed. However, some hitchers, for example, [[User:alex|alex]] prefers , prefer not to not have a lot lots of layers under a the warm jacket as cars are mostly well heated (unless you are in [[Russia]]?), and he hates for short rides it is more convenient to be dressed only in 2-3 really warm layers so that you could avoid the hassle to dress of undressing million of layers and undress for every (short) lift he getsthen dressing up again.

==EquipmentAdditional gear for winter==When hitchhiking in winter, temperatures can be very low. In case of longer waiting times, bad weather conditions and other things, a hitchhiker should carry these please secure yourself with following gear (more or less) essential equipment with him/herin addition to common essentials like described in [http:*Gloves/Scarf/www.backpacking.net/ten-essl.html this list]): BOOTS (keeping your feet warm and dry is extremely important):*In addition to substantial (leather) boots, appropriate for winter conditions, you can also consider plastic boots and sorel insulated boots (e.g., "Sorel Bighorn", rated to -40 degrees) as possible options. BASE LAYERS (no cotton):*Long underpantsMidweight or Expedition-weight thermal underwear top* Midweight or Expedition-weight thermal underwear bottom OTHER ESSENTIALS:* Windproof and waterproof jacket, woolen ones keep you preferably with a hood (or any warm outside but do not let you sweat insidehat to protect your ears!)* Midweight or Expedition-weight Insulated fleece gloves or mittens + waterproof overgloves or mittens* Down sweater OPTIONAL:* Hand warmers (e.g., "Grabber Mycoal" air-activated warmer)* Insulated water-bottle blanket* When hitchhiking a lot in the countryside or further from the cities and petrol stations, please consider getting a primus stove.

It can be a problem when you travel from warm to cold zones or the other way around (and you like to travel light with little luggage), e.g. during Winter , from South Iran to Turkeyin winter. However, traveling from cold climate zone to a warm one seems to be less a problem as, when you get to the warm zone, you can just ship your winter stuff back home. Nevertheless, it does not have to be costly or implies heavy luggage to travel the other way around. Long woolen underwear and gloves ([[User:Alex|alex]] got some from a driver in [[Iran]] before he even had the possibly to buy some somewhere - thanks Ali!) can be found on most markets during winter time.

''How do you deal with shoes? I couldn't come up with an easy, light ===Personal experiences===Hitchhiker [[User:Alex|alex]] got long woolen underwear pants and cheap solution. I bought now some new ones gloves from a driver in [[IstanbulIran]] as my old ones are finished anyway and they have been quite cheap here, but that's somehow not idealbefore he even had the possibility to buy some (thanks, but I do not want to carry and wear boots in the hot eitherAli!); these can be found on most markets during winter time. What is the Russian hitchhiking gear solution?''

===Gallery===

Image:Erzurum.JPG|Early morning and and -25°C in [[Erzurum]] , one of the coldest places in [[Turkey]]; leaving the town towards West.