Bummit

Bummit is an annual hitching event organised by students at The University of Sheffield in England. Each year, the event raises funds for local charities by encouraging each participant to raise sponsorship, with a total of £88,000 raised in 2013 alone. It was established in 2003, and is now the world's largest student organized hitching group, with up to 500 people participating at any one time, and two events per year, with a third event ("Rat Race") added in 2014. The aim of the Bummit challenge is to get to a pre-determined location by any means necessary within a given time limit in teams of two or three.

The society's smaller event (Baby Bummit) is held at the start of winter, and participants must hitch to a location within the United Kingdom within a day. Baby Bummit was introduced as an event in 2009.

The main event (Big Bummit, or just Bummit) is held during the University's Easter break, and participants must hitch to an Eastern European destination within one week. In 2005, a mid-point destination was added to make the event more challenging. The final destination of Big Bummit is decided in advance by the organising committee members, but is usually withheld from other participants until closer to the start of the event.

People taking part in the events are not restricted to hitch hiking for the entire distance. The use of public transport is permitted, but each participant is advised to try to use less than GBP 15 on transport costs. The fee of using public transport can often be waived by showing, for example, a train conductor or bus driver the letter printed in the Bummit Bible.

Bummit Bible
The Bummit Bible is a booklet given to each participant. It contains safety information, locations and contact details of the British embassies in most European countries, travel advice, and a letter from the students' union.

The travel advice ranges from translations of useful phrases into a variety of languages spoken in countries that participants are likely to pass through, to lists of hostels, hotels, and hitching spots in major towns and cities. The most helpful section in the Bummit Bible is the official letter from the students' union. The letter is also translated into a multitude of commonly spoken European languages. This can be used to explain the event to people with a limited knowledge of English, but also to try to persuade officials to let you travel for free using public transport. On the Bummit trip to Sofia (Bulgaria) in 2012, one team used this letter to persuade airport staff to let them catch a flight for the allotted GBP 15.

Hitching out
See Sheffield

Previous Bummit Events
2003: Bognor Regis (England)

2004: Budapest (Hungary)

2005: Bucharest (Romania), via Plzen (Czech Republic)

2006: Riga (Latvia), via Berlin (Germany)

2007: Belgrade (Serbia), via Prague (Czech Republic)

2008: Tallinn (Estonia), via Leipzig (Germany)

2009: Zadar (Croatia), via Nuremberg (Germany)

2010: Budapest (Hungary), via Berlin (Germany)

2011: Krakow (Poland), via Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2012: Sofia (Bulgaria), via Bratislava (Slovakia)

2013: Vilnius (Lithuania), via Prague (Czech Republic)

2014: Split (Croatia), via Krakow (Poland)

Previous Baby Bummit Events
2009: Brighton

2010: Edinburgh

2011: Cardiff

2012: Glasgow

2013: Brighton

2014: Edinburgh

More Information
For more information, visit the official Bummit website