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There are some essential things you should remember when you are going hitchhiking. [[Hitchwiki:About|Hitchwiki]] suggests you keep these in mind when starting your career as an enthusiastic thumber: [[File:Warsaw-poznan.JPG|thumb|250px|left|You'll be seeing a lot of this.]]

Avoid wearing black. (Not really, it had positive impact (in comparison with a similar trip some time before) on one of my over-Europe hikes where I got on road wearing completely black clothes. Even women were picking me up regularly on that trip.) Even having a smart black shirt could keep you stuck in one place for a long time. Some have found that caps might have a negative impact. (Though Simon from [[Sweden]], with shaved head and beard found it much easier wearing a cap always, because people seem to be afraid of people with shaved heads.) Black or blue woolly hats are awful too. If the weather permits, wear light coloured shorts and a bright colourful t-shirt or a smart short sleeved shirt. Although you may have no choice on whether you have luggage, some hold that hitching without luggage is quicker as the driver knows you're not concealing anything. But some drivers think that carrying a backpack makes you more of a traveler and will only pick up people with backpacks (e.g. [[User:Guaka|Guaka]] and [[User:Amylin|amylin]] experienced this in [[New Zealand]]). Making your traveling backpack visible could prove to be an advantage as you will have more chances of not being perceived as a threat, as it is harder to run away with so much weight in case you steal or damage something.Stuart at http://lookingforstu.com swears by a Superman T-shirt. It's bright, colourful and is a universal symbol of hope and peace. The amount of times drivers have said that is the reason they picked him up is astounding!

You can write your destinationon destination on the sign, but if you're going from Barcelona to Amsterdam, consider writing Paris, or just Perpignan. Few people will be going to Amsterdam or even Paris, directly. There's a dilemma, though, because if the destination you write is too close, you won't make good time, and if it's too far, nobody will be heading all the way there and so won't feel confident in stopping for you. A good solution to this is to simply use your direction of travel, e.g. "East" or maybe "France". You can also add the road name.

To make the sign, use cardboard or similar with a thick black (chalk) marker (e.g. Edding 4090) or India ink (works well with cotton buds). Write neatly in big, block letters the name of a city or the name of a road, or both. Write a big capital letter and then lower case characters (: the varying forms of lower-case letters make at-once reading easier). The more space between each letter the better to be read from a distance (this is called Kernel, e.g. see road signs specifications).

For long hitchhiking trips, you could use an erasable white board is useful for making big, clear and reusable signs. The [http://www.bicworld.com/en/products/details/124/velleda-whiteboard Velleda] 30x44cm is the ideal size and very lightweight, albeit not very sturdy. Buy a wide chisel tip dry erase marker such as the Velleda 1781 or the Legamaster TZ150 to write thick lines.

You can also make a reusable whiteboard simply out of a paper map and an adhesive tape. Apply If you apply adhesive tape on the white side of the a paper map, and/or on the good one ( you can show your route to driver, and plan your trip by painting on also use it)as a whiteboard. If you don't need all space of the mapis too big, and/or if you want to make use it more firm for easier holding in wind You can simply windy conditions, use binder clips [http://getsimplifized.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/binder-clip.jpg Binder clipbinder clips]. Mine is 80cm x 60cm when spreaded spread and 20cm x 10xm when folded.Pros: quite big when in use (depends on the size you buy of course), handy and small when not in use.Cons: takes It does take some time to make it nice and flat without any wrinkles, hard to use full size in strong wind.

'''Strazdas007:''' I'd say says it is possible to find a host in this way, but you must know, where it is biggest chance that your sign will be seen - I'm talking about subway stations or even stations in general, bigger supermarkets, town squares. I He actually found one host near some touristic attraction - somewhere near Eiffel tower, but I he was lucky, because next day I he wasn't so lucky and had to sleep on the bench. And I he was thrown out of the subway station in Paris, because guards were thinking that I he was asking for money. Or you can simply look for some hipsters, or simply friendly youths and ask them if they are hosting, if they don't know, tell them about CS'ing, and maybe they will host you.

I'd say - try Try your luck. And remember this is not hitchhiking, eye contact is almost pointless, because your sign is making contact. Try to make sign as big as possible (well not very big, but so it could be seen from further or/and attract people eye).

Hitchhiking is considered to be fastest for a solo female hitchhiker, but it supposedly is a bit riskier. If you're twoor even three, you can travel fast as well. Keep in mind that truck drivers often only have one "official" extra seat. By preference take one bag instead of two. If you're more than two three it would be a good idea to split into several groups.

# Transportation vans: They usually are not so big and there have 3 seats in the front so if you are hitch-hiking with a friend is perfect. Inside you will probably see something to contain coffee and the front will be full of killed mosquitos.(these are good indicators). So these drivers usually drive non-stop just to deliver their stuff from one place to another no matter what. Be warned, that crossing Polish - Lithuanian border zone with these drivers can be nervous and lenghty, because of police. They usually stop them to inspect cargo, or to check if car is not overweighted (drivers say, that if they know that there is overweight, they usually bribe cops, so it happens faster.), documents of are are checked, and you may be asked for your document too, so be prepared Unlike truck drivers there is no regulations for the time they can drive so they don't have to pause for rest and they can reach 120 160 km/hour or more (instead of 90 km/houror even slower 80km/h).# Businessman / expensive cars: some tend to be really nice, have been hitchhiking couple decades ago, and you get to ride some nice cars.

# Truck drivers: They quite often cannot take anyone legally because of the insurances but always ask them about the possibility. Two persons is more complicated but the bed behind the seats can be good to hide your friend. They are good for overnight trips, as you may ask driver if you can sleep in bed. == Hitchhiker Tips ==This is the section where anyone can write his or her practical tip.My idea is to try and make of it as much science as possible so here are some ground rules:* Everybody are welcome to share their knowledge.* Read all tips prior to adding on in order to prevent: a. Writing the same tip. b. Writing contradicting tips which may confuse others.If you disagree with a tip been written discuss it on the discussion page.* Try to add tips base on theories being tested. (Example curves: try do exactly the same on both sides on various occasions and record your time and percentage)_________________________________________ My hitchhiking theory: Hitch hiking is a game of patience and mental strength. Be prepared!Although agree with the article above i believe the vast majority of drivers pick up hitch hikers on psychological association based on looks and self interest which sometimes seem random. That is why we should do anything we can to maximize our chances by looking as trust worthy and average as we can as well as consider the drivers interest.  * '''The Average Driver''' - the average driver does not understand hitch hiking and that is why you will get a lot of gestures from drivers indicating they "stay in the area" or "not going far". It does not occur to them that even a 10, 5 mile or "only to the next junction" ride will advance you and will have critical positive mental effect. * '''Clothing & Appearance''' - since our goal is to get from point A to B, without importance of who is going to pick us up we want to look as trust worthy or "good, nice, harmless guys" as we can. That means dressed in quite a popular way to the place you are in. Usually it means shorts/jeans and T-shirt (preferably light color) for boys and girls and possibly dress for girls. Of course working according to situation is better, i.e. hitch hike to a metal concert you might dress all black with anthrax T-shirt and 10 piercing in your face and probably get a fast, to the spot ride, but the average driver might feel unwilling to stop to someone of "your type" out of prejudice. * '''Be ready to walk''' - Location is crucial and so it is not rare to walk sometimes a mile or even more to get the best position for your next ride. On the way it is fine to try and stop vehicles. * '''Curves''' - If you are near a curve it is better stand about 50-100 meters before the curve since the driver can see you from more far and also is already in the need of reducing speed and mainly his only job is just get to a slow, reasonable velocity to enter the curve.Standing after the curve would reduce you chance since you're being seen only on when the driver is out of the curve and is already in the task of speeding. Less people are likely to step on the break for you once they started speeding.Standing in the middle is extremely dangerous and the least efficient since the driver is multitasking. * '''Up & Down Hills''' - If being on hilly topography it is better to stand on the first third of the up hill side. As on curves people are more likely to stop while they are already slowing down.The top of the hill or close to it wouldn't be a good place since the driver is focused on getting to the top.If a down hill is right after most drivers would not stop for the fun part.Down hill again is a bad place to try and stop the driver since he is gaining speed and not likely to give up on it. * '''Gestures''' - Different gestures can steal the attention of the driver and gain you a ride.All in addition to smilling and looking to the drivers eyes:# Wave the hand in between to passing cars.# Pointing-moving your thumb every now and then above your shoulder towards the direction.# Even single a "little" gesture with the two fingers helps, as explained on "the average driver" section. That is where board usually comes in super handy. * '''Asking for Ride''' - Don't be afraid to talk to people and ask them directly if you can hop on. Some drivers would not consider taking you, yet by hearing a nice, friendly, polite voice they might will as well as feel a bit more obligation to help you. ===Different Vessels===You should feel comfortable through out the whole way to your destination. if you feel uncomfortable hoping on a specific vessel - don't. As it will tire you out and make a bad experience for the future. If you feel unsafe with the drivers drive don't be ashamed to tell him (I do ask all motorcycle rides to drive relatively slow especially on unpaved roads, never needed to tell in a car) he will understand your worry, remember he stopped in order to help and will be nice enough to make you feel comfortable. * '''Back of a Pick-Up Truck''' - The back of a pick up truck is where you are likely to spend a big chunk of the road. However there is a clear problem of safety. For the driver it might be convenient to tell you to hop on the back and so he wont need to worry from a dangerous hiker or either talk in case he isn't in the mood. It is also an extra space in case the seats are full. On the hiker side you have zero control on what is going on and hop on without at least getting to know if the driver is trust worthy is not recommended. You should have a few words with the driver about the way and agree on a place before hands since you wouldn't be able to converse once you start driving, knocking on the roof for stop at most. There is also the problem of sitting without safety belt and potentially with unfasten equipment that might hurt you in case of emergency stop, curves or irresponsible driving. * '''Motorcycles''' - Motorcycles are somewhat problematic when it comes to travelling with luggage, yet is possible. It is a good way to travel fast, but just like driving one - even less safe as taking a ride with a car. Try to ask the driver for an extra helmet. Usually not likely to work, but some drivers keep an extra "half helmet" in the box of the vehicle - not much, but certainly better than nothing. I for instance tend to minimise motorcycle rides since i feel unsafe with a stranger driver. You might ask to drive slower, but remember driving slower means less balance. My vision is to have a collective grid-table for people to add on theory and different people to add on their tests result and so things would become scientific and clear very fast.Main problem - different countries, different cultures.I hope this section is going to evolve because i would love to see others tips and try to find the ultimate hitch hiking technique.

{{nomadwiki}}* [[wikivoyage:Tips_for_hitchhiking|Tips for Hitchhiking on Wikivoyage]]* [http://wikitravelwww.claudioadrianodobre.orgcom/enimportance-smiling-communication/Tips_for_hitchhiking Tips for Hitchhiking on WikitravelThe importance of smiling when engaging drivers]