103
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Hitchhiker from the UK. Unhealthy love of statisticsAn [[England|English]] hitchhiker living in [[Manchester]].
Adventure #1: '''==The Gent Escape''', August 2004stats==
Adventure #2I first hitchhiked in 2004 but started doing it often in 2006.Here are my recent trips: '''Home to Home to Home''', June 2006
Distance travelled''Adventure #71: '''8858km''Faroe Islands''' of which 4977km hitchhiking alone, 2068km with one other hitchhiker450km, and 1813km hitchiking in a group of threeJune 2019
Longest lift''Adventure #72: I think it's '''352km'Ska vi snacka Järva Discgolfpark''', through Germany from Inntal Ost (A93 services) to Pforzheim Nord (A8 services)6km, September 2006 - and by the goodest good golly gosh were we grateful for itJuly 2019
Longest journey in 24 hours: ''Adventure #73'1042km' '''Too wet for Agneash''', [[Rome]], Italy, to [[Lausanne]], Switzerland15km, August 2006September 2019
Countries hitchhiked (in order)<span style="color: red">'''Please check [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Netherlands]], [[Poland]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], [[Sweden]], [[Denmark]], [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]], [[Austria]], [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Czech Republic]], [[SlovakiaUser:Tmoon/log|my log]]for an overview of all my adventures.'''</span>
Most useful lift''Distance travelled:'' '''28666km''': Gabor the Hungarian9855km alone, 13937km with one other hitchhiker, 4025km in a group of three, who picked us up at Pforzheim Nord and didn't care where he was going - he wanted to be 831km in a personal taxi service. So we got him to take us to group of four, 2km in a mate's house group of five, never in Kelkheima group of six, 177km away. Although neither and 16km in a group of us trusted himseven; hitched road vehicles for 28075km (including 9km by bus, 39km by coach, 90km by taxi, <1km by golf cart, and he tried to abduct my travelling partnerone Eurotunnel journey), it was certainly a useful lifttrains for 590km, trams for 1km, and not hitched by sea or air... yet
Least useful ''Longest lift: the Slovakian white van man who took us '' '''589km''', from [[Povegliano Est]] ([[A22 (Italy)|A22]] services near [[Verona]], Italy), to [[Feucht]] ([[A9 (Germany)|A9]] services near [[Nürnberg]], Germany), in September 2009. The driver was going from [[Bologna]] to the wrong side of [[BratislavaSzczecin]], on the wrong motorway and facing took four hitchhikers in a five-seater car at the wrong direction, causing us to fail the Bummit to Belgrade competitionsame time
Best hitchhiking spot used''Furthest distance in 24 hours: Brunautal West (A7 services) in Germany'' '''1042km''', from [[Rome]], Italy, to [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, where three cool Danish guys dropped me off in front of around 200 hard rock fans going home from the Wacken festival. I could pick and choose... the only way the situation could have been better is if I was amongst a crowd of hippies.August 2006
Worst hitchhiking spot used''Furthest distance in 12 hours: an empty motorway junction outside Meerane '' '''1033km''', from [[Bisenzio Est]] ([[A1 (Italy)|A1]] services near Zwickau[[Firenze]], Italy), to [[Frankfurt am Main]], Germany. All hope seemed lost. Whilst I was thankful to the previous driver for going 50km off his route, he did it so as to drop me off in the most useless place he could findSeptember 2009
Biggest moment ''Countries hitchhiked (earliest first):'' [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Netherlands]], [[Poland]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], [[Sweden]], [[Denmark]], [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]], [[Austria]], [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Slovakia]], [[Ireland]], [[Isle of genius: none. In this eraMan]], [[Israel]], [[Monaco]], [[Slovenia]], [[Iceland]], [[Spain]], [[Andorra]], [[Portugal]], [[Norway]] ([[Svalbard]]), your average hitchhiker has a few screws loose[[Faroe Islands]]
Biggest moment of stupidity''Most useful lift: spilling freshly squeezed orange juice onto my rucksack '' Gabor the Hungarian, who picked us up at [[Pforzheim Nord]] ([[A8 (Germany)|A8]] services near [[Pforzheim]], Germany) and sleeping bag whilst trying didn't care where he was going - he wanted to be a personal taxi service. So we got him to take us to thumb down a VW camper van outside mate's house in [[JönköpingKelkheim]], Sweden on a hot177km away. Although neither of us trusted him, sticky afternoon. The van didn't stop and I had he tried to grudgingly trudge back to Jönköping centreabduct my travelling partner, wash out my equipment and catch it was one hell of a bususeful lift
* [http''Least useful lift://tommoon.fotopic.net Tom's webpage' the Slovakian white van man who took us to the wrong side of [[Bratislava]* [http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club], on the wrong motorway and facing in the wrong direction, making us fail the Bummit to Belgrade challenge
no edit summary
[[Image:tmoon.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Trying (and failing) to hitchhike out of [[Maastricht]], [[Netherlands]].]]
[[Image:Israel_338.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Quiet road through the Maktesh Ramon crater at [[Mitzpe Ramon]], [[Israel]].]]
[[Image:Dhoonglen.jpg|thumb|right|300px|My favourite type of hitchhiking - narrow countryside roads. The [[Isle of Man]] is perfect for this.]]
''Adventure #368: '''Jedzie Pan do Wrocławie?''Escape from Svalbard''', 4km, June 2006March 2018
''Adventure #469: '''AWOL in Europe''Back to the McCrorys''', 2km, July-September 2006April 2018
''Adventure #570: '''Bummit to Belgrade''Escaping the saddle''', 201km, March-April 2007June 2018
''Most fun lift:'' two Israeli soldiers found me north of [[Tiberias]], and took me with them for a great day out throwing snowballs, avoiding minefields and exploring abandoned military outposts in the [[Golan Heights]], before tasty ostrich steak and a cross-country drive just to drop me back in [[Haifa]]. Also, drinking syrupy hot chocolate with a French white van man and his two young children as we travelled through the Italian Alps was fun. And I won't forget the three Danish students on the start of their roadtrip
''Best hitchhiking spot used:'' [[Brunautal West]] ([[A7 (Germany)|A7]] services near [[Hamburg]], Germany), where those three Danish students dropped me off in front of around 200 hard rock fans going home from the Wacken festival. I could pick and choose from so many offered rides, going all over Europe... the only way the situation could have been better would be if I was among a crowd of hippies
''Worst hitchhiking spot used:'' a McDonalds restaurant in [[Meerane]] (near [[Zwickau]], Germany), a couple of kilometres away from an empty motorway junction. All hope seemed lost. Whilst I was thankful to the previous driver for going 50km off his route, he did it so as to drop me off in the most useless place he could find
''Most unexpected lift:'' from [[Keele]] to [[Knutsford]] [[M6 (GB)|M6]] services in the UK, from a coach full of old-age tourists from [[Warrington]], who were travelling back from a package holiday in the southwest. We won over their sympathy and played them some old classic tunes on the ukulele
''Best scenery:'' waking up at a service station in the mountains east of [[Aosta]], then travelling through the town, and north on the [[E27]] across the Swiss border towards [[Lausanne]] - this was unforgettable and was well worth the overnight hitchhike from [[Rome]]. In Germany, I had the opportunity to hitchhike to [[Traben-Trarbach]] through the hills and vineyards. I've hitchhiked through some beautiful Israeli scenery, especially Route 40 south of [[Be'er Sheva]], and the mountain roads around [[Galilee]] and the [[Golan Heights]]. Most of the Isle of Man (especially the A18 'mountain road') is breathtaking. [[Svalbard]] was also beautiful to hitch, but I did so in the dark
''Scariest lift:'' any of the old-age drivers with terrible eyesight who pick you up on the [[Isle of Man]], and drive way too fast. The Isle of Man has no national speed limit. Also, in June 2009 we suffered a rear wheel suspension failure while doing a high speed on a German autobahn near [[Koblenz]]. No big accident but we considered ourselves very, very lucky. Also, hitchhiked through a polar bear danger zone in Svalbard.
''Shortest time waiting:'' no time at all. On many lucky occasions it's taken under five seconds to thumb a lift. It's a big relief
''Longest time waiting:'' a spot in central [[Cologne]], going east. I'd used the spot the year before and it took 2 hours for a lift to arrive. This time we weren't so lucky; after waiting for eight hours, we cut our losses and hitchhiked a train
''Most ride offers turned down:'' I turned down many, many ride offers in the direction of Munich while on the German-Austrian border at [[Inntal Ost]] ([[A93 (Germany)|A93]] services) during a seven-hour wait. I was trying to get to Vienna - there was a fair bit of traffic going in my direction, but no-one was interested in helping
''Biggest moment of genius:'' none. In this era, your average hitchhiker has a few screws loose
''Biggest moment of stupidity:'' spilling freshly squeezed orange juice onto my rucksack and sleeping bag whilst trying to thumb down a VW camper van outside [[Jönköping]], Sweden on a hot, sticky afternoon. The van didn't stop and I had to grudgingly trudge back to Jönköping centre, wash out my equipment and catch a bus
''Best lap time of [[Monaco]]'s [[Circuit de Monaco|street circuit]]:'' about 9 minutes - I forgot to time it accurately, but I'll be back
''My definition of 'hitchhike':'' a journey which is
*for ''free'' (if on public transport, then a free ride where you'd normally have to pay),
*''optional'',
*arranged ''at the moment the journey starts''
*with the ''explicit consent'' of the vehicle driver,
*who is otherwise a ''complete stranger'' to you.
(i.e. no car-pooling schemes or similar, public transport drivers must agree to let you travel without paying, lifts from friends-of friends, work colleagues etc don't count, and neither do enforced rides in police vehicles)
==Planned hitchhiking trips==
[[Image:Sheffieldbedroomwall.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A collection of [[signs]] used in 2006. 2019 collection under construction.]]
None. But if you're around Manchester, let me know.
==More info==
*[http://www.bewelcome.org/members/tmoon BeWelcome]
*[http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/tmoon CouchSurfing]
[[Category:Hitchhikers]]
[[Category:Hitchhikers in England]]
{{CanHostIn|Manchester|United Kingdom}}
