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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.]]
== [[Maps|Carry a good map]] ==
You want to know where you are going. It also helps if [[petrol stationhitchhiking|petrol stations]]s are marked, and you don't need city maps. Try and find a map that you don't have to open out to one large sheet of paper every time you want to use it; you will be using it often. Book-style [[maps]] are best. A lot of times, you'll be okay without owning a map, though, if you use your chances well to have a look at one - petrol and service stations and lifts - and keep in mind all you need to know.
'''Map Tips: Positive'''
* France: "Grands Itinéraires" by Michelin. 1:1,000,000, but featuring all the ''autoroutes'', service areas and [[Péage]]s plus lots of other roads. You should be able to buy it in most service areas for about EUR 5.50 (July 2009)
* Another good map is the 1:1.250.000 Atlante Stradale Europa edited by Istituto Geografico De Agostini (ISBN 88-511-0968-0). It has petrol/service stations marked and it's really small and handy! just a little bit bigger than a lonely planet guide. It's sold in italian book shops but can be found on amazon as well.
* For the digitally inclined, Google maps now offers the ability to create and save your own routes and landmarks, and to share them. Consider making your hitch-hiking route public with comments about it's hitch-ability.
It's recommended you have a map that is at least 1:1,000,000 ratio. 1:750,000 is usually good enough.
If it's hot, choose a hitchhiking spot where you can get some shade, in case you have to wait for some hours.
If it's wet, drivers may feel sorry for you, and choose to help you out. No-one likes a soggy hitchhiker in their car, so keep an umbrella handy. Better: stay dry at a [[petrol station hitchhiking|petrol station]].
Thunderstorms are a blessing. If, during a dry day, you notice that a thunderstorm is coming, don't worry. When the storm hits you, keep you and your possessions under an umbrella and keep signalling. Drivers will feel '''very''' sorry for you, and many will stop for you. While waiting on the roadside, [[User:tmoon|Tom]] was hit by three thunderstorms in 2006, all of which got him a ride in less than ten minutes. The best example was in [[Cologne]] - after waiting for two hours without a ride offer, a storm came and there were three offers in five minutes (took the third one, it was a short ride and at the next petrol station another ride came within two minutes).
If you can, don’t wear your old clothes or clothes that might frighten a driver (such as a T-shirt with a skull). Conservative people only take well shaved guys with proper clothes. Liberal-minded people always take you, but even conservative (or old) people can be very helpful on your trip. (I dont think this is of overwhelming importance. I often hitch wearing red tartan pants, punk/metal t shirts and black leather boots and I get rides just as often as the next guy!)
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]]).
== [[Signs]] ==
If you're going from [[Barcelona]] to [[Amsterdam]], consider writing "[[Paris]]", or just [[Perpignan]], on your sign, when you start in Barcelona. 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".
It often helps if you write the sign in the same language as the drivers you're trying to attract. If you can show some affinity to the drivers' country, it usually increases your chances of a lift. If you want to make a sign in a language that you don't know (whether you need it now or in the future), try asking drivers or [[petrol station hitchhiking|petrol station]] staff for help. Note: In countries where hitchhiking is a very common thing to do by locals, e.g. Romania, it could be advisable to make it clear that you're in fact not a local; be it your sign or well-displayed huge backpacks.
To make the sign, it's better to use cardboard or similar with a thick black marker or India ink (works well with cotton buds), if possible − other pens/pencils will do as well, but require more work. Write neatly in big, block letters the name of a city or the name of a road, or both. Make it easy to read for the drivers: Write a big capital letter and then lower case characters (the varying forms of lower-case letters, especially ascenders 'd','k','l'.. and descenders 'p','g' etc. make at-once reading easier).
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== [[SafetyHitchhiker's safety|Safe hitchhiking]] ==
Wear bright colored clothes or a reflective warning vest while walking along the road.
== If you're lost... ==
...then it's maybe a good idea to stop traveling until you know where you are. Ask whoever you can for help. Look on road signs for city names and road numbers, and try to match them with your [[maps|map]].
If getting lost isn't a problem because you have no fixed destination, then stop worrying and enjoy the ride ;).
[[File:Roads.JPG|thumb|250px|right|[[At night]], it'll get tougher. Apart from much less traffic, people may trust you less (especially if you're male) and you may be in more danger (especially if you're female). Also, you're not as visible as you were before. But if someone does decide to help, they will probably help you as much as they can...]]
=== You are sure to reach your destination before the [[hitchhiking at night|night]] ===
If you make small distances, you can plan in advance where you will sleep.
If you have Internet access, you can check out those websites for free accommodation:
* [http://bewelcome.org BeWelcome.org];
* [http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club] (good for finding phone numbers in smaller places).
If there's a [http://www.ymca.int/ymca-hotels/ YMCA centre] in town, see if they have a room for the [[hitchhiking at night|night]].
=== You are not sure to reach your destination before the [[hitchhiking at night|night]] ===
On longer hitchhiking trips, you may need to sleep along the way.
* Are many people around you? If yes, a paper with a big "Couchsurfing?" on it may help you to find someone that would host you.
If you can't find anywhere to sleep, there are still other ways to get out of the situation. If you are lucky enough to be at a 24-hour petrol station, just keep drinking coffee and keep hitching through the [[hitchhiking at night|night]]. Keep in mind that it gets really quiet between 2:00 and 5:00, even at motorway service areas.
== Getting to the nearest city ==
If you need to travel over long destinations, taking the highway may help a lot, and in some place is almost unavoidable. Most highway entrances are bad spots, and many are dangerous. A good way to "hitchhike" on highway is to practice "station hopping": you only stop in petrol stations. Petrol stations (or rest areas, often the same) are the best spot ever, because you can go directly talk to people (show them you are nice and smile) and the car is totally stopped. Enjoy. This works particularly well in Germany and France. In Italy, hitching from toll stations seems to work a little better.
Do realise that in most countries, hitchhiking directly on the highway is forbidden! In rare occasions however, you might be forced to. Keep in mind that it is very unsafe for drivers to stop on the highway, and that your own [[hitchhiker's safety|safety]] is also in danger. The [[police]] might force you to leave the area, but in some cases they just don't care.
== Avoid [[mistakes]] ==
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