Changes

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.]]

The shortest is not always the bestin all the cases. If there is no traffic, there are no rides to share. Think where the trucks are going: industrial areas, ports/[[Airport|airports]], along etc. The fastest and easiest routes are usually ones between two major cities, passing a lot of countryside on the best highways, etcway. In some countries If you're planning to go through an area with dense population (ex: Romaniaeg. [[Ruhr Area]], [[Randstad]], Bulgaria[[London|Southeast England]]) it is difficult to tell and out the main routes by looking at normal maps other side, then remember that many vehicles will be local traffic, so get it's often a current map that specifically highlights trucking routes. Avoid trying good idea to get lifts along routes find a route that don't make sense avoids these areas or to drivers because picking find a logical A car going trough. When going to B route towards a major city that many drivers are likely the South of [[France]] from the [[Netherlands]], for example, it might be best to be making instead of a direct route avoid [[Paris]] and go through the countryside can save you hours in waiting time vs. multiple smaller rides[[Luxembourg]], passing through less densely populated areas, instead.

The fastest and easiest Avoid trying to get lifts along routes are usually ones between two major cities with nothing interesting inbetween. If you are planning that don't make sense to go through an area with dense population (eg. [[London|Southeast England]]) or past a major junction city such as [[Vienna]] and out the other side, be aware that many vehicles will stop in the middle and could leave you stranded at drivers; pick a spot where catching a new ride is difficult. In that case it is a good idea logical A to find a B route that avoids these areas between two major towns or wait for a ride cities that takes you beyond the trouble spot. For example: when going many drivers are likely to the South of [[France]] from northern europe avoid actually going into the [[Paris]] metro area (have a good spot before paris in mind before you go; get dropped off there instead if your driver is going into Paris), and wait until you find a ride that will take you to the other side OR take another route such as via [[Luxembourg]]be making.

It's not worth trying to hitchhike at all costs. Sometimes it's just more convenient to take a bus to get to a highway or to your final destinations. This is the case especially true when leaving or arriving at big cities or to avoid getting stranded someplace overnight. You may not want to believe it, but it is essentially impossible to hitch hike in or out of most western european cities and you will have to take public transitat night. Sometimes you can get away with not without paying for on public transport (called "black riding"), although in some countries or cities you have to be more careful than usual: check for a "Public Transport" (or "Blackriding") section (if there is any) of the wikipage for a country/city you travel to for tips. If you do blackride preferably anyway, sit or stand preferably by the door; sometimes quick reaction (last second jumping off when someone ) to suspiciously looking folks who looks like a might appear to be ticket controller gets on might controllers can save you from a fineyour butt. It is usually better to sit in the front of the bus so you can quickly scan all the people waiting for the bus while the bus approaches the station and stops and . Also, it helps to direct sight in only one way to look for ticket controllers you missed before already in the bus.