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There are some essential things you should remember when you are going hitchhiking. [[Hitchwiki]] suggests you keep these in mind when starting your career as an enthusiastic thumber:
== Take the most used route for the journey you want ==The shortest is not the best in all the cases. If there is no traffic, there are no rides to share. (Think where the trucks are going: industrial areas, ports/airports etc.)
== Carry a good map ==
You want to know were you are going. It also helps if gas stations 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.
The ''Shell Euroatlas'' is good for [[Europe]], however, it's difficult to find.
'Mark Snyder and his co-workers (1974) found that hitchhikers doubled the number of ride offers by looking drivers straight in the eye. A personal approach, as my panhandler knew, makes one feel less anonymous, more responsible.' (Source: Social Psychology, Myers. p.503 Social Relations)
Respectable eyes for male drivers and puppy eyes for female drivers seems seem to work quite well. == Work with the weather == 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. 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 posessions under an umbrella and keep signalling. Drivers will feel '''very''' sorry for you, and many will stop for you. While waiting on the roadside, -- 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 the next ride came within two minutes).
== [[Appearance|Types of clothing]] ==
== About the use of [[signs|a sign]] ==
A thumb or hand gesture will work fine for hitchhiking (depending on the region). But in some cases, the use of a sign displaying your destination or general direction will increase your odds. What are those cases?
When you're hitchhiking on a road that goes to plenty of destinations: The driver will be more likely to stop if he knows that you're going the same way he does.
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, i.e. "East."
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 staff for help.
To make the sign, it's better to use cardboard or similar with a thick black marker. Write neatly in big, block letters the name of a city or the name of a road, or both. You're in charge.
If you have the chance, adding "Please" onto your signs could be a great idea. As well as being polite, writing "Please" in a certain language can indicate that you are a good speaker of that language, and this can be used to attract certain groups of driver who were ignoring you before. However, your main message is the destination/road number/compass direction. "Please" is an extra word for the driver to read, and trying to read that word can become a big distraction from the main message. Also, as you're clearly in a desperate position it's already accepted that you are being grateful for any assistance; once a driver stops, you can say "Please" as much as you like. Experiment with "Please" for yourself, and see what happens.
== [[Safety | Safe hitchhiking ]] ==
Wear bright colored clothes or a reflective warning vest while walking along the road.
If not, keep it simple to begin with. A solid rule that should be followed by any hitcher is to try to shy away from talking about politics with a driver who has differing view points than yourself. People have the tendency to get really worked up when it comes to politics, or religion, so if they mention something that your political or religious views disagree with, try to say, "I'm not going to get into that with you, my friend" or something like that. Many a hitcher has been seen thrown out of cars due to a fiery political discussion.
Some drivers will go extra kilometres off their route to help you, if you ask nicely.
Make sure you know where the driver will drop you off, and try to choose the ideal drop-off point yourself - despite their efforts to help, drivers sometimes leave you in very bad places. If the drop-off point is not helpful to you, then say so, and the driver may take you away to find a better spot.
Don't get lost while you're in a car! Some drivers have a terrible sense of direction and may need your help. Also, knowing where you are when you leave the vehicle will save a lot og time.
== If you're lost... ==
...then it's maybe a good idea to stop travelling 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 map.
If getting lost isn't a problem because you have no fixed destination, then stop worrying and enjoy the ride ;).
== If you've gone the wrong way... ==
...then work out whether it's best to turn around, to carry on in the new direction (either trying another route, or changing your destination), or to stop hitchhiking. If you're on a motorway, then it might be tough to turn around.
If you decide to turn around, then watch out: it can be hard to find a lift that gets you back to your route, ''and'' travels in the right direction. You could easily get back to your route, and have to turn round a second time.
== [[Finding accommodation]] ==
On longer hitchhiking trips you may need to '''camp''' along the way, if you did not receive a ride to your intended destination. Sometimes you can find a hostel or local host for the night, but just in case: bring a sleeping bag and tarp or tent with you. Make sure to bring clothes that will suit you for night weather.
It is also a good idea to check out [http://couchsurfing.com CouchSurfing.com] (more active) and [http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club] (good for finding phone numbers in smaller places) for free accommodation. If there's a YMCA center in town, see if they have a room for the night. There are many hitchhikers and it is easy to find a couple of places to stay while on the road or even at your destination. A fresh shave and shower will also greatly increase the chances of getting picked up.
If you can't find anywhere to sleep there are still other ways out of the situation. If you are lucky enough to be at a 24 hour gas station just keep drinking coffee and keep hitching through the night. At night don't bother trying to get lifts with a sign, just ask people at the gas station when they go to pay. Keep in mind that it gets really quite between 2:00 and 5:00 even at a busy autobahn service area. The other alternative is to find a truck (or a car) going a really really long way and crash out on the way. Make sure you trust the driver or do it with 2 hitchers taking turns to sleep. The downside to this is that you might wake up a long way from where you wanted to be but at least you didnt have to sleep in the gutter.
== Get to the nearest city, if you have to ==
It's tough to hitchhike out of city centres. But sometimes (if you're tired, hungry, thirsty, ill etc.) you'll need to go off your route and take a pause in the nearest city. Hey, if you're flexible with your travel arrangements, you may decide to stay there for a bit longer...
If hitchhiking to the city is too hard for whatever reason, and the city is too far to walk, then take public transport. Head for nearby areas of houses: they often have bus stops.
Most petrol stations on motorways have a special access road for staff and delivery/emergency vehicles. Many petrol stations also have local maps you can look at to find bus stops near you, if you exit via the special access road.
== Use buses and trains ==