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==Zoë's first time hitchhiking==
'''The first time hitchhiking, something that is always special. A bit scary sometimes as you don't really know what to expect. How did that go with Zoë, whose first hitchhiking trip was 888, the European Hitchhiking day?'''
'''Where did you start?'''
[[Image:Zoe.jpg|thumb|right|448px|Zoe photographed in Paris at the [[888]]-event]] I took the train from [[Maastricht]] to [[Utrecht]] to join a pre-[[888]] meeting. The next day I started to hitchhike. I wanted to find someone I could travel with, as I didn't want to hitch alone. The next day we got lost in Utrecht for two hours as we were trying to find the spot. Some guy gave us a lift to the highway, where we waited ''on'' the highway for 2 hours.
'''But isn't that illegal?''' <br />
Yes, we were actually afraid that some police would stop and that we were gonna get jailed or something, but a nice guy actually stopped and brought us to the first petrol station. There it really started. Until then I actually thought it was just a big joke, that this whole hitchhiking thing wouldn't work.
At the petrol-station we arrived and we met also another hitchhiker on his way to the Paris event and who departed from Copenhagen. Later we met Jan from Berlin, and he was all covered with sweat as he had come walking to the petrol-station with his huge backpack. So we were all there, trying to find rides. But then I found one car with enough space for all four of us. (what happened then?)
'''Did it meet your expectations for the first time hitchhiking?''' <br />
It was way better. I thought it was just from the highway with your thumb up. But it wasn't. it was just hitching from petrol-stations and it was quite safe, and really fun. Actually I didn't know what to expect, I thought I was going to die, haha. It did take longer than I thought though. But yeah, I hitchhiked with my suitcase without any real preparation. When I arrived at the Utrecht meeting, everyone was fully prepared, with maps, signs and lists of the petrol-stations. I was a bit in shock then.
I decided only two days in advance to join, it was when I heard about 888. I wanted to do something different, I was looking for some excitement and adventure.
I was surprised how much this event helped me to build up self-confidence. Also the people I met at the event inspired me a lot. Most of the people who were there are very different from myself. I met someone who was 19 and who had hitchhiked for weeks already. He just had his backpack. And also people who had been traveling in that way for years on a row, without the need for some kind of security. That really is impressive.
'''So what's next for you?''' <br />
Next, is buying a backpack for myself! I was hitchhiking with a suitcase and that doesn't work. It was already broken a bit, so I even had to carry it along the highway and also in Paris when I got lost hitching out. So I am not hitchhiking anywhere until I have a good bag! Then, maybe hitchhiking across Australia or somewhere and meeting people along the way.
'''Going back home from Paris, you hitched by yourself Were you afraid?''' <br />
Yes, very much. I kept pushing my departure back for very long, to see if there was anyone who wanted to join me. But nobody did, so I had to go by myself. I was afraid in Paris itself, but once I was on the highway I was fine.
'''How do you approach your potential drivers?''' <br />
With a big smile, but I was also picky. I first looked who were in the cars. I think you have to be, it is one thing to hitchhike and trust people, but another to ... you know, I am a woman, and also from South-Africa, where things happen relatively often. So what could happen to women is much more on the forefront of my mind. So I am definitely more picky, as I was looking for families, couples and women to hitchhike with. I actually ended up waiting at one petrol-station for some hours as I let a lot of cars go without asking the drivers.
My last ride was going to [[Liege]], which is about 20 kilometers away from my destination, [[Maastricht]]. But the final petrol-station, where we arrived at 12 at midnight, was closed. So I thought, I want to get home, but I don't want to spend the night at this petrol-station as a woman alone in the middle of the night, with nobody there. So they dropped me off at the train station, where I spend the night. That was really cold. So, that is the next thing I really have to buy: a sleeping bag, haha!
==Not knowing what would happen next==
The first time traveling, I had no money. I had a backpack and a ticket to Costa Rica. I thought I would just go there, get a bus to the beach and put up my tent to sleep there. I met many people, who were just sleeping on the beach, for free, and like that I met many people who had done that for years.
I was living of coconuts and bananas, I didn't even need money. People I met who did have money were surprised, that I traveled like this, they said I was naive. But it helps being naive, because it makes you realise that it is very possible. I later hitchhiked back from Costa Rica to Canada.
These type of experiences inspire you with all kinds of further travel-ideas. On the way, you also learn better how to travel as such. For example, my backpack is now way lighter. At first it was 90 liters, now just 30 liters.
