Fverhart
Cześć wam
Hi there. My name is Frank and I live in the Netherlands.
Why
Hitchhiking is my favourite way of travelling, which I practice when I have time: during weekends and in holidays. It is a very interesting way to be in touch with people and also a more environmentally aware and economic way of travelling fast than going in your own vehicle or by public transport. Anyway as far as travelling is concerned I also enjoy to move myself on foot, on bike, on ice-skate, by public transport and only occasionally in a Citroen AX.
It can take a while before you know how to hitchhike fast and efficient and also experienced hitchhikers sometimes need patience. In my own country I rarely need more than twenty minutes to find a driver when I am in a good or reasonable hitchhiking environment. I started hitchhiking actively in spring 2003. Before that I hitchhiked on occasion, for example to go back to the starting point of a hiking trip or to get back to a camping. The first experience was in the summer of 1993, when my father in a moment decided to hitchhike with me when we were walking in the French Alps. That way we managed to get up very high on the mountain. Otherwise we would not have succeeded in doing that.
Inspiring music
In the meantime, I've started to link some pieces of popular music to this way of travel. I feel that these songs breath in their way spirit of hitchhiking. If you like, take a look at this listing, and feel happy to hear and see those pieces by You tube-technology.
The Animals - House of the rising sun (UK, 1964)
Robert Johnson - Walking Blues (USA, 1936)
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express (D, 1977)
Karen Stanek - Jedziemy autostopem (PL, 1964)
City to City - The road ahead (miles of the unknown) (NL, 1999)
Vanity Fare - Hitchin' a ride (USA, 1969)
Amy Mc Donald - This is the life (Scotland, 2007)
Ronan Keating feat. Yusuf Islam - Father and son (Ireland, 2004)
One Republic feat. Timabaland - Apologize (USA, 2007)
Moby - Lift me up (USA, 2005)
Phil Collins - Can’t stop loving you (UK, 2002)
Kraftwerk - Autobahn (D, 1974)
The Crickets - I fought the law (USA, 1959)
Boudewijn de Groot - Jimmy (NL, 1973)
Muddy Waters - Mannish boy (USA, 1955)
Totals and log
As of October 4, 2008 the total distance covered by hitchhiking amounted to 48,185 kilometres, a total of 904 rides, 14,030 minutes wait (233.8 hr / 9.7 days), average distance 53.3 km and an average wait of 0.29 minutes per kilometre. The full list of journeys can be found by clicking here.
distances per year | As of October 4, 2008 | |||
year | total distance | number of rides | avg distance | avg wait minutes / km |
1993/00/01/02 | 61.0 km | 7 | 8.7 km | 0.52 |
2003 | 2,308.0 km | 50 | 46.2 km | 0.36 |
2004 | 5,734.5 km | 125 | 45.9 km | 0.28 |
2005 | 8,875.0 km | 181 | 49.0 km | 0.29 |
2006 | 10,337.0 km | 186 | 55.6 km | 0.29 |
2007 | 11,918.5 km | 221 | 53.9 km | 0.29 |
2008 | 8,943.5 km | 134 | 66.7 km | 0.30 |
total | 48,185.5 km | 904 | 53.3 km | 0.29 |
Per country
The last available accurate update of an overview of all distances hitchhiked per country dates from January 1, 2008. Please note that for cross border rides the number of rides acquired in the country in which the ride started was increased by one, while the waiting time for the concerning ride has been proportionally devided over the concerned countries. For example, a ride on January 2, 2006 started in Poland for the first 0.5 km and ended 6.5 km after the border in Lithuania. The number of rides for Poland increased with 1, the number of rides acquired in Lithuania stayed the same (0). The waiting time of 3 minutes has been devided over both countries by ratio of the ride lenght and rounded, resulting in 0 minutes wait for Poland and 3 minutes wait for Lithuania. The applied method is somewhat discussable and I welcome your view on processing international rides into my country overview.
distances per country | As of January 1, 2008 | ||||||
country | rides | distance | avg distance | share | wait | avg wait / ride | avg wait / km |
The Netherlands | 450 | 17,872.0 km | 39.7 km | 45.6 % | 5,415.5 mins | 12.0 mins | 0.30 mins |
Germany | 77 | 11,758.5 km | 152.7 km | 30.0 % | 2,603.0 mins | 33.8 mins | 0.22 mins |
Belgium | 105 | 4,238.5 km | 40.4 km | 10.8 % | 1,503.5 mins | 14.3 mins | 0.35 mins |
Poland | 78 | 4,008.5 km | 51.4 km | 10.2 % | 1,085 mins | 13.9 mins | 0.27 mins |
Czech Republic | 33 | 698.0 km | 21.2 km | 1.8 % | 405.0 mins | 12.3 mins | 0.58 mins |
Slovakia | 3 | 240.0 km | 80.0 km | 0.6 % | 89.0 mins | 13.1 mins | 0.37 mins |
Luxembourg | 14 | 202.0 km | 14.4 km | 0.5 % | 184.0 mins | 13.1 mins | 0.91 mins |
France | 8 | 193.0 km | 24.1 km | 0.5 % | 99.0 mins | 12.4 mins | 0.51 mins |
Ukraine | 2 | 14.0 km | 7.0 km | 0.0 % | 15.0 mins | 7.5 mins | 1.07 mins |
Lithuania | 0 | 6.5 km | #DIV/0! km | 0.0 % | 3.0 mins | #DIV/0! mins | 0.46 mins |
total | 770 | 39,231.0 km | 50.9 km | 100.0 % | 11,402 mins | 14.8 mins | 0.29 mins |
Sociology
Under this header I present my freaky statistic on the gender and number of people in the vehicles in which I got lifts. The average number of people in vehicles that served me a lift was 1.47, of which 1.04 men and 0.43 women (October 4, 2008). The 904 vehicles contained already when I, and any co-hitcher, entered the car a total number of 1,334 people, of which 939 men, 388 women and 7 people of unknown gender (young children).
men / women / unknown | rides | % | people in vehicle | people total |
0 / 1 | 76 | 8.4 | 1 | 76 |
0 / 2 | 17 | 1.9 | 2 | 34 |
0 / 3 | 4 | 0.4 | 3 | 12 |
1 / 0 | 489 | 54.1 | 1 | 489 |
1 / 0 / 1 | 4 | 0.4 | 2 | 8 |
1 / 1 | 192 | 21.2 | 2 | 384 |
1 / 1 / 1 | 3 | 0.3 | 3 | 9 |
1 / 2 | 14 | 1.5 | 3 | 42 |
1 / 3 | 3 | 0.3 | 4 | 12 |
1 / 4 | 2 | 0.2 | 5 | 10 |
2 / 0 | 62 | 6.9 | 2 | 124 |
2 / 1 | 9 | 1.0 | 3 | 27 |
2 / 2 | 5 | 0.6 | 4 | 20 |
2 / 3 | 1 | 0.1 | 5 | 5 |
3 / 0 | 17 | 1.9 | 3 | 51 |
3 / 1 | 1 | 0.1 | 4 | 4 |
4 / 0 | 2 | 0.2 | 4 | 8 |
5 / 3 | 1 | 0.1 | 8 | 8 |
7 / 0 | 1 | 0.1 | 8 | 8 |
8 / 0 | 1 | 0.1 | 8 | 8 |
total 939 / 388 / 2 | 904 | 100.0 | 1334 |
Following is a more simplified chart which presents simply the number of people which were already in the cars of my rides. By the way, I do not usually make notes on other individuals of living species already in the cars. Some people had a dog on board.
number already in car | rides | % of rides | people total | % of people |
1 | 565 | 62.5 | 565 | 42.2 |
2 | 275 | 30.4 | 550 | 41.1 |
3 | 47 | 5.2 | 141 | 10.5 |
4 | 11 | 1.2 | 44 | 3.3 |
5 | 3 | 0.3 | 15 | 1.1 |
6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
7 | 1 | 0.1 | 7 | 0.5 |
8 | 2 | 0.2 | 16 | 1.2 |
9-24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
25 or more | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
total | 904 | 100.0 | 1339 | 100.0 |
Rides of over 250 kms
from | to | date | distance | with friend | ||
PL | Wroclaw | D | Monchengladbach | 01.2007 | 882 km | 1 |
CZ | Jilhava | D | Siegburg | 09.2007 | 797 km | 1 |
PL | Swiecko | NL | Lierop | 01.2006 | 700 km | 1 |
B | Blegny | D | Berlin | 05.2007 | 690 km | 2 |
D | Pomellen | D | Reinhardshain | 09.2006 | 660 km | 1 |
NL | Bocholtz | D | Konings Wusterhausen | 06.2006 | 640 km | 1 |
D | Michendorf | NL | Vaals | 05.2007 | 599 km | 1 |
D | Frechen | D | Berlin | 05.2008 | 596 km | 2 |
PL | Jelenia Gora | D | Auetal | 10.2008 | 574 km | 1 |
D | Berlin | D | Remscheid | 05.2008 | 563 km | 3 |
D | Frechen | D | Michendorf | 11.2003 | 540 km | 1 |
D | Dresden | PL | Piotrkow Trybunalski | 09.2005 | 480 km | 1 |
D | Berlin | D | Hamm | 06.2006 | 470 km | 2 |
NL | Hengelo | D | Michendorf | 12.2006 | 465 km | 1 |
PL | Swiecko | D | Auetal | 08.2008 | 396 km | 1 |
PL | Trzciel | PL | Warszawa | 12.2006 | 390 km | 1 |
D | Handarpe | D | Michendorf | 09.2007 | 387 km | 2 |
D | Eisenach | PL | Zgorzelec | 12.2007 | 370 km | 1 |
D | Siegen | D | Stadtroda | 09.2008 | 333 km | 1 |
D | Herford | D | Michendorf | 08.2008 | 332 km | 1 |
PL | Wroclaw | PL | Lubien | 12.2007 | 313 km | 1 |
A | Manssworth | A | Suben | 01.2008 | 291 km | 1 |
D | Auetal | D | Michendorf | 12.2005 | 290 km | 1 |
D | Reinhardshain | D | Aachen | 09.2005 | 280 km | 1 |
D | Wurzburg | D | Siegburg | 01.2008 | 278 km | 1 |
NL | Maastricht | NL | Staphorst | 07.2005 | 265 km | 1 |
D | Auetal | NL | Venlo | 10.2008 | 261 km | 1 |
Shortest rides
My shortest lifts include several short rides of one kilometre, which were usually very helpful.
Days with at least 10 vehicles
from | to | date | distance | number of vehicles | avg distance per vehicle | |||
PL | Klodzko | NL | Eindhoven | 4 October 2008 | 1001.5 km | 14 | 71.5 km | |
NL | Bemelen | D | Jessen | 31 August 2006 | 705.0 km | 13 | 54.2 km | |
NL | Maastricht | NL | Maastricht | via B Sint-Maria-Oudenhove | 4 April 2004 | 363.0 km | 12 | 30.3 km |
NL | Bemelen | D | Merzig | 12 June 2004 | 337.0 km | 12 | 28.1 km | |
NL | Rosmalen | PL | Trzciel | 27 December 2006 | 813.0 km | 11 | 73.9 km | |
NL | Maastricht | PL | Lubniewice | 29 August 2008 | 800.5 km | 11 | 72.7 km | |
NL | Maastricht | PL | Wlen | 12 September 2008 | 847.5 km | 10 | 74.8 km | |
D | Aachen | NL | Leiden | 21 January 2006 | 272.0 km | 10 | 27.2 km |
Days with trips of more than 750 km
from | to | date | distance | duration | number of vehicles | avg distance per vehicle | ||
NL | Bocholtz | PL | Piotrkow Trybunalski | 15 September 2005 | 1125.0 km | 24.0 hrs | 7 | 160.7 km |
PL | Proskow | NL | Maastricht | 11 January 2009 | 1117.0 km | 12.5 hrs | 2 | 558.5 km |
PL | Klodzko | NL | Eindhoven | 4 Octomber 2008 | 1001.5 km | 15.0 hrs | 14 | 71.5 km |
PL | Wroclaw | NL | Eindhoven | 7 January 2007 | 969.0 km | 13.0 hrs | 5 | 193.8 km |
PL | Wroclaw | NL | Maastricht | 24 September 2005 | 968.0 km | 15.0 hrs | 8 | 121.0 km |
PL | Lowicz Walecki | D | Oberschelden | 23 September 2006 | 884.0 km | 15.0 hrs | 3 | 294.6 km |
NL | Maastricht | PL | Wlen | 12 September 2008 | 847.5 km | 15.0 hrs | 10 | 74.8 km |
NL | Geffen | PL | Trzciel | 27 December 2005 | 820.0 km | 12.0 hrs | 8 | 102.5 km |
NL | Rosmalen | PL | Trzciel | 27 December 2006 | 813.0 km | 13.0 hrs | 11 | 73.9 km |
NL | Maastricht | PL | Lubniewice | 29 August 2008 | 800.5 km | 12.0 hrs | 11 | 72.7 km |
PL | Rzepin | NL | Lierop | 8 January 2006 | 789.0 km | 8.0 hrs | 3 | 263.0 km |
NL | Nuland | D | Bautzen | 27 December 2008 | 775.0 km | 12.0 hrs | 9 | 86.1 km |
Longest total distances
The longest distance I hitched in one day was 1125 kilometers, which took about 24 hours and three times I did about thousand kilometres, which 13, 15 and 15 hours. Perhaps interesting to note, on one of these I hitched just lazy: 100 km in 5 hours (only regional roads), followed by 900 km in 10 hours (for 95% motorways)). My longest ride in the Netherlands was 265 kilometers, which was part of a trip of about 350 kilometers from Maastricht to Groningen; this is about the biggest distance one can do in the “small country” the Netherlands.
My statistics and hitchhiking website for the Netherlands
Here is the website that I edit: Hitchhiking (ad-hoc-carpooling) in the Netherlands: [1]
I keep detailed lists and statistics of my travels. For an extract, take a look here: [2]. The page holds a list of all trips, a table with numbers of rides, average waits and average ride lengths per country and a list of the motorway service areas which I have used during hitchhiking.
Let’s build this community! See you on the road!
Top speeds
Austria 170 kmh january 2008
Belgium unknown
France unknown
Czech Republic unknown
Germany 230 kmh november 2003, 2nd 210 kmh september 2007, 3rd 205 kmh (130 mph) january 2008
Lithuania unknown
Luxembourg unknown
the Netherlands 180 kmh november 2007
Poland 180 kmh january 2007
Slovakia 170 kmh
Ukraine unknown
Planned trips
Contact
- MSN: fverhart AT hotmail DOT com
- Google Talk: fverhart AT gmail DOT com
- Gadu Gadu: 3173096
- Yahoo! Messenger: fverhart AT yahoo DOT com
- Hospitality Club, Couch Surfing, Be Welcome, Warm Showers: fverhart
- Phone +31621488856
Trivia
- The very first lift was served in July 1993, when during a hike my hiking companion, my father, decided to hitch a bit. We were in French Alps and by taking a lift we were actually able to go towards the higher parts of a mountain.
- I also hitched with my father on 28 October 2004 in Polish Karkonosze mountains and on 17 November 2007 in Belgian Voer region, in both cases public transport would have demanded a long wait.
- Rides by taxi were served to me from Maastricht to Liege (the driver was anyway driving back, empty), from Vaals to Aachen (a man who had ordered the taxi heard that we had the same destination as we were waiting for the bus and said that we could hop in), from Maastricht to Bemelen (there were already customers aboard and nobody turned me down when I said that I would go along only without paying) and from Bardo to Klodzko, while I was hitchhiking with two females, who were rather surprised that a taxi would take hitchhikers.
- On May 25, 2005 I got my first lift in a Porsche, which was driven by a speed of 100 kmh through the center of Luxembourg city (speed limit of 50 or 70 kmh).
- On September 23, 2005, we got a lift from a schoolbus of the famous Polish bus brand Autosan.
- On April 21, 2006 I got my first lift in a Cadillac. The driver was born in the same year as the car was made, being 1959, and the driver was the owner of a coffeeshop in Maastricht.
- On September 8, 2006, we got a lift in Polish Bieszczady Mountains from a local forest worker on a rough Russian made wood truck.
- On December 29, 2007 I got a ride from a driver with three nons from Tatras to Kezmarok, which was the first ride I had in a car with nons.
- On December 23, 2007 I left Maastricht for the 50th time from the official hitchhiking spot.
- On August 22, 2008 I used petrol station Ooiendonk along the A2-motorway for the first time to hitchhike; nothing special, although thereby I have used all nine A2-motorway petrol stations between Maastricht and 's-Hertogenbosch to hitchhike.
- On August 31, 2008 I was given a lift for the first time by known people while standing on the road, somewhere halfway a journey (in the morning we were both leaving the same event, the driver not knowing that I would be thankful for a ride, and likewise). I tagged along for a mere 396 kilometres from the Polish border up to the service area Auetal Nord in the middle of Germany.