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[[File:TrekhaakGezocht_Pecs2010.jpg|thumb|Tjerk Ridder upon arrival in [[Pecs]]]]In 2010 Dennis Nolte, Peter Bijl, Tjerk Ridder and a few others took the basic principle of caravan hitchhiking and created the 'Caravan Hitchhiking Project' AKA 'Trekhaak Gezocht !'(Dutch) and 'Anhängerkupplung Gesucht' (German) Their aim: Hitchhiking from their hometown [[Utrecht]] to all three European Capitals of Culture in 2010: [[Essen]] and the Ruhr area of [[Germany]], [[Pecs]] in [[Hungary]] and [[Istanbul]] in [[Turkey]]. The first stage of the project, going from Utrecht via Essen/Ruhr area to Pecs, a distance of over 1600 kilometers, was covered in January and February 2010 by Tjerk Ridder, his little dog Dachs and Peter Bijl. The hitchhiking trip required 33 different rides through 4 countries. Important lesson learned: It can get cold in central Europe in January! And the lower the temperature, the more difficult to find people willing to take the caravan over slippery and snowy roads. But the project was succesful, and got loads of media attention: in five countries (Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Hungary) the project got national television reports.

The In the three months between the first and second stage of the trip, Tjerk Ridder wrote a theatre programme out of his experience. 'Tow Bar Needed: A Theatrical Road Movie', an inspiring mix of live music, storytelling and film, premiered at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.  In June 2010 the second stage of The Caravan Hitchhiking Project will be in the summer of 2010took off, taking Tjerk Ridder and Peter Bijl from Pecs in Hungary, through [[Croatia]], [[Serbia]] and [[Bulgaria]] to [[Istanbul]] in [[Turkey]]. A In three weeks they crosses a distance of about 1400 1500 kilometers, through a less well travelled and potentially less-towbar-dense part of Europe. They will depart from Pecs on June 10th 2010Being towed by amongst others an old Renault 4 and a truck, Tjerk, Dachs and Peter arrived in Istanbul, having their caravan being towed by twenty different vehicles.