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[[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, the hitchhikers gathering. I wanted to find someone I could travel with, as I didn't want to hitch alone. The next day we At the meeting I quickly found my partner. We got lost in Utrecht for two hours the next day as we were trying to find the our spot. Some guy gave us a lift to from the highway, where we waited city and dropped us ''on'' the highway . There we waited for 2 two hours.

Yes, and we were actually afraid that some police -car would stop and that we were gonna get jailed or somethingto jail us, but a nice guy actually stopped and brought us to the first petrol station. There it finally really started. Until then I actually thought it was all just a big joke, that this whole hitchhiking thing wouldn't work.

At the petrol-station we arrived and we also met also another hitchhiker on his way who was going to the Paris event and who had 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?'')

It was way better. I thought it was just from the highway with your thumb up. But it wasn't. it 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 the day I heard about 888. I wanted to do something different, I was looking for some excitement and adventure. When I arrived the next day 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 had zero preparation and came with a half-broken suitcase.

I was really surprised how much this event the trip 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.

Next, is buying a backpack for myself! I was hitchhiking with a suitcase and that doesn't work. It was already even 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.

With a big smile, but I was am also picky. I first looked who were in the carswas looking for families, couples and women to hitchhike with. 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 bad things happen relatively often. So what could happen to women me 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 more as I could have, as I let a lot of cars go without asking talking to 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!