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=== '''Hitchhiking and Viva con Agua''' ===
[[File:wukk_tramprennen.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Hitchhikers spread this flyer in three languages 5000 times on their 2500 km journey from [[Hamburg]] to [[Zaragoza|Saragossa]]]]
2 years later in 2008, after some time of traveling, working and studying we decided to organize a hitchhiking race for two weeks to a certain destination somewhere in Europe.We heard about this charity movement from Hamburg-St.Pauli called "Viva con Agua", which was known to raise money for social projects in another way we know it from big organizations. We liked the idea of an open network, where everybody has the option to move, organize or participate in something, with own ideas and influence. We also liked the idea, that Viva con Agua doesn't just ask people to donate money on a simple bank account but involving them in every project they run. Organizing parties, concerts, cultural and sport events or arrange "Water Days" in schools with a charity run afterward, so the kids know what they're running for. They also walked 1000km from Hamburg to Basel with a wooden bicycle from Kongo to the European Football Cup opening game in 39 days to call attention for the worldwide drinking water problems and collected deposit cups on every bigger festival in Germany the whole summer long.A crazy crew of young people willing to move something, open for new ways and ideas.
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Reese is a traveler from the [[United States of America|US]] who has been in [[Europe]] for 2,5 years now. He has lived on a no/low-budget for quite a while and gets by what with whatever he finds on his road, of whatever finds him. --[[User:Robino|Robino]] 17:28, 28 September 2008 (CEST)
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Once, when I was hitchhiking through [[Akureyri]] to [[Reykjavík|Reykjavik]] - hitchhiking there is really easy as most cars were driving on that route to Reykjavik anyway; I spent more time writing [[Reykjavík|Reykjavik]] than holding the sign - a friend of my driver, was organizing an art exhibition and he asked me if I wanted to work for him, being paid in cash.
Things like this happen. You just have to get to know the people and network around that. Like that you sometimes end up going to nice places. I always wanted to go to [[Finland]]. In [[Iceland]] I met someone who offered me a job and a place to stay in [[Finland]]. It did take me a while to figure out how to survive but even without papers these things are possible.
=== Learning process ===
The first times I came to [[Europe]], I had a budget and a return ticket. I was on holidays, visiting [[Europe]], using my credit card. I always had to go back to the [[United States of America|US]] to work and pay off my debts that I made while traveling. But now I don't do that anymore, I have no exit-ticket and basically no budget.
Two and a half years ago I left the US with only 250 dollars and I made my way to Iceland for a job. I worked 90 hours a month in a youth-hostel just to sleep in a dormitory. To actually get some money, I had to work there 120 hours a month. Since [[Iceland]] is pretty expensive, I ended up with nothing.
At the end of those three months, I was going to overstay my tourist visa. The hostel arranged a ticket for me to the UK to go out. So I left [[Iceland]] broke and wanted to go to Ireland to volunteer at a different hostel. But with no money at all, I got detained at customs and got sent back to the [[United Kingdom|UK]]. They detained me for seven hours in an empty room and returned me for free to the UK.
Then I stayed at the [[London]] airport for a night walking pass the restaurant area with no money at all. That was hard, seeing all those people eating. I could have done it differently by obtaining work-visas so that I could have stayed in a rather normal way - but I prefer not to have that responsibility, it is a different mentality.
