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* [https://www.trustroots.org Trustroots.org]; hitchhiker centric* [http://bewelcome.org BeWelcome.org];* [http://couchsurfing.com CouchSurfing.com] most active* [http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club] (good for finding phone numbers in smaller places).
* Are you ready to pay for a hostel? If yes, can you find one?* Is there a (big) [[airport]] on your road or close to the place you are? You may sleep there.* Can your driver host you?* Can you find a car/truck driving overnight and crash out on the way? In this case, is the driver really reliable?----* '''Are many people around you? If yes, a paper with === Holding a big "Couchsurfing?" on it may help you to find someone that would host you.'''sign in public place ===
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→Carry a good map
There are some essential things you should remember when you are going hitchhiking. [[Hitchwiki:About|Hitchwiki]] suggests you keep these in mind when starting your career as an enthusiastic thumber: [[File:Warsaw-poznan.JPG|thumb|250px|left|You'll be seeing a lot of this.]]
== Take the most used route ==
== [[Maps|Carry a good map]] ==
A list of recommendations can be found in the [[maps|maps article]]. You want to know where you are going. It also helps if [[petrol station hitchhiking|petrol stations]] are marked, and you don't need city maps. Try and find a map that you don't have to open out to one large sheet of paper every time you want to use it; you will be using it often. Book-style maps are best. A lot of times, you'll be okay without owning a map, though, if you use your chances well to have a look at one - petrol and service stations and lifts - and keep in mind all you need to know. If you have a digital camera, photographing the map and using the zoom function later has proven invaluable.
Hitchwiki spots in combination with OpenStreetMap can also be accessed offline. See [[High-tech_hitchhiking|High-tech hitchhiking]].
For DIY maps i like to write down bigest cities what i should pass and asking a driver to put me out at the best spots to continue my route. Works if your phone with Google Maos screenshots wont starts :D
== [[Where to hitchhike|Be in a good, safe spot]] ==
[[File:Warsaw-poznan.JPG|thumb|right|250px|left|You'll be seeing a lot of this.]]
[[File:Amylin_hitching_northern_ca.jpg|thumb|250px|left|This could be a good spot. You're easily visible, the drivers slow down at the junction, and there is an obvious place for them to stop.]]
It is basically possible to hitchhike from every place, just keep a single rule of thumb in mind: The faster the cars the more space for the cars to stop is needed.
== Stay positive, smile and laugh ==
[[File:hitch_hiker_58392_in_spain.jpeg|thumb|right|250px|left|Taking pictures of your hitch-hiking buddy is an excellent way to keep up your mood.]]
Standing on dirty boring roads with loads traffic passing by and no one picking you up is as much a part of hitch-hiking as it is to eventually get picked up by a kind-hearted soul. If you're travelling alone, the road is your only companion that is reliably always by your side. If you can manage to have a friendly relationship with it, you'll have a much more enjoyable experience. Obviously, when travelling in a group, the same goes for your human friend(s).
It is easy to become bored or frustrated when waiting for a ride, but remember that a good attitude will help you get rides. Keep your spirits up by singing, humming, laughing and simply smiling. A grumpy hitchhiker may get rides out of sympathy, but a happy hitchhiker will get better rides and go further distances in less time. If you're in a group, try dancing or clapping your hands at the same time, it makes the drivers smile and lifts come much more often!
If you carry a marker with you, you can even cheer up future hitch-hikers who will use your spot by leaving them little messages on sign posts or crash barriers.
== Avoid tight deadlines ==
If you can, don’t wear your old clothes or clothes that might frighten a driver (such as a T-shirt with a skull). Conservative people only take well shaved guys with proper clothes. Liberal-minded people always take you, but even conservative (or old) people can be very helpful on your trip. (I don't think this is of overwhelming importance. I often hitch wearing red tartan pants, punk/metal t shirts and black leather boots and I get rides just as often as the next guy!)
Avoid wearing black. (Not really, it had positive impact (in comparison with a similar trip some time before) on one of my over-Europe hikes where I got on road wearing completely black clothes. Even women were picking me up regularly on that trip.) Even having a smart black shirt could keep you stuck in one place for a long time. Some have found that caps might have a negative impact. (Though Simon from [[Sweden]], with shaved head and beard found it much easier wearing a cap always, because people seem to be afraid of people with shaved heads.) Black or blue woolly hats are awful too. If the weather permits, wear light coloured shorts and a bright colourful t-shirt or a smart short sleeved shirt. Although you may have no choice on whether you have luggage, some hold that hitching without luggage is quicker as the driver knows you're not concealing anything. But some drivers think that carrying a backpack makes you more of a traveler and will only pick up people with backpacks (e.g. [[User:Guaka|Guaka]] and [[User:Amylin|amylin]] experienced this in [[New Zealand]]). Making your traveling backpack visible could prove to be an advantage as you will have more chances of not being perceived as a threat, as it is harder to run away with so much weight in case you steal or damage something.Stuart at http://lookingforstu.com swears by a Superman T-shirt. It's bright, colourful and is a universal symbol of hope and peace. The amount of times drivers have said that is the reason they picked him up is astounding!
== [[Signs]] ==
== [[Finding accommodation]] ==
[[File:Roads.JPG|thumb|250px|right|[[At night]], it'll get tougher. Apart from much less traffic, people may trust you less (especially if you're male) and you may be in more danger (especially if you're female). Also, you're not as visible as you were before. But if someone does decide to help, they will probably help you as much as they can...]]
If you make small distances, you can plan in advance where you will sleep.
If you have Internet access, you can check out those websites for free accommodation:
If there's a [http://www.ymca.int/ymca-hotels/ YMCA centre] in town, see if they have a room for the [[hitchhiking at night|night]].
If you don't want to sleep outside, consider those possibilities:
Strazdas007 says it is possible to find a host in this way, but you must know, where it is biggest chance that your sign will be seen - talking about subway stations or even stations in general, bigger supermarkets, town squares. He actually found one host near some touristic attraction - somewhere near Eiffel tower, but he was lucky, because next day he wasn't so lucky and had to sleep on the bench. And he was thrown out of the subway station in Paris, because guards were thinking that he was asking for money. Or you can simply look for some hipsters, or simply friendly youths and ask them if they are hosting, if they don't know, tell them about CS'ing, and maybe they will host you.
Try your luck. And remember this is not hitchhiking, eye contact is almost pointless, because your sign is making contact. Try to make sign as big as possible (well not very big, but so it could be seen from further or/and attract people eye).
=== Camping === Wild camping how to http://nomadwiki.org/en/Camping === Other options === If you can't find anywhere to sleep, there are still other ways to get out of the situation. If you are lucky enough to be at a 24-hour petrol stationor Mc Donalds, just keep drinking coffee and keep hitching through the [[hitchhiking at night|night]]. Keep in mind that it gets really quiet between 2:00 and 5:00, even at motorway service areas.
== Getting to the nearest city ==
# Holiday vans: The drivers can also do long distances and some can travel for months.
# Truck drivers: They quite often cannot take anyone legally because of the insurances but always ask them about the possibility. Two persons is more complicated but the bed behind the seats can be good to hide your friend. They are good for overnight trips, as you may ask driver if you can sleep in bed.
== Hitchhiker Tips ==
This is the section where anyone can write his or her practical tip.
My idea is to try and make of it as much science as possible so here are some ground rules:
* Everybody are welcome to share their knowledge.
* Read all tips prior to adding on in order to prevent:
a. Writing the same tip.
b. Writing contradicting tips which may confuse others.
If you disagree with a tip been written discuss it on the discussion page.
* Try to add tips base on theories being tested. (Example curves: try do exactly the same on both sides on various occasions and record your time and percentage)
_________________________________________
My hitchhiking theory:
Hitch hiking is a game of patience and mental strength. Be prepared!
Although agree with the article above i believe the vast majority of drivers pick up hitch hikers on psychological association based on looks and self interest which sometimes seem random.
That is why we should do anything we can to maximize our chances by looking as trust worthy and average as we can as well as consider the drivers interest.
* '''The Average Driver''' - the average driver does not understand hitch hiking and that is why you will get a lot of gestures from drivers indicating they "stay in the area" or "not going far". It does not occur to them that even a 10, 5 mile or "only to the next junction" ride will advance you and will have critical positive mental effect.
* '''Clothing & Appearance''' - since our goal is to get from point A to B, without importance of who is going to pick us up we want to look as trust worthy or "good, nice, harmless guys" as we can. That means dressed in quite a popular way to the place you are in. Usually it means shorts/jeans and T-shirt (preferably light color) for boys and girls and possibly dress for girls. Of course working according to situation is better, i.e. hitch hike to a metal concert you might dress all black with anthrax T-shirt and 10 piercing in your face and probably get a fast, to the spot ride, but the average driver might feel unwilling to stop to someone of "your type" out of prejudice.
* '''Be ready to walk''' - Location is crucial and so it is not rare to walk sometimes a mile or even more to get the best position for your next ride. On the way it is fine to try and stop vehicles.
* '''Curves''' - If you are near a curve it is better stand about 50-100 meters before the curve since the driver can see you from more far and also is already in the need of reducing speed and mainly his only job is just get to a slow, reasonable velocity to enter the curve.
Standing after the curve would reduce you chance since you're being seen only on when the driver is out of the curve and is already in the task of speeding. Less people are likely to step on the break for you once they started speeding.
Standing in the middle is extremely dangerous and the least efficient since the driver is multitasking.
* '''Up & Down Hills''' - If being on hilly topography it is better to stand on the first third of the up hill side. As on curves people are more likely to stop while they are already slowing down.
The top of the hill or close to it wouldn't be a good place since the driver is focused on getting to the top.
If a down hill is right after most drivers would not stop for the fun part.
Down hill again is a bad place to try and stop the driver since he is gaining speed and not likely to give up on it.
* '''Gestures''' - Different gestures can steal the attention of the driver and gain you a ride.
All in addition to smilling and looking to the drivers eyes:
# Wave the hand in between to passing cars.
# Pointing-moving your thumb every now and then above your shoulder towards the direction.
# Even single a "little" gesture with the two fingers helps, as explained on "the average driver" section. That is where board usually comes in super handy.
* '''Asking for Ride''' - Don't be afraid to talk to people and ask them directly if you can hop on. Some drivers would not consider taking you, yet by hearing a nice, friendly, polite voice they might will as well as feel a bit more obligation to help you.
===Different Vessels===
You should feel comfortable through out the whole way to your destination. if you feel uncomfortable hoping on a specific vessel - don't. As it will tire you out and make a bad experience for the future. If you feel unsafe with the drivers drive don't be ashamed to tell him (I do ask all motorcycle rides to drive relatively slow especially on unpaved roads, never needed to tell in a car) he will understand your worry, remember he stopped in order to help and will be nice enough to make you feel comfortable.
* '''Back of a Pick-Up Truck''' - The back of a pick up truck is where you are likely to spend a big chunk of the road. However there is a clear problem of safety. For the driver it might be convenient to tell you to hop on the back and so he wont need to worry from a dangerous hiker or either talk in case he isn't in the mood. It is also an extra space in case the seats are full. On the hiker side you have zero control on what is going on and hop on without at least getting to know if the driver is trust worthy is not recommended. You should have a few words with the driver about the way and agree on a place before hands since you wouldn't be able to converse once you start driving, knocking on the roof for stop at most. There is also the problem of sitting without safety belt and potentially with unfasten equipment that might hurt you in case of emergency stop, curves or irresponsible driving.
* '''Motorcycles''' - Motorcycles are somewhat problematic when it comes to travelling with luggage, yet is possible. It is a good way to travel fast, but just like driving one - even less safe as taking a ride with a car. Try to ask the driver for an extra helmet. Usually not likely to work, but some drivers keep an extra "half helmet" in the box of the vehicle - not much, but certainly better than nothing. I for instance tend to minimise motorcycle rides since i feel unsafe with a stranger driver. You might ask to drive slower, but remember driving slower means less balance.
My vision is to have a collective grid-table for people to add on theory and different people to add on their tests result and so things would become scientific and clear very fast.
Main problem - different countries, different cultures.
I hope this section is going to evolve because i would love to see others tips and try to find the ultimate hitch hiking technique.
= Related links and references =
* [http[wikivoyage://wikitravel.org/en/Tips_for_hitchhiking |Tips for Hitchhiking on WikitravelWikivoyage]]
* [http://www.claudioadrianodobre.com/importance-smiling-communication/ The importance of smiling when engaging drivers]
* [http://www.christopherdrifter.com/books/Rules_of_Thumb/ Rules of Thumb] - A free guide to living on the road and hitch-hiking
* [http://www.hitchbase.com Worldwide Database of Places for Hitchhikers]
= Nomadwiki & Trashwiki = {{Excellentnomadwiki}}
[[Category:Practical info]]
