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When the traffic is too heavy: The driver will be less likely to say "Somebody else is going to stop" if he sees that you want to go exactly his way.
If you're going from [[Barcelona]] to [[Amsterdam]], consider writing "[[Paris]]", or just [[Perpignan]], on your sign, when you start in Barcelona. Few people will be going to Amsterdam or even Paris, directly. There's a dilemma, though, because if the destination you write is too close, you won't make good time, and if it's too far, nobody will be heading all the way there and so won't feel confident in stopping for you. A good solution to this is to simply use your direction of travel, e.g. "East" or maybe "France"."
It often helps if you write the sign in the same language as the drivers you're trying to attract. If you can show some affinity to the drivers' country, it usually increases your chances of a lift. If you want to make a sign in a language that you don't know (whether you need it now or in the future), try asking drivers or [[petrol station]] staff for help.
To make the sign, it's better to use cardboard or similar with a thick black marker, if possible − other pens/pencils will do as well, but require more work. Write neatly in big, block letters the name of a city or the name of a road, or both. You're in charge.
[[File:Img_l_1306483.jpg|thumb|180px|right|[[User:MayaCova|MayaCova]] using was using a white board with considerable success.]]
If you have a chance to plan a long hitchhiking trip in advance, some find using an erasable white board as a sign to be very useful for making big, clear and reusable signs.
Remember the sign has to be read from a distance. At 100km/hr, a vehicle is covering approx 30 meters/second. The average reaction time when driving is 1.5 to 2.5 seconds, so 45 to 75 meters has gone before they start to stop. If you want them to stop, then you not only have to place yourself in the right location so they can see that you are a traveller and not just cagging a lift (this is what the sign does), you also have to have a sign that is readable. The more space between each letter the better to be read from a distance. (This is called Kernel, eg see road signs specifications.)
If space doesn´t permit a long city name shorten it to something everyone will understand. For example [[Amsterdam]] could be '''A'dam''' and [[Hamburg]] could be '''HH'''. Have a look at the country's license plates, the short forms featured there will probably be known in the population.
Signs don't just have to list a place - Much success can be had (in the proper setting) with more off-the-wall signs like "We're Awesome!", "Free Cookies!", "Runaway Bride" or even "Not Far", "that way ==>", etc.
