Difference between revisions of "User:Fverhart"

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Revision as of 23:02, 11 January 2009

Liftend.jpg

Cześć wam

Hi there. My name is Frank and I live in the Netherlands.

Why

Hitchhiking is my favourite way of travelling, which I practice when I have time: during weekends and in holidays. It is a very interesting way to be in touch with people and also a more environmentally aware and economic way of travelling fast than going in your own vehicle or by public transport. Anyway as far as travelling is concerned I also enjoy to move myself on foot, on bike, on ice-skate, by public transport and only occasionally in a Citroen AX.

It can take a while before you know how to hitchhike fast and efficient and also experienced hitchhikers sometimes need patience. In my own country I rarely need more than twenty minutes to find a driver when I am in a good or reasonable hitchhiking environment. I started hitchhiking actively in spring 2003. Before that I hitchhiked on occasion, for example to go back to the starting point of a hiking trip or to get back to a camping. The first experience was in the summer of 1993, when my father in a moment decided to hitchhike with me when we were walking in the French Alps. That way we managed to get up very high on the mountain. Otherwise we would not have succeeded in doing that.

Inspiring music

In the meantime, I've started to link some pieces of popular music to this way of travel. I feel that these songs breath in their way spirit of hitchhiking. If you like, take a look at this listing, and feel happy to hear and see those pieces by You tube-technology.

The Animals - House of the rising sun (UK, 1964)

Robert Johnson - Walking Blues (USA, 1936)

Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express (D, 1977)

Karen Stanek - Jedziemy autostopem (PL, 1964)

City to City - The road ahead (miles of the unknown) (NL, 1999)

Vanity Fare - Hitchin' a ride (USA, 1969)

Amy Mc Donald - This is the life (Scotland, 2007)

Ronan Keating feat. Yusuf Islam - Father and son (Ireland, 2004)

One Republic feat. Timabaland - Apologize (USA, 2007)

Moby - Lift me up (USA, 2005)

Phil Collins - Can’t stop loving you (UK, 2002)

Kraftwerk - Autobahn (D, 1974)

The Crickets - I fought the law (USA, 1959)

Boudewijn de Groot - Jimmy (NL, 1973)

Muddy Waters - Mannish boy (USA, 1955)

Totals and log

As of October 4, 2008 the total distance covered by hitchhiking amounted to 48,185 kilometres, a total of 904 rides, 14,030 minutes wait (233.8 hr / 9.7 days), average distance 53.3 km and an average wait of 0.29 minutes per kilometre. The full list of journeys can be found by clicking here.

distances per year As of October 4, 2008
year total distance number of rides avg distance avg wait minutes / km
1993/00/01/02 61.0 km 7 8.7 km 0.52
2003 2,308.0 km 50 46.2 km 0.36
2004 5,734.5 km 125 45.9 km 0.28
2005 8,875.0 km 181 49.0 km 0.29
2006 10,337.0 km 186 55.6 km 0.29
2007 11,918.5 km 221 53.9 km 0.29
2008 8,943.5 km 134 66.7 km 0.30
total 48,185.5 km 904 53.3 km 0.29

Per country

The last available accurate update of an overview of all distances hitchhiked per country dates from January 1, 2008. Please note that for cross border rides the number of rides acquired in the country in which the ride started was increased by one, while the waiting time for the concerning ride has been proportionally devided over the concerned countries. For example, a ride on January 2, 2006 started in Poland for the first 0.5 km and ended 6.5 km after the border in Lithuania. The number of rides for Poland increased with 1, the number of rides acquired in Lithuania stayed the same (0). The waiting time of 3 minutes has been devided over both countries by ratio of the ride lenght and rounded, resulting in 0 minutes wait for Poland and 3 minutes wait for Lithuania. The applied method is somewhat discussable and I welcome your view on processing international rides into my country overview.

distances per country As of January 1, 2008
country rides distance avg distance share wait avg wait / ride avg wait / km
The Netherlands 450 17,872.0 km 39.7 km 45.6 % 5,415.5 mins 12.0 mins 0.30 mins
Germany 77 11,758.5 km 152.7 km 30.0 % 2,603.0 mins 33.8 mins 0.22 mins
Belgium 105 4,238.5 km 40.4 km 10.8 % 1,503.5 mins 14.3 mins 0.35 mins
Poland 78 4,008.5 km 51.4 km 10.2 % 1,085 mins 13.9 mins 0.27 mins
Czech Republic 33 698.0 km 21.2 km 1.8 % 405.0 mins 12.3 mins 0.58 mins
Slovakia 3 240.0 km 80.0 km 0.6 % 89.0 mins 13.1 mins 0.37 mins
Luxembourg 14 202.0 km 14.4 km 0.5 % 184.0 mins 13.1 mins 0.91 mins
France 8 193.0 km 24.1 km 0.5 % 99.0 mins 12.4 mins 0.51 mins
Ukraine 2 14.0 km 7.0 km 0.0 % 15.0 mins 7.5 mins 1.07 mins
Lithuania 0 6.5 km #DIV/0! km 0.0 % 3.0 mins #DIV/0! mins 0.46 mins
total 770 39,231.0 km 50.9 km 100.0 % 11,402 mins 14.8 mins 0.29 mins

Sociology

Under this header I present my freaky statistic on the gender and number of people in the vehicles in which I got lifts. The average number of people in vehicles that served me a lift was 1.47, of which 1.04 men and 0.43 women (October 4, 2008). The 904 vehicles contained already when I, and any co-hitcher, entered the car a total number of 1,334 people, of which 939 men, 388 women and 7 people of unknown gender (young children).

men / women / unknown rides % people in vehicle people total
0 / 1 76 8.4 1 76
0 / 2 17 1.9 2 34
0 / 3 4 0.4 3 12
1 / 0 489 54.1 1 489
1 / 0 / 1 4 0.4 2 8
1 / 1 192 21.2 2 384
1 / 1 / 1 3 0.3 3 9
1 / 2 14 1.5 3 42
1 / 3 3 0.3 4 12
1 / 4 2 0.2 5 10
2 / 0 62 6.9 2 124
2 / 1 9 1.0 3 27
2 / 2 5 0.6 4 20
2 / 3 1 0.1 5 5
3 / 0 17 1.9 3 51
3 / 1 1 0.1 4 4
4 / 0 2 0.2 4 8
5 / 3 1 0.1 8 8
7 / 0 1 0.1 8 8
8 / 0 1 0.1 8 8
total 939 / 388 / 2 904 100.0 1334

Following is a more simplified chart which presents simply the number of people which were already in the cars of my rides. By the way, I do not usually make notes on other individuals of living species already in the cars. Some people had a dog on board.

number already in car rides % of rides people total % of people
1 565 62.5 565 42.2
2 275 30.4 550 41.1
3 47 5.2 141 10.5
4 11 1.2 44 3.3
5 3 0.3 15 1.1
6 0 0 0 0
7 1 0.1 7 0.5
8 2 0.2 16 1.2
9-24 0 0 0 0
25 or more 0 0 0 0
total 904 100.0 1339 100.0

Rides of over 250 kms

from to date distance with friend
PL Wroclaw D Monchengladbach 01.2007 882 km 1
CZ Jilhava D Siegburg 09.2007 797 km 1
PL Swiecko NL Lierop 01.2006 700 km 1
B Blegny D Berlin 05.2007 690 km 2
D Pomellen D Reinhardshain 09.2006 660 km 1
NL Bocholtz D Konings Wusterhausen 06.2006 640 km 1
D Michendorf NL Vaals 05.2007 599 km 1
D Frechen D Berlin 05.2008 596 km 2
PL Jelenia Gora D Auetal 10.2008 574 km 1
D Berlin D Remscheid 05.2008 563 km 3
D Frechen D Michendorf 11.2003 540 km 1
D Dresden PL Piotrkow Trybunalski 09.2005 480 km 1
D Berlin D Hamm 06.2006 470 km 2
NL Hengelo D Michendorf 12.2006 465 km 1
PL Swiecko D Auetal 08.2008 396 km 1
PL Trzciel PL Warszawa 12.2006 390 km 1
D Handarpe D Michendorf 09.2007 387 km 2
D Eisenach PL Zgorzelec 12.2007 370 km 1
D Siegen D Stadtroda 09.2008 333 km 1
D Herford D Michendorf 08.2008 332 km 1
PL Wroclaw PL Lubien 12.2007 313 km 1
A Manssworth A Suben 01.2008 291 km 1
D Auetal D Michendorf 12.2005 290 km 1
D Reinhardshain D Aachen 09.2005 280 km 1
D Wurzburg D Siegburg 01.2008 278 km 1
NL Maastricht NL Staphorst 07.2005 265 km 1
D Auetal NL Venlo 10.2008 261 km 1

Shortest rides

My shortest lifts include several short rides of one kilometre, which were usually very helpful.

Days with at least 10 vehicles

from to date distance number of vehicles avg distance per vehicle
PL Klodzko NL Eindhoven 4 October 2008 1001.5 km 14 71.5 km
NL Bemelen D Jessen 31 August 2006 705.0 km 13 54.2 km
NL Maastricht NL Maastricht via B Sint-Maria-Oudenhove 4 April 2004 363.0 km 12 30.3 km
NL Bemelen D Merzig 12 June 2004 337.0 km 12 28.1 km
NL Rosmalen PL Trzciel 27 December 2006 813.0 km 11 73.9 km
NL Maastricht PL Lubniewice 29 August 2008 800.5 km 11 72.7 km
NL Maastricht PL Wlen 12 September 2008 847.5 km 10 74.8 km
D Aachen NL Leiden 21 January 2006 272.0 km 10 27.2 km

Days with trips of more than 750 km

from to date distance duration number of vehicles avg distance per vehicle
NL Bocholtz PL Piotrkow Trybunalski 15 September 2005 1125.0 km 24 hrs 7 160.7 km
PL Klodzko NL Eindhoven 4 Octomber 2008 1001.5 km 15 hrs 14 71.5 km
PL Wroclaw NL Eindhoven 7 January 2007 969.0 km 13 hrs 5 193.8 km
PL Wroclaw NL Maastricht 24 September 2005 968.0 km 15 hrs 8 121.0 km
PL Lowicz Walecki D Oberschelden 23 September 2006 884.0 km 15 hrs 3 294.6 km
NL Maastricht PL Wlen 12 September 2008 847.5 km 15 hrs 10 74.8 km
NL Geffen PL Trzciel 27 December 2005 820.0 km 12 hrs 8 102.5 km
NL Rosmalen PL Trzciel 27 December 2006 813.0 km 13 hrs 11 73.9 km
NL Maastricht PL Lubniewice 29 August 2008 800.5 km 12 hrs 11 72.7 km
PL Rzepin NL Lierop 8 January 2006 789.0 km 8 hrs 3 263.0 km
NL Nuland D Bautzen 27 December 2008 775.0 km 12 hrs 9 86.1 km

Longest total distances

The longest distance I hitched in one day was 1125 kilometers, which took about 24 hours and three times I did about thousand kilometres, which 13, 15 and 15 hours. Perhaps interesting to note, on one of these I hitched just lazy: 100 km in 5 hours (only regional roads), followed by 900 km in 10 hours (for 95% motorways)). My longest ride in the Netherlands was 265 kilometers, which was part of a trip of about 350 kilometers from Maastricht to Groningen; this is about the biggest distance one can do in the “small country” the Netherlands.

My statistics and hitchhiking website for the Netherlands

Here is the website that I edit: Hitchhiking (ad-hoc-carpooling) in the Netherlands: [1]

I keep detailed lists and statistics of my travels. For an extract, take a look here: [2]. The page holds a list of all trips, a table with numbers of rides, average waits and average ride lengths per country and a list of the motorway service areas which I have used during hitchhiking.

Let’s build this community! See you on the road!

Top speeds

Austria 170 kmh january 2008

Belgium unknown

France unknown

Czech Republic unknown

Germany 230 kmh november 2003, 2nd 210 kmh september 2007, 3rd 205 kmh (130 mph) january 2008

Lithuania unknown

Luxembourg unknown

the Netherlands 180 kmh november 2007

Poland 180 kmh january 2007

Slovakia 170 kmh

Ukraine unknown

Planned trips

December 2008 / January 2009 trip to Poland and Ukraine (50%)

June 2009 to Berlin Beach Camp (75%)

Contact

  • MSN: fverhart AT hotmail DOT com
  • Google Talk: fverhart AT gmail DOT com
  • Gadu Gadu: 3173096
  • Yahoo! Messenger: fverhart AT yahoo DOT com
  • Hospitality Club, Couch Surfing, Be Welcome, Warm Showers: fverhart
  • Phone +31621488856

Trivia

  • The very first lift was served in July 1993, when during a hike my hiking companion, my father, decided to hitch a bit. We were in French Alps and by taking a lift we were actually able to go towards the higher parts of a mountain.
  • I also hitched with my father on 28 October 2004 in Polish Karkonosze mountains and on 17 November 2007 in Belgian Voer region, in both cases public transport would have demanded a long wait.
  • Rides by taxi were served to me from Maastricht to Liege (the driver was anyway driving back, empty), from Vaals to Aachen (a man who had ordered the taxi heard that we had the same destination as we were waiting for the bus and said that we could hop in), from Maastricht to Bemelen (there were already customers aboard and nobody turned me down when I said that I would go along only without paying) and from Bardo to Klodzko, while I was hitchhiking with two females, who were rather surprised that a taxi would take hitchhikers.
  • On May 25, 2005 I got my first lift in a Porsche, which was driven by a speed of 100 kmh through the center of Luxembourg city (speed limit of 50 or 70 kmh).
  • On September 23, 2005, we got a lift from a schoolbus of the famous Polish bus brand Autosan.
  • On April 21, 2006 I got my first lift in a Cadillac. The driver was born in the same year as the car was made, being 1959, and the driver was the owner of a coffeeshop in Maastricht.
  • On September 8, 2006, we got a lift in Polish Bieszczady Mountains from a local forest worker on a rough Russian made wood truck.
  • On December 29, 2007 I got a ride from a driver with three nons from Tatras to Kezmarok, which was the first ride I had in a car with nons.
  • On December 23, 2007 I left Maastricht for the 50th time from the official hitchhiking spot.
  • On August 22, 2008 I used petrol station Ooiendonk along the A2-motorway for the first time to hitchhike; nothing special, although thereby I have used all nine A2-motorway petrol stations between Maastricht and 's-Hertogenbosch to hitchhike.
  • On August 31, 2008 I was given a lift for the first time by known people while standing on the road, somewhere halfway a journey (in the morning we were both leaving the same event, the driver not knowing that I would be thankful for a ride, and likewise). I tagged along for a mere 396 kilometres from the Polish border up to the service area Auetal Nord in the middle of Germany.