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''Adventure #1I first hitchhiked in 2004 but started doing it often in 2006.Here are my recent trips:'' '''The Gent Escape''', 8km, August 2004
''Adventure #8<span style="color:red">'' '''Israel by thumbPlease check [[User:Tmoon/log|my log]] for an overview of all my adventures.''', 648km, January-February 2008</span>
''Adventure #10:'' '''Keeping it local''', 39km, May 2008 ''Adventure #11:'' '''Home from the Berlin Beach Camp''', 15km, May 2008 ''Adventure #12:'' '''TT festival''', 34km, June 2008 ''Adventure #13:'' '''To the Promised Land''', 89km, June 2008 ''Adventure #14:'' '''Around The Island In Eight Hours''', 73km, July 2008 ''Adventure #15:'' '''Home from Singapore''', 15km, July 2008 ''Adventure #16:'' '''Wet summer''', 6km, July 2008 ''Adventure #17:'' '''Maughold''', 14km, August 2008 ''Adventure #18:'' '''Home from Barcelona''', 14km, November 2008 ''Adventure #19:'' '''Home from Berlin''', 14km, January 2009 ''Adventure #20:'' '''Ab in den Süden''', 692km, January 2009 ''Adventure #21:'' '''Home from Warsaw''', 14km, March 2009 ''Adventure #22:'' '''Goodbye Isle of Man''', 59km, April 2009 ''Adventure #23:'' '''England, Scotland, Isle of Man''', 211km, April 2009 ''Adventure #24:'' '''Grand Tour of Europe''', 2324km, May-June 2009 ''Adventure #25:'' '''Klöden and the Surprise''', 2587km, August-September 2009 ''Adventure #26:'' '''Darina's Challenge''', 9km, September 2009 ''Adventure #27:'' '''A Birthday Story''', 480km, February 2010 ''Adventure #28:'' '''Escape to Aberffraw''', 254km, May 2010 ''Adventure #29:'' '''Race to Mont Royal''', 17km, May 2010 ''Distance travelled:'' '''17697km''' of which 8117km hitchhiking alone, 6807km with one other hitchhiker, 2155km hitchhiking in a group of three, and 618km in a group of four; done 17117km by road (including 5km by bus), 580km by rail, under 1km by tram, and not hitchhiked by sea or air... yet ''Longest lift:'' I think it's '''589km''', from [[Povegliano Est]] ([[A22_ItalyA22 (Italy)|A22]] services near [[Verona]], Italy), to [[Feucht]] ([[A9_GermanyA9 (Germany)|A9]] services near [[Nürnberg]], Germany), in September 2009. The driver was going from [[Bologna]] to [[Szczecin]], and took four hitchhikers in a five-seater car at the same time
If None. But if you find yourself on the Isle of Man're around Manchester, let me know and I'll race you round the [[Snaefell Mountain Course|TT course]]!.
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[[Image:Dhoonglen.jpg|thumb|right|300px|My favourite type of hitchhiking - narrow countryside roads. The [[Isle of Man]] is perfect for this.]]
An [[England|English]] hitchhiker living on the in [[Isle of ManManchester]]. Wishes he could unicycle.
==The stats==
''Adventure #268:'' '''Home to Home to HomeEscape from Svalbard''', 858km4km, June 2006March 2018
''Adventure #369:'' '''"Jedzie Pan do Wrocławia?" "Tak! :)"Back to the McCrorys''', 1522km2km, June 2006April 2018
''Adventure #470:'' '''AWOL in EuropeEscaping the saddle''', 4657km201km, July-September 2006June 2018
''Adventure #571:'' '''Bummit to BelgradeFaroe Islands''', 1815km450km, March-April 2007June 2019
''Adventure #672:'' '''Final taste of freedom?Ska vi snacka Järva Discgolfpark''', 1170km6km, August-September 2007July 2019
''Adventure #7:73'' '''The TT courseToo wet for Agneash''', 59km15km, January 2008September 2019
''Adventure #9Distance travelled:'' '''The shortest hitchhike ever?28666km''': 9855km alone, 13937km with one other hitchhiker, 4025km in a group of three, 831km in a group of four, 2km in a group of five, never in a group of six, and 16km in a group of seven; hitched road vehicles for 28075km (including 9km by bus, 39km by coach, 90km by taxi, <1km by golf cart, and one Eurotunnel journey), trains for 590km, less than trams for 1km, April 2008and not hitched by sea or air... yet
''Furthest distance in 24 hours:'' '''1042km''', from [[Rome]], Italy, to [[Lausanne]], Switzerland, in August 2006
''Furthest distance in 12 hours:'' '''1033km''', from [[Bisenzio Est]] ([[A1_ItalyA1 (Italy)|A1]] services near [[Firenze]], Italy), to [[Frankfurt am Main]], Germany, in September 2009
''Countries hitchhiked (earliest first):'' [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Netherlands]], [[Poland]], [[Lithuania]], [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]], [[Sweden]], [[Denmark]], [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]], [[Austria]], [[United Kingdom]], [[France]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Slovakia]], [[Ireland]], [[Isle of Man]], [[Israel]], [[Monaco]], [[Slovenia]], [[Iceland]], [[Spain]], [[Andorra]], [[Portugal]], [[Norway]] ([[Svalbard]]), [[Faroe Islands]]
''Most useful lift:'' Gabor the Hungarian, who picked us up at [[Pforzheim Nord]] ([[A8_GermanyA8 (Germany)|A8]] services near [[Pforzheim]], Germany) and didn't care where he was going - he wanted to be a personal taxi service. So we got him to take us to a mate's house in [[Kelkheim]], 177km away. Although neither of us trusted him, and he tried to abduct my travelling partner, it was one hell of a useful lift
''Least useful lift:'' the Slovakian white van man who took us to the wrong side of [[Bratislava]], on the wrong motorway and facing in the wrong direction, making us fail the Bummit to Belgrade challenge
''Most fun lift:'' two Israeli soldiers found me north of [[Tiberias]], and took me with them for a great day out throwing snowballs, avoiding minefields and exploring abandoned military outposts in the [[Golan Heights]], before tasty ostrich steak and a cross-country drive just to drop me back in [[Haifa]]. Also, drinking syrupy hot chocolate with a French white van man and his two young children as we travelled through the Italian Alps was fun. And I won't forget the three Danish students on the start of their roadtrip
''Best hitchhiking spot used:'' [[Brunautal West]] ([[A7_GermanyA7 (Germany)|A7]] services near [[Hamburg]], Germany), where those three Danish students dropped me off in front of around 200 hard rock fans going home from the Wacken festival. I could pick and choose from so many offered rides, going all over Europe... the only way the situation could have been better would be if I was among a crowd of hippies
''Worst hitchhiking spot used:'' a McDonalds restaurant in [[Meerane]] (near [[Zwickau]], Germany), a couple of kilometres away from an empty motorway junction. All hope seemed lost. Whilst I was thankful to the previous driver for going 50km off his route, he did it so as to drop me off in the most useless place he could find
''Most unexpected lift:'' from [[Keele]] to [[Knutsford]] [[M6 (GB)|M6]] services in the UK, from a coach full of old-age tourists from [[Warrington]], who were travelling back from a package holiday in the southwest. We won over their sympathy and played them some old classic tunes on the ukulele ''Best scenery:'' waking up at a service station in the mountains east of [[Aosta]], then travelling through the town, and north on the [[E27]] across the Swiss border towards [[Lausanne]] - this was unforgettable and was well worth the overnight hitchhike from [[Rome]]. In Germany, I had the opportunity to hitchhike to [[Traben-Trarbach]] through the hills and vineyards. I've hitchhiked through some beautiful Israeli scenery, especially Route 40 south of [[Be'er Sheva]], and the mountain roads around [[Galilee]] and the [[Golan Heights]]. Most of the Isle of Man (especially the A18 'mountain road') is breathtaking. [[Svalbard]] was also beautiful to hitch, but I did so in the dark
''Scariest lift:'' any of the old-age drivers with terrible eyesight who pick you up on the [[Isle of Man]], and drive way too fast. The Isle of Man has no national speed limit. Also, in June 2009 we suffered a rear wheel suspension failure while doing a high speed on a German autobahn near [[Koblenz]]. No big accident, but we considered ourselves very, very lucky. Also, hitchhiked through a polar bear danger zone in Svalbard.
''Shortest time waiting:'' no time at all. On many lucky occasions it's taken under five seconds to thumb a lift. It's a big relief
''Longest time waiting:'' a spot in central [[Cologne]], going east. I'd used the spot the year before and it took 2 hours for a lift to arrive. This time we weren't so lucky; after waiting for eight hours, we cut our losses and hitchhiked a train
''Most ride offers turned down:'' I turned down many, many ride offers in the direction of Munich while on the German-Austrian border at [[Inntal Ost]] ([[A93_GermanyA93 (Germany)|A93]] services) during a seven-hour wait. I was trying to get to Vienna - there was a fair bit of traffic going in my direction, but no-one was interested in helping
''Biggest moment of genius:'' none. In this era, your average hitchhiker has a few screws loose
''My definition of 'hitchhike':'' a journey madewhich is
*for ''free'' (if on public transport, then a free ride where you'd normally have to pay),
*''optional'',
*arranged ''at the moment the journey starts''
*with the ''explicit consent'' of the vehicle driver,
*who is otherwise a ''complete stranger'' to you, and*you have the option of declining the ride.
(i.e. no car-pooling schemes or similar, public transport drivers must agree to let you travel without paying, lifts from friends-of friends, work colleagues etc don't count, and neither do enforced rides in police vehicles)
==Planned hitchhiking trips==
[[Image:Sheffieldbedroomwall.jpg|thumb|right|300px|A collection of [[signs]] used in 2006. 2010 2019 collection under construction...]]
==You want some more More info! Yes you do ;)==*[http://tommoonwww.fotopicbewelcome.net Tom's webpageorg/members/tmoon BeWelcome]*[http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/tmoon Tom's CouchSurfing profile]*[http://secure.hospitalityclub.org/hc/travel.php?cid=tmoon Tom's Hospitality Club profile]
[[Category:Hitchhikers]]
[[Category:Hitchhikers in the Isle of ManEngland]]{{CanHostIn|Manchester|United Kingdom}}
