I would like to introduce you into my logging technic and also present my lovely notebook. I use the same logging technic like we use in our competetive hitchhiking. We use it in the DTSG to make a complete construction of the race possible. I formed the habit to log also my private tours. This has some advantages:
1. Geeks gonna geek
For all statistic nerds it is possible to analyze the data and make some nice calculation like averagre waiting times or count my kilometers or whatever. Also the way is relatively precise logged and i could, if i want, make a very specific analyses of my hicthhiking, find out where my mistakes have been and which ways could have been a better alternative, then the ones i took.
2. Reminder
Compared to our competetions i also use the log to note down specific happenings. That are sometimes little notes or words that remind me in the end of what happened. When i open my book and read the log, my whole trip is playing in my head; when have i been there, what happenede, what did i eat there, how was the street looking, where did i shit, what weird thing happened there? It is good knowledge to write blogarticles afterwards.
3. Backup
One day my notebook will be full. Then i will start a new one for sure. But those notebooks become little treasures. I already really stick to my actual notebook and the logs are the main part of my notebook usage.
What do we log?
Basically i log everything. Where am i and when? What time i get picked up, which car picks me up? A log would look like this:
10:00 Frankfurt City Limit (Where am i and when?)
10:30 BMW (What time i get picked up and which car picks me up?)
15:00 Heidelberg Gas station
15:30 Mercedes
The time of my positioning is logged and the time when i get my lift, including the car brand (teh russians even log the car type with it). We can see in the log above, that iw as waiting two times for 30 Minutes and also, when i arrived somewhere.
This is completed by entries about pauses and walking-notations. The log could go on like this:
18:00 Stuttgart Break (Eating, smoking)
18:30 Continue
19:00 VW
20:00 Basel (Walking)
21:00 Basel City Limit
21:30 BMW
I took a break of 30 minutes in Stuttgart and in Basel i had to walk for one hour, to get to the city limit. Thats it. The principle is pretty simple and easy.
Afterwards you got the exakt position, waiting times and also driving times, if you want. I am satisfied to calculate my average waiting time on my tours, to make the different countries comparable to each other. I usually put my complete log in the „Hitchhiking in…“-articles (but in german, sorry i don´t wanna translat this also), you can download it and play with it, if you want.
Any questions? Let me know.
At the end a valuation of my beloved notebook
Beside my passport, my notebook became one of my most important travel items. It was fighting hard to get there. Because of this now its the time for some product placement. But its heartfelt.
We use in our competitions the All-Weather-Memo-Book and i really can recommend this without any doubts. Use the side spiral, it is better to write on the whole page with this kind of notebook. But anyways, the best thing with it is, that it is waterproof. If you get totally soacked up in a heavy rain, at least you dont have to worry about your notes. I love it!
