Stats

Hitchhiked distance: 4555 kilometer

Number of lifts: 57

Average waiting time: 11 minutes 56 seconds

Waiting time total: 11 hours 20 minutes

You can download the log here. But be careful, it contains as well a short stage to Bishkek, that I did.

My Route

I hitchhiked from the chinese border to Amlata and did a little trip do Kirgistan, before coming back to Almata and going the long way towards Aktau at the Caspian Sea. Check out the route here.

People

It is a bit difficult to describe the typical Kazakhztan. The country is a cultural melting pot. The native Kasach person has blond hair and blue eyes, as I was told. And some day Dschinghis-Khan came along and made everyone become Asian. Or somehow like that it happened. If you walk through Almata it is impossible to see, if that person ahead of you is Kazakh, Chinese, German, Russian, or even a Turk. People look so different. I loved that.

People in Kazakhztan are kinda chummy and warm. Not as rough as the Russians. Kazakh‘s are like the Colombians of the UDSSR. Many of them speak some German, even if it is just a few words. And every second person is driving an (old) German car. You will get invitations for drinking fairly easy and people seem honestly interested in you.

What I recognized as well is, that you can have a quiet and relaxed time in Kazakhztan. Because everyone is looking so different, nobody seems to be alien and you can assimilate yourself pretty good. Very pleasent.

One thing I should mention and which regards mostly the woman who are going to hitchhike through Kazakhztan. Kazakhan men are very macho.like and I heard an above average number of stories about tried rape and sexual harrasment from my female hitchhiking friends. I can not really evaluate this, because I am a man and I was not molested by myself. And I don‘t want to put all Kazachans in one pot or create unneccessary fear. But Kazachztan follows some kind of reputation in this regard and I want you to be aware of that. It does not mean you will be in any kind of trouble or in the need to go nuts, if you visit Kazachztan. There are lots of wonderful people to meet. I just want you to take care of yourself guys.

Roads

The roads. Thats a very special topic in post sovjet countries. First I should say, that you will find big and well maintained roads between the major cities and moving around here should be not a problem at all. But i wouldn‘t say that about every region in Kazakhztan.

When I came from the chinese border to Almata I already crossed one of those wrecked roads, which can be a bit tough to deal with sometimes. But what I encountered in the center of the country was even for me a new level of apocalypse. Allthough I hitchhiked on the worst roads of our planet before. I mean, streets are there to make movement easier and open up new territories. In Kazakhztan they more seem to be an additional obstacle with a special feature which is: They are make your life a living hell and you might be faster walking or taking the dirt-road which wriggles aside the main road. Something I only discovered in post sovjet countries, btw.

I had a very interesting hitchhiking tour from Qyandiyaghasch to Makat. Three cars in eight hours and directly through the Kazakhan Steppe. People prefer to do a 1000 km detour instead of going this 400 km long stretch. For a reason, how I had to find out. This road is probably the worst I ever encountered in my hitchhiking life. But beautiful! Worth it! In its very special way.

Besides be aware of the fact, that Kazakhztan is mostly Steppe, just little mountans but mostly wide wastelands. Until the horizon. A little bit like Argentina but with less people. I really liked blasting through this. Because hitchhiking was super easy.

Tactics

Right in the beginning I gotta break a lance for Kazakhztan. I had so much fun there while hitchhiking. Fuck yeah. People just know whats going on. Basically every car is a taxi here, which is a bit problematic for your movement. But if you are clear from the beginning and tell them right away, that you won‘t pay/have no money, then most of the time they gonna take you anyway. But a clear communication is very important and so to know some basics in Russian. Also mention, that you do Autostop and most people will get what you do. It is definitely a different story than in Japan where everyone thinks you are absolutely lost and need help. In Kazakhztan you will get more of this „Ah another hitchhiker!“-feeling.

Another point I really enjoyed: You can hitchhike basically everywhere along the road. Sometimes you need to walk a bit to find a better spot, but positioning is straight forward and uncomplicated. You will also find good onramps at the bigger junctions and roundabouts in the cities. I would not recommend to position yourself at bus-stops, because people will think you wait for the bus. Also because the locals are hitchhiking here and they usually pay. Don‘t get into that sharktank.

Thir point about Kazakhztan is night-hitchhiking, which works fantastically. There is no difference between day and night-time. Cars stop equally fast. Very comfortable. But I guess my hitchhiking suit and the reflectors did a good amount of work here.

Kazakhztan is a super easy and straight forward hitchhiking country. Just use the bypass roads, when going through bigger cities. They are existing almost every time and you don‘t want to end up inside the cities. Because there is Moloch time.

Impressions

Specifics

I told already that Kazakhztan is pretty flat but at the border with Kirgistan you will find some nice mountains and in Almata you have a nice view on them. Almata is a beautiful city anyway, if you like grey Sovjet prefab estates, which I do very much. But mostly because of the people. I thought the Kazachan people are really friendly and nice and I definitely gonna head back one day and visit some friends there.

Culinarily I could connect very well to Kazakhztan as well. Beside the good old Plow (rice dish) and the omnipresent Samsa (filled pasties) we also made a very delicious summer soup with potatoes, chives, eggs, some kind of yoghurt drink and sparkling water. Sounds strange but tastes terrific. Also you got some Kwas, which is some kind of a light beer, made of fermented bred and the good old Kumis (rotten horse milk). Not made for everyone but people in this region seem do like a sour taste.

If you head towards Kazakhztan you will either cross Russia or through Central Asia. In the latter case it could get a little complicated, because getting visas in countries like Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan can be quite a hustle. I by myself took the cargo boat through the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan. Was a funny tour that I can only recommend. If you need more infos about this passage you should check in with Caravanistan.com, which is btw. by far the best ressource for informations, if you wanna travel Central Asia.

Der Beitrag Hitchhiking in… (20) Kazakhztan erschien zuerst auf Warm Roads.

I was sitting in canteen of our container ship, crossing from Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan and I started with my dinner. Both of my French travel companions haven‘t been there yet. Besides us and the crew, there was a bunch of truckers on the boat. Mostly Georgians. The table beside me was fully occupied. A 1,5l bottle of good homemade Vodka saw the light of the day. Condensation at the bottle wall proofed a good cooling. Glasses were served. The icecold homemade gushed into the same. And it would not be typical Georgian if I wouldn‘t have come into the focus of their caring hospitality, while I was sitting alone at the neighbor table.

The head of the household approaches me with a bright smile. Equipped and prepared for all eventualities he brought an empty glas with him. If I want some Vodka, he asked and showed me the bottle like a Sommelière. No thanks, I am not drinking alcohol. His bright smile did not change at all. It seemed not to be an answer that had an right of existence in his reality. He didn‘t even take the effort to deal with it but just kept on standing there. Vodka? With a mix of courtesy and intercultural sense of responsibility I eventually agreed and received a double respectively triple in my tea glass.

I have many friends that went to Georgia and they all have only good things to say. The hospitality is widely known but more than that the Georgians have the reputation of constantly welcoming foreigners for drinking. Especially during Dinner there is a lot of toasting. There are a lot of countries you say this about, but the Georgians seem to be world-class boozers. The trucker on the neighbor table told later, that he distilled 230L Vodka and made 340L of wine this year. Not possible to drink all of that alone.

Out of politeness I emptied my glass. I am used to start with the disgusting things I don‘t want during eating and then move forward to the delicious stuff. Big mistake in this case. The empty glass has not escaped the attention of my new Georgian friends. Immeditaley he reappeared with the bottle at my table. I told him again, that I don‘t want any more Vodka. But trying to persuade a Georgian with a bottle of Vodka is like throwing nougat rings into a black-hole. Resistance. Next mistake. Of course, this is not acceptable. Cognitive dissonances were smiled away. As my resistance finally broke my glas got filled up to the edge irrespective of my protest.

Soon my French mates arrived. Of course they also got into the benefit of Vodka and chill homemade white wine. The wine was actually pretty good and much easier to get down than the other stuff. The booze-up was established. I hate hard liquor, but of course I could not waste this present. It is not polite and I didn‘t wanted to offend anyone. You need intercultural tact when traveling.

I really like that. And I really would love to visit Georgia for longer. But since I don‘t drink anymore I hesitate, because I will never have the „real Georgian experience“ which is probably only possible with drinking Vodka. And my personal dream, to get wasted in a Siberian forest hut and start a bare-knuckle boxfight with a drunk Russian, is not coming any closer by that. I just thought these are valuable experiences one should have made in life.

But I had to find out for me once again this evening, why I really dislike small portions of alcohol. And why I don‘t want to drink anymore. If you drink your brain gets a good load of Serotonin and this is actually pretty damn nice in the beginning, because you start feeling very relaxed and happy. I realized after the first glas already, that my mood is becoming really good. I was not drunk, but just on the ball.

I observed that very alert. What is this shit doing with me. The beginning felt great. Nothing against that. We went on deck and watched the sunset and a latent desire of drinking another small beer showed up. Only a small one. I know that feeling very well. The small beer leads to another big one and the evening starts rolling till the beer is empty or all people have left (only the case if there are no Scotish or Irish people around while traveling). That happened quite often to me on my trip, while I was still drinking. Melancholic and beautiful sunrises alone in unknown countries, while I was desperately looking for some more alcohol on the table.

And then those moments on deck, when you just started getting tipsy and you try to convince yourself that a little alcohol is not too bad for you. My observation was not finished tho. At some point I went sleeping and my euphoric mood has passed away already. I had a terribly restless night. The next morning I felt bizarre melancholic.

It might seem exaggerated but even after 1-2 beers I recognize, that I feel shitty the following day. Not as vital and awake like on a normal day. It changes my body, not only during the night I drink, but also the next day. And of course, there is a difference in „not-feeling-100%-well“ and waking up, half-dead on the sofa of an unknown apartment, questioning your basic physical functions. For me the hang-over starts, when I know the next day is influenced in any way by the alcohol. Worth it? Not really.

My dear Alcohol, it was very nice with you, but our relationship is ruined. It is not the same anymore between us. Maybe I am getting old. My life-time became to precious for hang-overs, just for this nice euphoric feeling the night before. So I decided to only drink out of intercultural duteousness and to be a good guest.

Der Beitrag Georgian Hospitality – Why I stop drinking erschien zuerst auf Warm Roads.

The little girl was 3 years old and sleepy all the time. The road turned into a bunch of potholes. Constantly curving around the worst of them, left, ride, left, got shaken in the car, not driving faster than 20km/h. And the little girl was sleeping. Really amazing how kids are able to sleep in every condition. And she wasn’t sleeping anywhere but in my arms. That was my job as responsible co-driver. Keeping the child safe. New experience for me. But I really liked it.

After this ride we arrived in a small village. It was already 03:00 in the night and a car full of drunk-as-fuck Kazakh boys gave me a ride to the end of the town. And there I positioned myself. To wait. Long waiting. All fucking night long. Dawn already started. After two hours the first car came, stopped and took me into the next village. 15km. There I watched the sunrise. The road was so empty. One of my driver told me something about bad road and problem the night before. Now I started to understand. Still 250 km to go from here. Shouldn’t be so difficult. The day before I did around 2100 km in 31 hours. One of my best runs ever. But I knew that this was over now. Entering difficult technical roads.

The road was still empty. Empty roads are kind of magical for me. A certain beauty filled the moment. The sun was rising. Slowly the village woke up. Cocks where welcoming the day accompanied from the sound of animal bells. The farmers drove their sheeps and cow herds towards the fields. Suddenly an old Russian truck appeared out of the nowhere and passed me slowly. Not my direction. I wasn’t in the mood for any kind of communication and ignored the vehicle. It drove 20m and then stopped. Nothing happened for 5 minutes. Then the motor started again. Reverse gear, going the other direction and then passing me again. Full stop. The doors opened and two boys are getting out of the truck. They were three, but the third was sleeping.

They smelled really badly of alcohol and drove with a deflated jumping castle on their roof through one of the worst roads, that I passed in my life. It was also the only traffic I saw this morning. Kind of ironic. We started to talk and I got invited for vodka and slaughtering a sheep in the next village. The three boys seemed to be the Kazakh version of American surfer boys, but drunk instead of stoned. At least they cheered up my lonesome morning.

After hours finally a car came into my direction and passed by. Why? Why does the only car that comes passes by? It was like a kick in the nuts for me. I started walking. After another hour of walk I just lay down on the street to sleep a little. Nothing was going on anyway. Still no traffic. There were exactly two cars in the last seven hours. And one passed by. Still couldn’t believe it. I was in the steppe, without shadow, without water resting on the ground. Beside me was a depot for construction materials and I saw some people being there before. What goes in should come out at some point, or not? I think it was pure hitchhiking instinct driving me in this situation. Of course I lay down behind the exit road of the depot, to not miss any outcoming traffic. Nothing passed by, but suddenly I heard a truck rolling. I jumped up immediately and run up the hill to have a better overview. There was a goddamn truck coming out of the depot, going into my direction. It was not using my road, but a bypass on the other side of the hill. Shiiiiiit. I grabbed my backpack and run as fast as possible to get that ride. I mustn’t miss that. I reached the street where it would come out, but unfortunately the truck was full with three people already. But still they picked me up. 30Km into my direction. Better than nothing.

My journey continued at a very lonesome junction. Around me were cows and horses doing their day, eating a lot of stuff and running around without and guidance. And the street…well. Cancer. Pure beton cancer. If this really exist, then I was directly in the general assembly of tumor diseases. The road was so bad, that people rather used a self made dirt track beside the main road, than going through this torture track. This is something unique I only experience in the former Soviet Union countries, that roads can be in a condition, that they make your movement more difficult, instead of easier.

Back at the junction. A truck passes by. Already four people in the cockpit. They didn’t stop for me. Second car that passed by today without stopping. But I couldn’t really complain. In generally my hitchhiking was close to perfect in the last 24 hours. Not many cars that I did not flag down. Just the route was a bit more difficult.

After some hours I managed to get out of this shit. Catching some small rides to a village that finally had a normal road connected with the bigger Kazakh highway network. My last ride was a WAZ truck. Russian destroyer. A kind of bus which will probably never break down and you only find them in the former Soviet countries. Typical Russian design, just putting steel together. Last time I was sitting in a car like that was with Ralf in Moldova. The inside is a bit more wide than a German Volkswagen bus. They have a great grip and shoot through the dirt road like a hovercraft over the moon. I really liked it. And while sitting inside, I had to realise to myself: „Stefan, you have to buy this kind of bus!“ I will. Get. That. Bus. Usually I sympathized with an old Mercedes bus which was used by the German police. But honestly, those Russian WAZ are the shit!

With this ride I was back in civilization and found myself on a paved road which was around 900 km in front of my destination. Finally. From here I was able to catch a direct ride to Aktau. It was 19:00 already and I had to take some food before entering my last passage. Food and hitchhiking is not going very well together. Eating is important, because you might lose too much energy if you don’t care about it. But I try to eat as efficiently as possible during my tours. When I have to walk through a town or city and there will be not much hitchhiking, I buy something greasy in the supermarket and eat it on the way. Always the cheap homemade stuff with the most energy. Bananas. Pastries. In Germany it would be some rolls with sausage. A bottle of water with it and juice or coke for the sugar. Optionally some ice-cream. All that I stuff into my body within 2-3 minutes while walking to the other end of the city. Otherwise you just lose too much time. Makes sense to me.

After my second banana a taxi stopped and gave me a ride to the border of the town. It took less than 2 minutes that a truck picked me up, which was on its way to Aktau. Direct ride! As expected. Unfortunately my luck lacked a bit and around 01:00 in the night we stopped, had dinner and the two truckers offered me to sleep in the hotel with them. But I refused. They would sleep for 5 hours and then continue to Aktau. Too much time. I knew I was in a very good position and it would not be worth to take that break now and go to sleep. I wanted to finish that tour. So I took my stuff and started hitchhiking again in the darkness. 20 minutes later I was sitting in a car to Aktau. Night-Hitchhiking in Kazakhstan, cmon! Easy going!

And then something happened, that I did the last time in Canada. In the truck before I took some rest and although I did hardly sleep since three days, I felt really good in that moment. But my driver was really really tired. I offered him, that I could drive a bit. After a short conversation he agreed and so I found myself back behind the wheel. Very good feeling. Unfortunately the road was really bad and difficult to drive on. I had to be constantly alert, to not hit the countless beton bubbles on the road. Sometimes the paved road stopped and you had to drive slalom around the potholes. Anyway in general I like driving by myself more, because I trust myself more than I trust the driver. Especially if they are tired. Close to sunrise we switched again and he was driving the last part during daylight. I arrived in Aktau after 68 hours and 59 minutes. For 3781 km including a border hop and 400 km Anti-Road. Was a good run for this route! And I had a lot of fun in Kazakhstan!

Der Beitrag Three days awake – Hitchhiking through Kazakhstan (2) erschien zuerst auf Warm Roads.

When I started in Almaty I caught a transporter relatively fast which took me almost 500 km to Tazar. First lift of the first day and a wonderful opening for one of the fastest hitchhiking passages I ever did. Already at the beginning I had a very good feeling about this route and I wouldn’t face disappointment. In Tazar I had to do a little detour off my track, because I needed to enter Kyrgyzstan to renew my Kazakh visa. Border hop. I had only 10 days left and did not know how long it would take me, to get on the mysterious container ship to Azerbaijan. So better to take fresh 15 days visa with me.

It was close to sunset and I was a bit annoyed by doing this detour, which would cost me in total three hours of my precious time. The last 15 km to the border I had a ride with some Muslim, who got me into the car in front of a fish market. It was Ramadan, which means: No food or drinks as long as the sun is up. My driver was about to buy food for dinner at the fish market. It was an extremely hot day and I could hardly imagine how he can stand not to drink all the time. Amazing. But Ramadan also means, that every guest is seen as a gift of god. I knew from Syria and Turkey already, that Muslim people are very hospitable. This time as well. My driver drove me 15 km to the border, although he wasn’t supposed to go there. He seemed so happy to help me and I don’t want to offend anyone. In the end he gave me 5000 Tenghe (around 18$) and said I should buy some food for myself. I really don’t like if people give me money. So I decline usually, but if the drivers insists I will take it. Anyway I think people who give benefit much more from that process than you do as a taker. So taking money is kind of doing a favour to someone else in my eyes.

At the border I only wanted to exit and entrance Kazakhstan as fast as possible. First time in my life that I did a border hop. While leaving Kazakhstan they asked me at the immigration where I want to go? I was honest. Renew my visa. The officer was just shaking her head, whereupon I meant: „Well, maybe not renew my visa but visit Kyrgyzstan?“. Sunshine smile, so that we both could save face. In Kyrgyzstan I had a rigorous check-up. Weapons? Terrorist? All those questions. Or did they just need a reason to watch pictures on my camera for about 15 minutes? The shitting-on-the-street-boy of my China article was indeed a good laugher for everyone.

After entering Kyrgyzstan I walked ones around the building and queued again in direction Kazakhstan. Leaving Kyrgyzstan was without any big problems. Just the immigration officer fucked up the stamp and had to do a second one in my passport. On the Kazakh side I was welcomed by a very friendly and over motivated person. First I thought it would be a hustle to get back into the country but it was not at all like that. When I gave my passport he was so happy to see someone from Germany. He asked me a lot of questions and the border of excitement and obligation once again became indistinct. The whole process took a little bit longer than expected. Behind me gathered already around 15 people. Kind of this situation, when you watch a soccer match with all your friends, have a nice booze, and finally is half time and everyone I looking forward to void their bladders before finding out, that there is only one toilet. Unisex. And you saw this foreigner with the bright yellow suit entering the room and obviously he is taking a huge and long shit there, while everyone else gets more and more impatient. Unseen from the rest, is sitting this immigration officer, totally intrigued, asking thousands of questions and being very happy. I think he also wanted to practice his English. “Very nice to see you! Hope we meet again! Have a nice trip! Enjoy Kazakhstan!”, he wasn’t stopping the farewell. Finally at some point I was out and did a runner before the mob would lynch me.

It was already dark when I got out of this detour. City crossing. Annoying, but I had to do that somehow to get back on the track. Again someone gave me money. Finally bought my first food during that day and took a little break after all day hitchhiking and border trouble. In front of the shop I found a transporter. He had no chance to not take me, as the driver was cleaning the windows when I showed up. He drove 200 km into the night. Next city. On the run. And then my way was free. No border, no detour. I started rolling.

In general hitchhiking in Kazakhstan is very comfortable. You immediately feel that you are in a former Soviet Union country. Hitchhiking is a common thing, everywhere people stand at the side of the road and try to catch a ride. Cars stop super easily and people know the difference between „Avtostop“ and the normal ride sharing, where you give a small amount of money. Of course I am foreigner and it is different for me, but I am very clear to the drivers, that I do not give money for Avtostop, when they stop. Most of the time they wave me in anyway. Hitchhiking in the night is another glorious quality on Kazakhstan. There is basically no difference. Cars stop as fast and reliable as during the day. I experienced that in no other country before and it made Kazakhstan become my favorite country for hitchhiking in the night.

At some point during this night I ended up at a police control, which works very well for catching rides. This should give me an important advantage during that night. At the checkpoint were a lot of trucks waiting, mostly from Kyrgyzstan. Beside that was a bunch of Taxi drivers, ready to bring the truckers to the next hotel, in case they get pulled out of the traffic for longer. Taxi drivers and policemen seemed to know each other well and life in an oddish symbioses of parasite living forms. No need to tell, that I run into a photo session. The selfie culture in Kazakhstan is a bit different from the one in China. In Kazakhstan people push me to take a photo with THEM and not the other way around. Because they think it is important for me to have their face in my photo album. Very funny.

The night went really well and till dawn I did already more than 1000 km. The street started to get more and more empty and I slowly understood, that I am entering the Kazakh steppes. It remembered me of Argentina, with the slight difference that there was really NOTHING in Kazakhstan, whereas in Argentina you could find civilization almost everywhere. However, this morning I was lucky. First car that came stopped and took me 400 km north. Same in my next position. First car stopped. Where they go? „Aktau.“ „Aktau?“ I was totally confused. That was my destination. But it was 2200 km to go. And so I was sitting in my direct ride!

I hitchhiked a lot and experienced enough to know, that you can never be sure, when having those kind of “super rides”. My both drivers had neat skinheads, buffalo humps, sunglasses and did not talk at all but drove with 130 km/h through the countryside. I did not know, if I would really stay in this car. First stop at a gas station. Short conversation, then we had lunch together. The atmosphere was really good, both very friendly and I felt safe with the ride afterwards. Then I felt asleep. We took different route from the one Google maps showed me. It is okay, I thought. Maybe the other road is just shitty. Around 200 km detour. No problem. At 18:00 what I expected became true. They ask me to leave the car. Without any reason. We were somewhere in the middle of the detour road, where I did not wanted to hitchhike through anyway. There was no time to discuss, so I took my bag and observed my drivers taking off in my direction. Usually I would get really angry after situations like that but since I experienced that before and I set my mind for it, it was okay. Restart. Behaving professional and trying to get the next ride ASAP. The near police control forced me once again to take a photo. The policemen was full of cocaine. Jesus! Totally hyperactive and constantly snuffling.

Der Beitrag Three days awake – Hitchhiking through Kazakhstan (1) erschien zuerst auf Warm Roads.

If you go hitchhiking your speed is all about your technique. In day-time the advanced and not-advanced hitchhiker might move with more or less the same speed. But with the right equipment and technique you can also move through the night without any problem. There is less traffic, but therefore the cars will go further. More experienced hitchhikers use the night for their movement as well as the day.

On my „Royal Stage“ from New York to Alaska I achieved a very good time while rushing through Canada. I had one of my best runs going from Thousand Islands border USA/Canada to Otter Falls/Haines Junction in Yukon Territory. I did 6071 km in 107h 8m; Ø56 km/h. I think this is faster than driving by yourself. And since this tour had a acceptable length, I would like to call it my personal best time.

In the Russian hitchhiking school you calculate an average speed of 50km/h during summer-time and 40 km/h during wintertime. This counts for most of the developed countries like Iran, USA, Kanada, Russia, Germany, Argentina, etc. The calculation has to be adapted if you move through mountainous territory with serpentines. In general the road is getting slower the higher it is. In technically more difficult regions your covered distance can drop down to 200-300km per day. I experienced that, when I hitchhiker through the Bolivian high plateaus.

The longer your tour is, the harder it is to keep up the speed. If I would have traveled only 3 km/h less on my Canada crossing, that would have meant in the end 321 km less distance. 3 km/h less sounds not much, but it really makes the difference in the end.

When I started hitchhiking we always calculated with twice of the normal driving time (if you drive by yourself, including rest and sleeping breaks). For beginners this is a good landmark, which is easy to achieve. If you fail this, you do something wrong. But in my covered routes through Asia, as South and North America, you can see, that the Russian calculation is realistic, especially if you move a longer distance.

If you hitchhike alone you will always be slightly faster than going as a couple. With three person your average speed will drop significantly. Border crossings are always different, but you can calculate an average delay of one our, when getting into a new territory. Crossing cities is a big issue and you should calculate around two hours more, than the normal driving time, especially if you need to fight your way through a Moloch like La Paz or Panama City. With or without public transport. Crossing cities is one of the hardest things to do and you can lose much more time here, if you are an unexperienced hitchhiker.

The more experienced the hitchhiker is, the less will be the difference in the movement speed between each other. And this is independent from age or gender. Who argues, that you hitchhike faster with a woman, just because she is a woman, has not enough own experience to convince drivers to stop. And if one of my female hitchhiking comrades is hitchhiking faster than me, then it is about her advanced technique and not about her pussy.

In general I want to show with this article, that hitchhiking is able to be scheduled and your speed is most dependent on your skill. This includes body language, clothing, attitude, gesture, facial expression, how good your communication is and how charming you can make cars to stop. Also your positioning is very important and that you avoid tactical mistakes like, letting the driver decide where to put you or taking rides that won’t bring you any advantage. All that are parameters which affect your speed and they are much more important than pure luck. Who argues that hitchhiking is about luck might not know how to hitchhike properly.

Der Beitrag Personal best – How to calculate your hitchhiking speed erschien zuerst auf Warm Roads.