I hitchhiked from Germany to Alaska. The end.

My route so far.

The royal stage is completed. I arrived in Prudhoe Bay this morning at 06:48. I did 8354 km from New York to Prudhoe Bay in 9 days 18 hours and 18 minutes. The trip went exactly like calculated. I am at the end of the road. Again. Looks like I officially hitchhiked from Germany to Alaska. It took me 15 months. 64270,23 km are behind me. Big trip, but still a part of my overall expedition: To circumnavigate the whole world with hitchiking. But we are at the end now. My expedition will fail. I am done.

Earlier in December I realized, that I won´t get a Russian Visa outside of Germany and my whole plan to cross the Bering Strait would not become true. I could have had invested a lot of money to overcome this issues, but it is not worth at all. The B-Plan to cross the Pacific by sailboat would have taken an additional 6 months, only to get to Australia, before working my way north towards Asia. Not an option for me. I don´t want to spend another year on the road. I am tired. Exhausted.

I lived that dream to achieve a full circumnavigation with hitchhiking. And I let go of it now. I will not make it. I will take a flight across the Pacific. With this flight I will violate the only rule: Not using public transport. Some know I violated this rule already, but it is less than 1 % of my overall distance. Not important at all. But flying over the Pacific is not acceptable, however I would turn it. I will fail.

I should go for it till the end….some say. But I passed a certain point during this journey and realized, that it is not that important for me anymore. It hurts to go this step, after I dedicated myself to this expediton for such a long time. I feel ashamed towards myself, that I don´t make it. Deep shame, because I disappointed my own expectations. This is how it feels. It is important for me to be honest towards myself. I fail. Have to see it that way and deal with it. It will be okay.

Ending the expedition does not mean to end my vagabonding, but to start some leisure time, slow down and see people I love. It is not about the hitchhiking anymore. Now it is about me. But of course the hitchhiking goes on. I will fly to Hong-Kong in May (and make a stop in Japan). From there I am gonna hitchhike home to Germany. I will do some detour, cross Mongolia, Kazachztan, Central Asia, Iran and everything else on my way back. I want to hitchhike the infamous Pamyr Highway. Hopefully be home at the end of the summer.

The road was very lonely in the past time. I loved it. And I suffered it. Which makes me love it anyways. This expedition was definitely the most exciting and adventurous time I ever went through. It is a blessing that this became a part of my life. Something very special. But also something I worked very hard for. I am exhausted. It feels like it is time for change. I need sleep.

My route so far.
My route so far.

I want to have a home. I want to be back in my lovely Leipzig. I want to see my family and friends. I want to have a regular life. Want to chill at the Hitchgathering and visit fellows around Europe. Of course, I can´t wait to do some hitchhiking races with my boys again. And I want prepare some „smaller“ adventures that have nothing to do with hitchhiking at all. Got some ideas. 😉 So much I want, which I can´t do on the road. It was never my plan to be a full-time vagabond. I guess: Time to settle down. Soon.

I still have miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.

Warm roads

Here are some impressions from the past trip. Unfortunately I have no foto of Prudhoe Bay, cause it is dark here. 🙂

Wild animals

Here is Mister Moose. Or Mrs. Moose? Clamsy animal.

Moose parent

My driver is posing with a porkupie, which we found on the way. I should stuck in Beaver Creek for two days, 30km away from the Alaskan border and DJ offered me his couch to stay for the night. It would be the first real sleep I had, since entering Canada.
Wild porkupie

Maybe licking some salt?
Moose praying

Definitely one of the highlights have been those wild buffalos. Thought they would not exist anymore. But they looked very healthy and relaxed.

Wild Bufallos

Roads

Hitchhikers hell in Wawa. EVeryone told me not to stuck there. Here during Twilight. -15° and -25° winchilld. I was waiting two hours for my next ride. Miserable cold.

Wawa

Already on the Alaskan Highway. More dirt road than highway. But beautiful.Ice Road Canada road

 

This part between White Horse and the Alaskan border was one of the most beautiful roads I have ever driven. Behind Hayes Junction the mountains started and the Yukon shows itself with full beauty. I never saw a landscape that felt so spacious like here. And I drove a lot of roads. This one was very special.I felt small and developed respect for this wild nature.Road Yukon 2 Road Yukon

My Indian driver with a historic wodden railroad bridge in the back. Nice guy!
Indian Trucker

Stop at Hotsprings in Yukon.
Hot Springs Yukon

Prudhoe Bay

Here in the far north you either let your car running all the time, or plug it to electricity. Otherwhise it might not start again.
Auto Prudhoe Bay
Main road out of Dead Horse. Windchill -36° today.
Road Dead Horse
Prudhoe Bay flat and hostile. Nothing here but Oil industry. Not even sun at the moment.
Dead Horse Snow

12 Comments

  • awww don’t be so negative! I think I would’ve written exactly the same article after that trip (just a bit less negative maybe). 😀 I also ended an 18 months trip because of the russian visa and because I was tired. I simply flew home right away. So what? Genug ist genug, no need to übertreiben. Are u sure u still want to hitch across Asia? What will you do between now and May?
    ..Anyways I’m wondering why you cannot send your passport to Germany and have someone get the visa into it for you?

    • Hey, I am more honest than negative I guess. That is just how I feel about it. 🙂

      I can send my Passport to Germany with special delivery and would pay an agency to make the Visa. Would cost a couple of hudnreds. BUT for Chukotka Region I also need a special permit, which would have cost me additional shitloads of money. I was in contact with a “fixer”. We never came to an end with our neogation. But for sure it would have been expensive. So double pay for visa and permit. Worth it? I guess not. I don´t want this enough.

      After being up in the far north and experiencing the misery of cold, I am quite happy that I go another way now. And yes, I am sure I want to go back through China. Of course! Holiday time. Actually I am really looking forward to the upcoming months. I will visit friends now. Kind of liberated. I even took a first flight, today. Let´s say it was “half-hitchhiked”, but this story I will write down later. 😉

  • Congrats for making it to the north slope! I don’t think anyone would agree with you being a failure. You just need sleep and time to process. Anicca! I’m glad to see that you made a stop at Liard Hot Springs. And those Buffalo are not wild, but beautiful all the same. You could stow away in a container ship from anchorage to China…. Keep writing, keep moving, keep living and loving. Be Happy!

  • Hey, ganz ehrlich, ich zieh’ meinen Hut vor dir! Das was du geleistet hast, ist einfach nur unnachahmlich. Du solltest dir dafür definitiv mal selber ganz doll auf die eigene Schulter klopfen! Mehr geht immer. Aber alles hat ein Ende, wie man so schön sagt. Mach dir selber keinen Druck. Du musst niemandem etwas beweisen. Du bist bereits eine Lebende Tramperlegende Brudi! 😉 Viele viele Grüße aus Trier, Deutschland Halt die Ohrn steif!

    • Hehe, danke digger. Ja, die Expedition ist zuende, aber die Reise geht erstmal weiter. Aber ich werde mich nun zielgerichtet in Richtung Heimat vorarbeiten. Danke für die netten Worte, sowas tut mir gut! 🙂

  • I am french… so SORRY but you are not negative hahahhaha 😉 . i think you are right. It is exhausting to travel. Because you go out of your confort zone because you have to be careful because your brain is constantly being careful for you! So yes, i kown how you feel ! I hope you are ok in germany ! I will send a message when im around liepzig maybe i can meet you so we can exchange about it.. about learning when we travel and building when we dont 🙂

  • Hey !
    I am doing a world tour hitchhiking, and planning ahead my options to go to the other side of the Pacific. Since the boat crossing is very very long, I want to see if there are other options, and in the Bering strait. There are unfortunately only a few informations available about hitchhiking there on internet.
    Would you say it’s impossible or just very hard and long ? You have been there, so you should know more 🙂 I would love to talk more about it, send me an email to exchange about the subject 🙂

    • Hey Francois,

      nothing is impossible, but is indeed very hard, especially as non Russian and during these days of political tensions.

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