Hitchhiking in Russia and beyond - dispel myths
Faced often with the fact that hitchhiking is perceived as something dangerous, adventurous and negative, I want to dispel some myths and share my impressions of my hitchhiking trips across Russia.
Hitchhiking is a free movement on passing cars from point A to point B. Different signs are used to stop cars, but more often it is an outstretched hand with a raised thumb. Knowledgeable drivers immediately understand that a person is hitchhiking. But after stopping the car, it is not superfluous to ask, throw it up, they say, by hitchhiking to there. In general, I advise you to read a book by Anton Krotov about hitchhiking, he talks there about his travels in Russia and other countries, about the basic rules, etc..
My experience is much more modest, about 10,000 km. Of these, travel Moscow-Gelendzhik-Tuapse-Moscow and moving for 5 years in the Caucasus every summer, part of the way from trips in France, a couple of hundred kilometers in the back of a Thai pickup, and an attempt to drive through Turkey by various means of transport, including hitchhiking from Kemer to Beysehir.
The content of the article
- one So, myth one: no one will stop
- 2 The second myth: it is dangerous, they say
- 3 Myth three: driving a long time
- 4 Myth four: unsanitary conditions
- five The fifth myth: why do we need it at all
So, myth one: no one will stop
They stop, and how! Lining up to pick me up! The main thing is to have such a mood. When I drove for the first time, I also doubted, but after several stopped cars, doubts go away. I asked each driver why they had picked it up. Some were surprised in response, so you stopped ... They also pick it up because they see a man with a backpack, which means he is a tourist, and tourists are good people. Sometimes the drivers are tourists themselves, and they indulge in stories about their travels in Russia. Rarely, but there are people who know about hitchhiking, so they went, or their friends. In general, outside the cities, people are simpler, and it is not difficult for them to give a ride to a person, at the same time to talk about life.
In the back of a pickup truck
The second myth: it is dangerous, they say
It's so dangerous to leave the house altogether. If you look at the statistics, how many people die in car accidents, you shouldn't get behind the wheel of your car. And planes do not rarely fall. The horror of what's going on, everyone is sitting at home! Everything must be done with the mind simply, then everything will be fine, and in the head, so that there is order, this also affects the situation. There is such a theory that with good people, bad things do not happen in vain, and this is not a theory at all. I have a bunch of friends who practice hitchhiking, and I have not heard from anyone that there were serious problems on the road. To clarify, among these acquaintances there are young beautiful girls who travel alone. In general, the drivers are good people, the bad ones will not stop. They are often even treated to tea, buffets, and fruits. I even slept in the trucker's cab, it was cold outside.
Hitchhiking somewhere in the Krasnodar Territory
Myth three: driving a long time
In the central part of Russia, where there is a lot of traffic, the speed of movement between major cities is a little longer than a train. I traveled from Moscow to Gelendzhik in 2 days, with one overnight stay on the way. But if you are in a hurry, and you need to be at a certain time, or you need to get to a point located far from the main highways, then it makes sense to use transport that runs on schedule, well, or leave with a margin of time. Yes, and no one bothers to combine hitchhiking with moving on paid modes of transport, it turns out more universally.
We covered about 1000 km in Europe, the rest by friends' car, by train and by plane per day
Myth four: unsanitary conditions
To be honest, I myself do not know what it is. Surely some opinion «blondes».
Basically, hitchhiking is not much different from driving your own vehicle. You can eat in a cafe, spend the night at a hotel, take a shower on time, and so on, all this stuff on the way in bulk. There are also rivers and lakes where you can swim for free in summer if you are strained with money. Once I wrote about stinking stoppers, whom I met as a driver is unpleasant. But after all, it depends only on a specific person in what conditions he will travel and whether he will observe hygiene at the same time, and this is not at all connected with hitchhiking..
Washed, with clean clothes and a backpack
The fifth myth: why do we need it at all
Many hitchhikers travel around Russia and the world not because of saving banknotes, but simply because they enjoy it. Firstly, it is interesting to communicate with different people, from different strata of society, to feel someone else's life, so to speak. What you just don't know, you can't figure it out yourself if you want to. By the way, expensive cars also stop, with tough guys driving. Secondly, for some people this is a shake-up, a change in their usual comfort zone. Thirdly, in this way you can check your attitude to the world, to people, and the attitude of the world to itself. And also, there are so many interesting things along the way that you will not see from the train window, and even more so from the plane..
Hitchhiking is interesting and fun!
If you have a desire to try hitchhiking in business, then read Hitchhiking rules.
Happy hitchhiking! In Russia and not only!