Lifts – Tips and recommendations

Hitchhiking is a cheap and special way of traveling. Hitchhiking is actually riding for free with people in the car. A hitchhiking holiday is a holiday where you go on holiday by hitchhiking, but of course you cannot hitchhike in everyday life. You can find tips for hitchhiking, recommendations and experiences here.

What is hitchhiking?

The idea of hitchhiking is that you stand at the side of the road and ‘ask’ the passers-by in cars if you can ride along. Hitchhikers in the Netherlands often raise their thumbs to let passers-by know that they want to ride along.
In principle, it is a friendly service from passers-by if they take you along, usually you don’t have to pay them anything. Hitchhiking used to be much more popular than it is now, mainly because more and more people have a car. People who still hitchhike often do it because it is a free way to travel, and they also get to know new people in the cars they are allowed to ride in.

Lifting tips

• Always be friendly and try to smile a lot
• Try to look reliable and neat, think of your clothes and your hairstyle.
• Take a thick marker and some cardboard with you. You can write a place name on the cardboard where you want to go. If you show this sign to the drivers of cars, they will immediately know where you want to go.
• Take a road map with you that shows gas stations along the highway.
• Don’t wear a cap or sunglasses, otherwise you won’t be able to make eye contact, even though that is very important.
• Put all your belongings in one (large) bag, so you can easily and quickly get into people’s cars.
• If you get out of the car you were allowed to ride in and you are with 2 hitchhikers or more, make sure that one of you opens the trunk to grab your bags, while the other stays in the car for a while. This way, drivers don’t (accidentally) drive away with your belongings.

Good place to hitchhike

A good hitchhiking spot is not always easy to find, especially abroad or in a big city. It often works best to stop at a gas station along the highway. At a gas station where many people fill up, you will generally be taken away quite quickly if you stand at the pumps, you can read more about this under the heading ‘Ask for a lift’.

Tips for a good hitchhiking spot

If you cannot get to a gas station along the highway, these are some tips you can take into account:

• Make sure there is space along the road where cars can stop and take you.
• Do not stand along a road where few cars pass by.
• If there are exits/exits to other destinations that you do not want to go to, make sure you stand behind these exits and not in front of them, this way you can be more assured that the cars are also going in the direction you want to go.
• Do not stand along a road where cars drive faster than 80 km/h.
• A highway entrance is often a good place.
• If necessary, ask the ‘Tourist Information’, as the tourist office is often called abroad, where it is best to go as a ‘hitch-hiker’.

Ask for a lift

If you are at a gas station along the highway, it is best to ask people for a lift, that sounds antisocial, but that is not the case. As soon as people are actually refueling, you can walk up to them, they will then have some time and cannot walk away, then say a friendly ‘Good day’ and ask if you can ask something, then ask where they are driving and if they are going to the right destination. go, ask if you can ride along. The advantage of this is that you have been in contact with the people for a while, so they already know a little who you are. You can also choose which people you approach or not, you don’t have to ask a type you don’t trust.

Tips for asking for a lift

• Greet people friendly with a smile
• First ask if you can ask something, this is polite. This way you gain people’s trust because you give a better first impression, and they can also get used to your voice for a very short time.
• Ask where the person in question is driving to, he or she usually gives an answer. This makes it less easy for them to say ‘no’ than if you first indicate where you want to go. People are more likely to say ‘no’ because they can easily say another destination.
• Business men/women who are alone in the car often want to take you with them
• Stay friendly and try to smile a lot

Overnight stay during a hitchhiking holiday

Where can you stay during a hitchhiking holiday? The advantage of hitchhiking is that it is so cheap, you may also want to spend the night cheaply. Below are some tips for cheap overnight stays.

• Find a campsite.
• If you have a tent with you, you can ‘wild camp’. You can also ask people if you can pitch a tent on their land or in their garden.
• Find a hostel.
• Couchsurfing: People offer their homes here as a free place to sleep for unknown guests.
• Ask drivers if they know of a campsite or a place to sleep, some people are kind enough to offer you a place to sleep in their house.
• Sleeping at the airport is also an option, this is not always allowed, but it is accepted at many major airports. It is often possible to place your sleeping mat in a quiet place and spend the night at the airport.

Wild camping during a hitchhiking holiday

Wild camping is of course also an option for many backpackers. Wild camping is prohibited in many countries in Europe. However, practice shows that if the police take action, you are often just sent away with your tent. But in the vast majority of cases you will not see the police at your tent.

Wild camping is allowed under certain conditions in: (Europe only)

• Sweden
• Norway
• Finland
• Scotland
• Turkey
• France (You can camp wild between 7:00 PM and 9:00 AM with the landowner’s permission)
• Spain (It varies per region in Spain, but at least in Catalonia wild camping is allowed)

The rules may be outdated and in some countries mentioned above there are somewhat simple conditions.

Translation table for lifters