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When I tell people I’ve been hitchhiking around foreign countries for the last two years, I’m often met with the response “Really? That works? People actually stop for you?” It works quite well, in fact, so I’ve written this article to give the non-hitchhikers out there an idea of who might pick you in different parts of the globe if you do choose to delve into the adventurous world of hitchhiking.
Bernd and Lisa Heuer
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
Occupation: Electrical engineer and social worker
Car: BMW Station Wagon
Where to find: Drivers like Bernd and Lisa are most common in Western and Northern Europe, where regular people often pick up hitchhikers.
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Bernd and Lisa represent the majority of drivers who pick up hitchhikers in the more developed parts of Europe. A pretty normal couple; they drive between Stuttgart and Cologne for Bernd’s work and to see their son, and take hitchhikers whenever they have the opportunity. They have two kids, ages 22 and 25, and noted that part of their motivation for taking 20-something year old hitchhikers is that they wouldn’t want their sons standing on the road for too long. Like most educated people in Europe they both speak fluent English, as well as German and French. In their free time, Bernd and Lisa enjoy hiking in the mountains, drinking coffee, and watching Bayern-Munich soccer games.
Bente Olsen
Location: Skjervoy, Norway
Occupation: Ambulance driver
Car: pretty new Mercedes
Where to find: Everywhere
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Bente works in a hospital about 45 minutes from her home and takes hitchhikers because she likes to help people when she can. She stops along the way to show us her favorite views of the fjord and surrounding mountains and tells us stories of the crazy patients she’s had in the ambulance. After getting to know us a bit, she offers to let us sleep in her boat for the night, and takes us to her ridiculously fancy yacht with a perfect view of the northern lights, telling us she’ll be back in the morning to drive us to the main road. Though offers to sleep in yachts aren’t common, it is pretty common for drivers to offer a couch/guest bedroom for a night if they’re driving home and you would be sleeping in a tent otherwise.
Jan Novak
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia
Occupation: Tour guide
Car: Fiat 500
Where to find: Anywhere in Europe
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Jan waves us into the car and immediately jumps into a spiel about the history of the area. He essentially turns the ride into a free tour, just happy that he doesn’t have to drive the 3 hours alone. When we arrive at the destination, he says, “hey, I can show you guys a really nice place, one of my favorite places in Slovenia,” and takes us to a beautiful lookout point over a turquoise blue river. There he looks at us sort of awkwardly for a moment and says “so…do you guys smoke weed?” as he pulls a joint out of his pocket. This type of experience has happened noticeably more often since I got dreadlocks.
Ronny Johnsen
Location: Sandefjord, Norway
Occupation: Retired Manchester United player
Car: New Audi station wagon
Where to find: Everywhere
It’s not often that famous people pick up hitchhikers, but it happens. When asked about his job, Ronny replied “I work in sports”, but after a few more questions, revealed that he played for Manchester United in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It wasn’t until after we got out of the car and looked him up on wikipedia that we found he had won the champions league and played in the world cup.
Abdul Karazi
Location: Panjshir, Afghanistan
Occupation: Bus company owner
Car: Used bus from Poland
Where to find: Everywhere
Abdul owns a bus company in Afghanistan but finds that the buses in Europe are cheaper and better quality. He often flies to Europe to buy a bus and then drives it back to Afghanistan. We communicated in a mixture of German and English, but he also speaks Farsi, Urdu, French, and Polish. He has very strong liberal political opinions and told horrifying stories of war in his home town. It seems pretty common for people from Western/Central Asia to buy cars from Europe, so it’s possible to hitchhike quite long distances with them.
Jovan Crnčević
Location: Rashtish, Montenegro
Occupation: Sells fruits and vegetables in the bazaar
Car: very old and falling apart red Yugo
Where to find: Anywhere, but more common in Eastern Europe (and likely very common in USA)
Jovan is the type of batshit-crazy guy that your mom would tell you never to get in a car with. These type of people rarely stop for hitchhikers but they do occasionally, and it’s up to you whether to get in the car or politely turn down the offer. Jovan lived in the USA for 26 years, which was definitely not good for him. On politics: “Trump is gonna win. He’s crazy but at least he’s not controlled by the Jews. The Jews are trying to ruin the world and Trump will get rid of them. And he’s gonna kick out the immigrants and make more jobs.” He apparently doesn’t consider himself an immigrant. I made sure to hide the fact that I’m Jewish.
On the Qaran: “The Qaran says the third world war is coming, and I ain’t afraid to die. Most people will die but those who remain will be better off.”
On getting kicked out of the US: “I had too much trouble, they made me leave. Spent too much time with the clan in Wisconsin. I was in gangs. I did a lot of shit.”
In the end, he dropped us off exactly where we needed to go, and we left the car unsure if what we had just experienced was actually real.
Behxhet Kastrati
Location: Prishtina, Kosovo
Occupation: “This is Balkans, nobody has specialization, I do everything”
Car: mid-2000s Renault station wagon
Where to find: Balkans, Post-Soviet countries
Behxhet is a pretty typical Albanian guy from Kosovo. His main job is running an advertising company but he also is about to open a bakery and has several other projects. He travels all over the Balkans for his work and takes hitchhikers whenever he has space. During the war in Kosovo, he moved to Bulgaria, but has lived in Kosovo again since 2002. When he’s traveling, the best part of his day is skyping with his 4 year old daughter. It’s very common in the Balkans for men to do several different jobs, and those who travel a lot for work are often bored driving alone so they like to pick up hitchhikers.
Mehmet Sadik
Location: some small village, Turkey
Occupation: Doesn’t speak enough English to tell us
Car: 5-10 year old station wagon
Where to find: Turkish countryside
Mehmet is similar to the majority of people who pick up hitchhikers in Turkey—incredibly hospitable but speaking very little of any language but Turkish. Immediately after we get into the car, he offers us a cigarette, first offering one to me and then gesturing to ask me if my “wife” would like one (gender roles are very strict in rural Turkey, and it’s generally assumed that couples traveling together must be married). When we decline, he quickly searches around for something else to give us and hands us water bottles and packs of assorted nuts. After an hour in the car, he google translates “are you hungry?” and without waiting for a response, stops at a restaurant and orders us a giant meal, not allowing us to pay for anything. Rule #1 of hitchhiking in Turkey: never hitchhike on a full stomach. Experiences like this happen unbelievably often.
Giorgi Chavchavadze
Location: Kutaisi, Georgia
Occupation: Car mechanic
Car: Mitsubishi Delica
Where to find: Post-Soviet countries.
Giorgi makes about $250/month working as a car mechanic and spends over half of it on booze. His friend is in the passenger seat and appears a bit drunk and giggly. He has a wife and three kids who he talks about a lot. Five minutes into the drive, he pulls over, runs into a shop, and comes out with some beers. Since he’s driving, he doesn’t drink, but hands a beer to everyone else in the car. Having a foreigner in the car means they have to show off their family’s moonshine as well, which they claim to be the best moonshine in the world. Thank God they only have a small amount, because some people get very offended if you don’t want to drink with them (drinking with them can be a fun and interesting experience, but not recommended if you want to continue hitchhiking that day).
The Cops
Location: Kazbegi, Georgia
Occupation: Police Man
Car: Police car
Where to find: Post-Soviet countries, Balkans, but can happen everywhere
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After waiting two hours on a dark road, a police car pulls over. For a moment, we’re unsure whether he’s trying to get a bribe from us or give us a ride, but he waves us in, smiling. Twenty minutes down the road, he stops the car at the next police station. As we reach for the door handles, he stops us, saying, “no, no, you can stay. It’s warm in here. I’ll help you,” and proceeds to turn on his lights and pull over every passing car until one stops with space for the three of us. Getting friendly rides from the police can happen everywhere, but it’s a lot more common in places where the police see themselves at the same level as regular people, rather than being power-hungry egotistical arrest machines.
