My hitchhiking trip in Sweden

[SiC-Disaster]

Well a few weeks back I was in Sweden to do some hitchhiking.
I had planned to meet a friend who cancelled at the very last minute (literally, I was at the point of stepping out of the house) but decided I should go on anyway.
I felt really crappy on the boat to Sweden but ended up having a good time for the short period of time I was there.
I kept a journal which I wrote something in each time I had gotten a ride, and a while back I posted it on digihitch.com, a website dedicated to hitchhiking, freight hopping etc. and it just got posted online, so I decided to share it with you guys as well.

For those interested, you can find it here: [url]http://www.digihitch.com/article2032.html[/URL]

 

[SiC-Disaster]

Let's add some pictures to spice it up

Me on the boat to Sweden. On the background there is another ship of the same type heading the same direction:

This is me near the lake Yddingesj

 

[kablooie!]

nice.

 

[HeadClot]

Question - How often do you do this?

and are people pretty friendly about it?

 

[SiC-Disaster]

Question - How often do you do this?

and are people pretty friendly about it?

This was my first time, but I plan to do it more in the future.
I'd like to go to America and do some hitching there, trying to get from New York to California and trying to spend some time in Utah.
Might pick up a temporary summerjob though.

And yeah, people were pretty friendly about it.
I did get some weird looks now and then but they kept out of my way so that didnt bother me. Must have thought I was retarded for putting myself out there in these 'dangerous times'.
All the people that picked me up were very friendly and helpful, and there were some moments where I was approached by people when I looked lost or who simply wondered what I was doing.

Some people went out of their way to help me out, which was very cool.
For instance the woman who dropped me off in front of the highway to Malm

 

[HeadClot]

Hey, If you come to Utah you may have a place to stay for a bit.

No promises though.

As for hitchhiking in America I would have to Strongly discourage it mainly due to the crime rate. I would hate to see a fellow RO2 Player get hurt (for real).

 

[DraKon2k]

Just make sure you don't get raped by a truck driver in the US

Now seriously though, great pictures and I'm certain doing stuff like that gives you lots of experience with both people and the world. Plus you may get to tell your grandchildren about it one day Now I'm thinking about doing something like this too lol.

 

[SiC-Disaster]

Hey, If you come to Utah you may have a place to stay for a bit.

No promises though.

As for hitchhiking in America I would have to Strongly discourage it mainly due to the crime rate. I would hate to see a fellow RO2 Player get hurt (for real).

That would be much appreciated

And thanks for the warning, but I won't let it discourage me.
I don't want to act like I would know better than you because I don't, but I don't want the fear of what 'might happen' control my decision making.
I have heard many different stories, both good and bad, but mostly good from the people who actually do hitchhike at present and mostly bad from people who don't.
That said, the possibility of becoming a victim of crime does keep me up at night and it is something that bothers me because it could happen all too easily. But I'd rather assume the best than the worst from people.
Might not be the smartest idea but it is an idea I intend to live by.

It might be the quickest ticket to a short life, but I'd rather live a short life that was lived to the full than a long life where I never tried anything out of fear something bad might happen.
Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, and that is something I have to accept when it happens.

Thing is, I am not satisfied with life as I currently lead it.
I have my friends and some hobbies, but every day is the same.
I am currently without a job, but every job I have had so far did not fulfill me. I need something to break up the pace and do something about it.
I need some adventure, but adventure never comes without danger.

This is an interesting video for those interested by the way.
It's basically like a video diary of a guy and a girl hitchhiking in America, interviews with drivers etc.
Very interesting:
Only Kindness Matters on Vimeo

 

[PermenentMarker]

Very nice trip... so far

I only read half as of yet since I am at work; I will get back to it tonight.

Congrats on the experience and all the best for the future and thank you for the good read.

If you were to hitch in Montreal, I would get out of my way to help you out and offer you a place to stay.
Feel free to PM me if you ever do land in this area... I will pm you my number.

You seem like a pretty cool guy... and you don't look like the following

For hitching in Canada or the US... it might be a little harder and will have better luck with truck drivers.

Distances are insanely long in the north American continent... And I grew up being told that hitchhikers are all axe murderers.

Canada would be safer... less people with guns and less crime rate

 

[SiC-Disaster]

That picture made me laugh I'll be sure to keep my axe out of sight
And who knows, I might go to Canada at some point in time as well, thanks for the offer

 

[Nestor Makhno]

I went hitch-hiking in the US about 25 years ago.

I got picked up on the Interstate North of Seattle (yes, I know it's illegal to hitch on the interstate) by a native American grandmother driving a Winnebago from somewhere south (like Texas) all the way to Alaska where her son was working on an oil- or gas-field.

She was fairly drunk during the journey but totally pwned a Washington State Patrol guy who accidentally nearly ran her off the road cos he was trying to drive alongside and look in at what she was doing. I guess cos she had out-of-state plates.

He pulled up in front of her but she was already out of the Winnebago and marching towards his car screaming at him for being an asshole and nearly running her off the road. She musta been about 4'10" but this guy just backed down and didn't even try to breath test her.

She got back in the Winnebago with a final "asshole" and started up again - cracking another beer cos she had asked me to take the one she already had open, so it looked like it was me and not her who was drinking.

She dropped me off just outside Vancouver. Don't think I will ever forget that woman.

 

[SiC-Disaster]

Awesome old woman is awesome

I've been looking at agencies that can arrange a US visa for me today.
As it stands it doesnt seem like I will be able to travel for a year as a tourist, and i'll only be able to stay for 90 days before having to leave the country.
There are alternative visas but they basically require me to have a job in the US, and even that job has requirements to it that aren't really easy to fulfill.
Only upside would be that the 90-day visa wouldn't be very hard to obtain afaik.

They are looking into the possibility of leaving the US for a bit and re-entering with a second 90-day visa but it seems to me that'd be problematic in some way and it has a high chance of being refused.
So, I'll have to wait and see what the chances of that method being accepted are.

 

[Grabbed_by_the_Spetsnaz]

First time seeing Sweden without it being white everywhere.
Sucks when a friend can't make it last minute, happened to us all

 

[Lt_Kettch]

Awesome old woman is awesome

I've been looking at agencies that can arrange a US visa for me today.
As it stands it doesnt seem like I will be able to travel for a year as a tourist, and i'll only be able to stay for 90 days before having to leave the country.
There are alternative visas but they basically require me to have a job in the US, and even that job has requirements to it that aren't really easy to fulfill.
Only upside would be that the 90-day visa wouldn't be very hard to obtain afaik.

They are looking into the possibility of leaving the US for a bit and re-entering with a second 90-day visa but it seems to me that'd be problematic in some way and it has a high chance of being refused.
So, I'll have to wait and see what the chances of that method being accepted are.

Can you drive trough the US for 90 days and then stay a couple of days in Canada or Mexico and reenter the USA from there? I would check if that is possible.

EDIT: Duh you had the same idea already.