Hitching in Numbers
How do you define the quality of a hitch-hiking trip? Read on...
Where do you start putting the spotlight on yourself, if you don't feel very comfortable in it? I suppose 7:47 a.m. on 16 June 1980 in De Bilt, Netherlands, is about as close as you can get, it was the start of a recorded hitch-hiking career that is now in its 19th year and approaching the 100,000 mile mark, a mark I might just break before the end of the year, having to cover a mere 2154 miles to do so.
So why did I start? For the usual reason, lack of money.
My first trip was to the south of Sweden. After my mother had dropped me off on a junction pointing towards the north of Europe, 10 more rides followed on that first day, taking me up to Guldborg in Denmark. The next day brought me to Copenhagen, to see Hans Andersen's Little Mermaid (skip it!), and a day later I crossed over to Malmo, from where I slowly (with a lot of emphasis on sloooowly) thumbed my way along the coast up to Stockholm, returning across Sweden to Goteborg, before eventually returning home (to De Bilt). I arrived at 3.15 p.m. on 17 July, having received a final ride from just south of Goteborg almost to the front-door of my parental home, a distance of 924 km, including two free (the driver only pays for the car!) ferry crossings, from Helsingborg (S) to Helsingor (DK) and from Rodby (DK) to Puttgarden (D).
The ride was all the more memorable because it was one of the few where I actually got to drive, on the Autobahn, at 140-150 km per hour in the late evening! I'd just passed my driving test a few months earlier, something I didn't bother telling the driver...
Before I left, my parents and some colleagues had suggested that I should make some notes. I "designed" a simple form, on which to note down such essential facts as the places and times of departure and arrival, the average driving speed and other general notes.
As I said, the going was slow, I covered less than 250 km per day at a speed
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