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I have a ton of stories regarding hitchhiking and I've done it a lot of times, either with my family, alone or with my girlfriend. I also want to share tips on how to get better at hitchhiking and what definitely not to do.

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Childhood

I lived outside of town when I was little and since me and my brother had to catch the bus to town every morning, we also missed the bus quite a few times when coming home in the evening. Sometimes he'd show up late to pick me up from kindergarten so we missed the bus. I remember this one time very well - it was winter, it was heavily snowing and my brother and me were standing on the road, hitchhiking. A woman picked us up, she had three bags filled with groceries on the back seat, we had to fit ourselves between them. We made it home, but on the way home my brother had to pick me up on her shoulders because I was simply too small to rush through the piles of snow.

I still live outside of town...

... and I've had to walk home a few times. I live about 15km away from the town center and I have always tried hitchhiking but without any luck. I have usually walked home in the summer because I have been in town longer than the last bus leaves (which is 10 pm). I only remember one time when a person picked me up at 9 am, it was a dude with a red car and he only got to drive me for 1km of the total of 15km but it was certainly a great release only having to walk 14km instead of 15... _{(yeah, right)}

Even when praying, you sometimes don't succeed

Me and my girlfriend went on a hike to the lake, which is about 5km through the dark forest. Since we stayed for quite long, it started getting dark and we were honestly both too scared to go back through the forest again. Going the other way added 2 more kilometers to the distance and we thought, what the heck, let's hitchhike. We ended up walking all the way and although we tried catching a car for about 5km (and literally praying to God at the same time), we gave up and just walked the last few kilometers too.

And that's not the only time me and my girlfriend have tried to hitchhike

About a month ago, we went on an impromptu train trip to Aegviidu. We hiked to the lake (which was the first swim in Estonia for the both of us this year) and since we had some time to kill, we thought we would visit the other 3 lakes that were next to the one we swam in. We also thought we would catch the train from another station... it turned out the ticket was more expensive in the station we ended up in after the hike, so what did we do? We tried hitchhiking 4km back to the previous train station to get about 1,5€ off the train ticket... and, as you already might have learned from the previous story, we just ended up walking the whole way. We did save money, though. Now we know that 1,5€ = 4km!

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And now... some tips I picked up from the internet and from my experiences

Number 1: truck drivers are the most likely to pick you up!

This is what my mom taught me when I first tried hitchhiking. It's obvious, isn't it? They are driving long distances and are usually heading the way you're heading (if you're on the right side of the road, that is). Just be sure to have enough room for them to stop. If they have no room to stop, you ain't getting that ride, my friend.

Number 2: do n o t hitchhike alone as a female

I guess this tip is a bit sexist, but it's true. There are a lot of creepy people driving around and you'll only understand when it's too late. Even if you do need to hitchhike, trust your instincts, if you feel like something is wrong, say "no thanks".

Number 3: smile!

No-one wants to pick up a person that looks like they're going to murder you. Be nice to people, strike up a conversation and you might just be heading your way home! Men, don't be the grumpy guy you usually are, lighten up. Maybe one day you'll have the chance to think whether to pick up that hitchhiker or not.

Number 4: ask people at gas stations.

They've already stopped... why not?

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How much experience have you had with hitchhiking? Have you gone through some awful experiences? Leave a comment down below! I'd be more than happy to read your stories!