The last few days I went hitchhiking on the island of Gran Canaria. This was mainly to avoid the buzz in Las Palmas city. My driver felt like doing the hike to Roque Nublo (featured photo) together with me and left me at the summit to chill. No, he didn’t abandon me; that was my request. I’m not sure if I could have walked up that fast with my whole backpack if he hadn’t set the pace. Nevertheless, there were many trail runners without any luggage. They simply sprinted up and down the forested trail to the barren plateau. OneContinue reading
Europe
Here you’ll find lots of articles about my hitchhiking and kayaking travels in Europe. As you may know, Europe is my ‘homing’ continent where I’ll – like a stinky pigeon – always return to even if I’m trying to stay away from it. And to be honest, it’s not bad; there’s always more to explore.
I undertook many of my trips around Europe while at university in Maastricht (the Netherlands) and Aarhus (Denmark). That’s why I dropped out. I honed my hitchhiking skills here and set the most personal records and firsts such as:
- First solo hitch: from Kirkenes Airport in Norway to Kirkenes town with a military guy with his son
- Longest distance hitched in 24 hours: ~1200 kilometers from Maastricht (the Netherlands) to somewhere east of Lubljana (Slovenia)
- Most hours in one ride: 3 days with one British driver with a rental car in southern Spain and Portugal (his contract said he couldn’t take the car across the border)
- First plane hitch: over Malta (A to A)
- Longest sailing yacht hitch: from Corfu (Greece) to Malta, which was 340 nautical miles over 2.5 days. Here’s my CrewBay profile
Besides hitchhiking, I also kayaked a long distance in Europe down the Danube river in an inflatable canoe named Zucchini. But before I did that trip with my partner Jonas, I returned to university to finish my degree to erase my student debt. Thesis here.
As you can see, it’s not always a fun continent for me; it’s also the locus of worry about the people and pets I’m close to, of bureaucratic fuckery, and of most of my childhood memories. For most of my life, Europe has tied me down. Now I’m trying to experience it from a place of choice and freedom.
If you are not interested in the Danube trip, you can click this link to not show the Danube posts.
Tejeda, Gran Canaria: Freecamping the Canary Islands
Today was my first day hitchhiking around the island of Gran Canaria without much direction or planning. I ended up in a village called Tejeda. From that area, there’s this view of the Roque Bentayga, a kick-ass rock formation. I snapped it around sunset. Apparently, there are many such roques around here. They held a special meaning for the indigenous people of the Canaries. I asked my driver to not drop me off in town because I wanted to camp. My driver pointed me toward a field to freecamp in. It’s a little rural and difficult to pitch my tent afterContinue reading
Canary Islands, beware of the Hitchhiker
Just five days until I hit up Las Palmas in the Canary Islands! I can’t wait to wear summer clothes again and walk in flip flops or barefoot. Wow, I’ll miss the beautiful autumn colors here in my hometown though! Such wow… I hitchhiked to my hometown again today to see more family and friends. Jonas and I have taken the train from Maastricht to my small train station Hollansche Rading. There’s no bus, so we hitchhiked from the roundabout to my mom’s house. This was Jonas’ first time hitchhiking. I think he liked it 😍 I’ll also need to startContinue reading
I’m Going to Brazil! By Repositioning Cruise
Visiting family and going to the beach with friends is a rare opportunity nowadays. Sharing a bottle of wine together and watching the amazing sunsets is not so rare. But why am I downing an entire bottle of cheap wine on the beach in The Hague with Jonas? Okay, I can’t hold it any longer… So I’m just gonna tell you that in a week I’m going to the Canary Islands and then I’m boarding a boat to BRAZIL! 😀 This is terribly exciting stuff. Jonas invited me to come aboard this repositioning cruise ship that will leave Las PalmasContinue reading
Autumn Canals of Utrecht (The Netherlands)
A frosty morning at the canals of Utrecht after catching a ride with my mother from our hometown to her work. Utrecht is my favorite city in the Netherlands. I have to go to The Hague today to renew my passport for further travels… like… really faraway travels… You’ll see that in my other posts! Did you know many cities in Holland other than Amsterdam also have canals? The Netherlands is more than just coffee shops, Amsterdam’s red-light district, and too many bicycles. I don’t think it’s bad for a country’s advertising to be known for these things. It’s just different.Continue reading
Walking to Belgium from Maastricht for Cheap Beer
Remember Jonas whom I met in Tarifa? We met up again after Tarifa in Lisbon, Berlin, and now in Maastricht—that’s my old university town. Together, we walked from my friend’s place in Maastricht across the border into Belgium just to drink a beer at a place called Belvedere. It’s just a bit uphill and then across a bridge. Drinking a beer in a pub is actually cheaper there! And also a lot tastier than in the Netherlands As we were in Germany together before, we talked a lot about the German Reinheitsgebot. Say what you will, but limiting the number ofContinue reading
Free Chocolate for Hitchhikers! To the Netherlands…
When you’re hitchhiking home and some nice Italian guy gives you a box of chocolates! As you might have heard, I’m not wild about chocolate. I think it can be okay and the Ferrero Rocher stuff is a nice energy boost. So I told the guy to keep his chocolates, but it seems like he had stacks and stacks of boxes and he insisted. Perhaps it was a benign smuggling business, who knows. Funny thing: in Europe, I receive chocolate from drivers all the time. It’s such a pattern across countries. Like, why do car owners buy too much chocolateContinue reading
Hitchhiking Berlin to Stuttgart in No Time
So I left Berlin for Stuttgart to visit a friend and knocked down a good 670 km hitchhiking away from dreary to slightly less dreary weather. Just four rides and a total waiting time of maybe 20 minutes! There’s a reason why all the distance and speed-hitchhiking records are made in Germany! My previous hitchhiking experiences in/through Germany have always been fast and easy. Fast and easy is how I like my hitchhiking days. Right after taking this photo, I caught my final ride. I didn’t even finish my cigarette. My last driver made lots of jokes about the train constructionContinue reading
Geocaching and Tree Climbing in Treptower Park (Berlin, Germany)
I’m in Berlin now and today was a good day for tree climbing and geocaching. These were the only activities that kept me warm in this forsaken cold and moist weather… And tree climbing is way more fun as an adult! During one tree-ascent, Jonas found a geocache by accident, that’s when we started looking for more. If I sound grumpy, it’s because I’m trying to go 24 hours without smoking a cigarette. That sounded like a good bet to make last night with one of Jonas’ friends. Tree climbing is an excellent activity to keep one’s mind away from theContinue reading