I’m back in the UK! Last night I found a last-minute couchsurfing host in the Spanish border town of La Linea. He was so kind to drop me at the border today. So now I can go hitchhiking Gibraltar and explore the monkey rock. The guy who took this photo is a born and raised Gibraltarian. He organizes some of the concerts for the national week here. Many people in the streets dressed in the national colors in anticipation of this week. It culminates on the 10th of September when it’s their national day. The border crossing to Gibraltar wasn’tContinue reading
Yurt-Surfing in Andalucía, Spain
How life gives you awesome people: what began as a spontaneous one-night freecamping invitation after a bad ride, turned into a three-day yurt-surfing adventure with my new friend from Hungary! Turns out she lives at this awesome place hidden in the woods with alternative housing. Housing such as yurts, caravans, and other ‘outdoor furniture’ (Spanish law is strange). The first night I pitched my tent next to her caravan, from where you could even see the Rock of Gibraltar! After that, we crashed at a yurt (i.e. yurt-surfing) at her neighbor’s place, because the winds were too strong. Yurts areContinue reading
Hitchhiking the Scenic Route in Andalucía
On the move again! I just left Málaga to hitchhike the scenic route towards Granada. Though I might go to Ronda or Gibraltar directly to catch some speed again on my way to Portugal. We’ll see what happens. I’ve no idea where I’m going, but it’s fun to pointlessly hitchhike in some direction just because of a nice mountain pass, though in Spain you can’t be picky. So far the average of 50% rides with foreigners and 50% with locals holds up, which is the highest I’ve ever experienced. I even caught a ride with some Dutch people in thisContinue reading
My Evolution of Packing: A History of My Baggage
I wasn’t always a backpacking traveler. Being from a tiny affluent country in Europe, it’s pretty normal to go on holidays abroad (privilege!) and I personally don’t know any of my fellow same-passport holders who haven’t been abroad. Travel has been a part of my life since birth. Normally, we’d travel by car, giving us plenty of room to bring Stuff™ and sometimes we’d go by airplane. Packing light or efficiently wasn’t a concern for the car trips Only for the plane, we’d have to really think about what to pack as there are limits to how much Stuff you can bring. 0. The Carry-A-Corpse Suitcase Amsterdam Schiphol Airport,Continue reading
A Little Tibet in Spain: Karma Guen Buddhist Center
Oh my, this mountain vista from the stupa of the Karma Guen Buddhist center in Vélez-Málaga is stunning! Yes, I didn’t spontaneously leave Spain for Nepal or Tibet, although I’m hoping to visit in the future. I visited this Buddhist retreat center in Andalucía with my sort of spontaneous Couchsurfing guest from Russia. Lots of the people at Karma Guen are actually Russian, so we received a tour of the place in Russian and English from one of the people that’s involved there. The whole demographics of this center was very international. We got our blessing at the main hallContinue reading
The Sierra Nevada from the Road (Spain)
Dramatic skies, flawless tarmac, and mountains everywhere: the Sierra Nevada in Spain! Just some shit-stains on the window, still it’s a pretty good photo taken through the windshield! Here’s the Google Streetview version, much cleaner: This day I finished my speed hitchhiking trip towards Málaga in the south of Spain. It was a pretty rough trip of continuous hitchhiking for four days because Spain is just not that easy to get around. The people at the HitchGathering that told me hitchhiking in Spain was difficult spoke truth to power. My lowest point was when I was stuck at a roundaboutContinue reading
Street Harassment Abroad: An Introduction
Share this piece if you think it matters! Keep traveling. We know the drill of catcalling in our hometowns and countries and possibly have set up our own systems of avoiding the everyday comments and ‘compliments’ from strangers on our commute. As women or individuals perceived as women – as a collective – we know and even expect street harassment to happen. Once you travel, whether solo or in a group, things become different. Men scream things at you in a foreign language and instinctively you know that it’s street harassment, but as you don’t understand the exact meaning ofContinue reading
A Letter of Advice to Solo Female Hitchhikers
Dear (self-identifying) women and (aspiring) solo female hitchhikers, I usually don’t have solid advice as hitchhiking is very different from woman to woman. Heck, I don’t even identify as a woman per se. Above all, I don’t think of myself as someone in the position to give you advice, especially the unsolicited kind. While traveling – whether that be by hitchhiking or not – you’ll be in situations I have never encountered. Some of my experiences will never happen to you. That’s in spite of our general similar experiences of going through life (being perceived) as women. The advice I’veContinue reading
Inspirational Quote: Not All Those Who Wander Were Told to “Get Lost!”
Time for an inspirational quote about travel: Not all those who wander were told to “Get Lost!” ~ Iris the Hitchhiker I’m really on a creative roll for the whole inspirational quotes kind of thing after finding peace, love, and tranquillity in the south of Spain 🙂 first of all, you should know that I find a lot of ‘inspirational’ quotes very uninspiring. They’re often vague, promote airplane travel, or sound like the ramblings of someone who just rage-quit their job. Secondly, I like to mock shit occasionally. When scrolling through my Facebook feed, it’s literally full of stuff likeContinue reading