• Rest in Peace, Dear Hiking Boots

    Rest in Peace, Dear Hiking Boots

  • Hello, Dubai?! Leaving Malaysia for the UAE After 339 Days (Semi-Live Blog)

    Hello, Dubai?! Leaving Malaysia for the UAE After 339 Days (Semi-Live Blog)

  • The Best Travel Apps

    The Best Travel Apps

  • Cabo Verde Packing List - Prepare Well!

    Cabo Verde Packing List - Prepare Well!

  • Arrábida Natural Park Scooter Trip + Learning Portuguese (the Hard Way)

    Arrábida Natural Park Scooter Trip + Learning Portuguese (the Hard Way)

  • Chile to Argentina: a Border Crossing Vlog

    Chile to Argentina: a Border Crossing Vlog

  • Kayak Trip Day 32: Langenlebarn to Vienna

    Kayak Trip Day 32: Langenlebarn to Vienna

  • (Hitch)hiking Monte Verde, São Vicente

    (Hitch)hiking Monte Verde, São Vicente

  • Getting a SIM Card in Malaysia

    Getting a SIM Card in Malaysia

  • Île aux Fouquets (aka Île au Phare)—Snorkeling and Urban Exploring from Mahébourg

    Île aux Fouquets (aka Île au Phare)—Snorkeling and Urban Exploring from Mahébourg

  • Well Hello, Kyiv?! Uzbekistan to Ukraine (Semi-Live Blog)

    Well Hello, Kyiv?! Uzbekistan to Ukraine (Semi-Live Blog)

  • Kawthaung to Ranong: Crossing from Myanmar to Thailand by Longtail Boat

    Kawthaung to Ranong: Crossing from Myanmar to Thailand by Longtail Boat

  • Kayak Trip Day 21: Passau to Engelhartszell - A Border Crossing

    Kayak Trip Day 21: Passau to Engelhartszell - A Border Crossing

  • Malta to Sicily: Another Boat to Hitch

    Malta to Sicily: Another Boat to Hitch

  • Hitchhiking the Scenic Route in Andalucía

    Hitchhiking the Scenic Route in Andalucía

  • How to Get a Turkish SIM Card (In the Small and Non-Touristic Towns of Turkey)

    How to Get a Turkish SIM Card (In the Small and Non-Touristic Towns of Turkey)

  • How Many People Can Visit All Countries on Earth?

    How Many People Can Visit All Countries on Earth?

  • Azure Window: Looking for a Rocky Freecamping Spot

    Azure Window: Looking for a Rocky Freecamping Spot

  • 71 Reasons to Visit South America in 2017

    71 Reasons to Visit South America in 2017

  • Madha and Nahwa Exclaves in Oman + UAE—Traveling Through the Donut Hole

    Madha and Nahwa Exclaves in Oman + UAE—Traveling Through the Donut Hole

‹›

Skip to content
  • About
    • FAQ
  • Trips
  • Regions
    • Central Asia + the ‘Stans’
    • Caucasus + Western Asia
    • Southeast Asia
    • East Asia
    • Europe
    • Africa
    • South America
    • Central America + Caribbean
  • Danube
  • Books
    • Thesis
    • Digital Nomads Guides
    • Under Way: Books in the Making
    • Books I Love
  • Gear
    • Hitchhiking Gear
    • Paddling Gear
    • Digital Nomad Gear
  • Game!
  • Contact
    • Guest Posts
    • Interview Me
    • Collaborations
    • Using My Content
  • Press
    • Interviews
    • Publications
  • Support
  • You
    • Strangers
    • Archive Your Blog

Press

Interviews Mind of a Hitchhiker Devin Bratislava Slovakia pressInterviews Mind of a Hitchhiker Devin Bratislava Slovakia watercolor pressPublications donkey Brava Cabo Verde pressPublications donkey Brava Cabo Verde - Watercolor press

 
1
Share
  1 
Iris // Mind of a Hitchhiker YouTube
Iris // Mind of a Hitchhiker
New travel vlogs! 🧭

Support

Found a useful article or an entertaining story? Consider helping me continue! Donating helps me to keep the adventures rolling and the website running. Details on where the money is going are on my support page.

PayPal

 

Bitcoin

bc1q9a6w08a4gkx4gdvnh7w2vlkfzx4tlwfpfe6jm6
bc1q9a6w08a4gkx4gdvnh7w2vlkfzx4tlwfpfe6jm6
Open in wallet

Support Progress Bar

As of August 2026, I haven’t received any website donations yet. If you find something useful or entertaining, please consider supporting my blog and I’ll thank you here. Details on where the money is going are on my support page.

2026 donation progress bar V1

irisveldwijk

The HALO Eclipse Moment of the 2026 total solar ec The HALO Eclipse Moment of the 2026 total solar eclipse in Northern Spain with @total.together . So grateful for the experience and can't wait to do it again
#totalsolareclipse #eclipsetotal #solareclipsechasers
Today is my 35th birthday and I have to start all Today is my 35th birthday and I have to start all over again. I don't want to. I am terrified.

In the last 11 years, the cool solo hitchhiker "girl" you might have started following back in 2015 has allowed circumstances to strip herself of everything that that made her her. I don't recognize myself. I don't really know who I am anymore. I would like to go back to being that person, but at my big age? Oof, that's rough.

I used to post here every day and manage a travel blog many people loved. That has been neglected over the years as I was with someone who I thought was the love of my life. The self-abandonment started gradually. Towards the end, I was doing everything to fix things with someone who was drifting away from me while telling me they loved me and wanted to be with me forever. Grow old and such.

I won't grow old with them and I'm uninterested in growing old at all. Growing old sucks.

I've missed opportunities because they took care of me. Opportunities that will never come back. I haven't ever had this many regrets before and I'm overwhelmed by them.

All I want is to rewind time. Either to the point we never met at all so I wouldn't feel this immense hurt and a gaping hole where my heart used to be.

Or rewind to where things started to go wrong. That's the hard part I've been ruminating on for months already. I can't pinpoint it.

I've read the literature about healing. I know what steps to take. Feed myself well. Go out every day for at least a walk, maybe some exercise. Get good sleep. Talk to friends. 

I'm at a fork in the road where the path to self-destruction would just be the easier way to go. I used to be able to do the difficult thing. It's not that I'm incapable of doing the difficult thing of healing; I'm just uninterested. That scares me more than anything. 

Anyway. I know where the gaping hole where my heart used to be is. It's an unbearable six timezones away.

#solofemalehitchhiker
#breakuprecovery 
#happybirthdaytome🎉
Follow me on the next exciting journey (my life fa Follow me on the next exciting journey (my life falling apart)
Follow on Instagram

Mind of a Hitchhiker Facebook page
Mind of a Hitchhiker Follow me on Facebook

Newsletter Signup

By signing up to my newsletter, you agree to receiving delightful updates from my blog. You can always unsubscribe from my newsletter. If you want to know how I handle your information, find out more in my Privacy Policy (it’s boring).

Popular Posts

    The Seven Emirates of the UAE and Their Borders—An Interactive Map

    Kayaking to Pulau Tikus: a Sacred Island near George Town, Penang

    Madha and Nahwa Exclaves in Oman + UAE—Traveling Through the Donut Hole

    Land Transportation in Cabo Verde: A How-To Guide

    How to Get an Ethiopian SIM Card

Tags

Africa albania argentina Asia austria Bavaria border camping canoe Chile couchsurfing Danube digital nomad Donau europe france freecamping germany greece hiking hitchhiking hospitality hungary iran kayak kayak&work Malaysia malta Mauritius Myanmar nature river romania serbia SIM card slovakia South America Southeast Asia spain The Netherlands travel turkey Ukraine visa Zucchini

Featured in

the plaid zebra three positive hitchhiking stories mind of a hitchhiker

Huffington Post

Matador Network

tanie loty polish mind of a hitchhiker

daily star mind of a hitchhiker

Social

irisveldwijk

The HALO Eclipse Moment of the 2026 total solar ec The HALO Eclipse Moment of the 2026 total solar eclipse in Northern Spain with @total.together . So grateful for the experience and can't wait to do it again
#totalsolareclipse #eclipsetotal #solareclipsechasers
Today is my 35th birthday and I have to start all Today is my 35th birthday and I have to start all over again. I don't want to. I am terrified.

In the last 11 years, the cool solo hitchhiker "girl" you might have started following back in 2015 has allowed circumstances to strip herself of everything that that made her her. I don't recognize myself. I don't really know who I am anymore. I would like to go back to being that person, but at my big age? Oof, that's rough.

I used to post here every day and manage a travel blog many people loved. That has been neglected over the years as I was with someone who I thought was the love of my life. The self-abandonment started gradually. Towards the end, I was doing everything to fix things with someone who was drifting away from me while telling me they loved me and wanted to be with me forever. Grow old and such.

I won't grow old with them and I'm uninterested in growing old at all. Growing old sucks.

I've missed opportunities because they took care of me. Opportunities that will never come back. I haven't ever had this many regrets before and I'm overwhelmed by them.

All I want is to rewind time. Either to the point we never met at all so I wouldn't feel this immense hurt and a gaping hole where my heart used to be.

Or rewind to where things started to go wrong. That's the hard part I've been ruminating on for months already. I can't pinpoint it.

I've read the literature about healing. I know what steps to take. Feed myself well. Go out every day for at least a walk, maybe some exercise. Get good sleep. Talk to friends. 

I'm at a fork in the road where the path to self-destruction would just be the easier way to go. I used to be able to do the difficult thing. It's not that I'm incapable of doing the difficult thing of healing; I'm just uninterested. That scares me more than anything. 

Anyway. I know where the gaping hole where my heart used to be is. It's an unbearable six timezones away.

#solofemalehitchhiker
#breakuprecovery 
#happybirthdaytome🎉
Follow me on the next exciting journey (my life fa Follow me on the next exciting journey (my life falling apart)
Follow on Instagram

Mind of a Hitchhiker Facebook page
Mind of a Hitchhiker Follow me on Facebook

Founder of

VisaRun founder webapp

Digital Nomads Guides travel guide book founder

Copyright © 2026 mindofahitchhiker.com - Privacy Policy