At the marina in Valetta, I met this Italian lady who is an actor with a theatre company. That wouldn’t be remarkable without the tidbit that they’re traveling by a huge sailing boat. They’re sailing all over Europe to perform and they even carry their own stage stuff around. Fittingly, they’re doing part of Homer’s Odyssey, right here at the marina. It’s giving me some flashbacks to Greek class in high school, which was basically all Illiad and Odyssey. They let me sleep in the dressing room, which they call a ‘loft’. The cooks of the ship are Dutch andContinue reading
hitchhiking
Malta to Sicily: Another Boat to Hitch
Uh-oh, it’s the same old tale from a couple of weeks ago! But this time, I’m dockwalking to hitchhike a yacht from Malta to Sicily, mainland Italy, or France. I want to attend the HitchGathering in Saint-Laurent-du-Pape (yes, it’s a mouthful) in France this year. I’m using this cardboard hitchhiking sign to start conversations with people in the marina of Valetta where I arrived. To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m at the correct marina. Malta has a gazillion marinas and it’s impossible to visit all of them in person and walk around. Not all employees of marinas areContinue reading
Ultimate Hitchselfie on Gozo! (Malta)
I’ve always wanted to take a hashtag hitchselfie like this! This happened on the outskirts of Victoria on the island of Gozo in Malta. Yep, that red car stopped right when I was taking this picture. That’s why I look so distracted. I was also torn between talking to the driver first and picking up my camera first. I chose my camera and then made a run for the car. The guy made a nice drive around Marsalforn and invited me for some guitar playing at his house before dropping me at Ramla Bay to go swimming. I hope IContinue reading
The Blue Lagoon from Comino
Ain’t it pretty? I took this photo from the super small island of Comino here in Malta. What you see in the picture is the tiny islet of Cominotto (“little Comino”), which features a cool and fairly scary cave. One can swim the 100 meters across the narrow bit to Cominotto (which I did), but a fair warning for potential currents and jellyfish is needed. On my way to Cominotto, I had no problems. Though on the way back, the currents dragged me away quite a bit. Then at one point I could reach the seafloor with my feet, tookContinue reading
Mediterranean Hitchhiking Route (Idealized)
A couple of days ago I found out there’s a HitchGathering in the south of France in early August. The planned location is exactly where my family is going to be on holiday. So I will need to step up my hitchhiking pace to make it there on time! This is the approximate Mediterranean hitchhiking route I would want to take to travel to France on time. It’s an idealized version because everything will have to go extremely well in the coming two/three weeks for this route to work. [If you’re a boat owner, make sure to check out my CrewBayContinue reading
AMA: I feel like planning too much is pointless when you want adventure
A new question for my Ask Me Anything (AMA)! This person wrote the following message, which doesn’t really have a question, but I was very happy to receive it. She likes that I don’t do much travel planning: So. OH MY GOD. You are my new hero!!!! I am totally excited for you and I can’t wait till I get a minute to read your whole blog. I have actually never tried hitchhiking before but I want to (I normally travel by motorcycle), and I absolutely love how little you plan and such, as I am the same way, IContinue reading
Gozo: Hitchhiker Gone Hiking in Malta
Today’s random hiking trail brought me to some fabulous geological formations along a cliff’s edge! I was hiking on Gozo Island in Malta at daybreak. It was about 6:30 during the making of this photo. The weather is still tolerable then, as it gets so hot during the day. I think you can count the trees on Gozo on one hand. I walked southward from my rough-sleeping spot nearby Dwejra’s Azure Window. In the south-western corner or edge of Gozo Island, my OpenStreetMaps offline map showed me several hiking trails. So I decided to check out this area. The landscapesContinue reading
Sleepless in Dwejra on Gozo Island, Malta
This morning I woke up on Gozo in my sleeping bag at the docks of Dwejra (location here). There’s a little inland sea here that formed a natural harbor for small fishing boats. There’s a cave that you can see in the background, which is where the boats enter and leave this calm protected area. Without pitching my tent, I just laid out my sleeping bag and slept on top of it. It wasn’t the best sleep because it was so public, but it did the job. Some people woke me up before sunrise asking me if I wanted coffee.Continue reading
Azure Window: Looking for a Rocky Freecamping Spot
I hitched to the island of Gozo today and whatever the guidebooks say is true! It’s much calmer and it’s still really hot. I’m now at Dwejra where there are some massive rocks with massive holes in the sea. It’s apparently called the Azure Window and it’s one of Malta’s most-famous tourist spots. Honestly, so far Gozo has been almost a little too quiet. That’s because all the tourists have been hiding here, I guess? There are so many sailing boats anchored in safe bays or dotting the horizon on their way to safe anchorage or elsewhere. I love itContinue reading