This morning’s hitchhiking selfie from Taormina, Sicily. I slept outside in public for two days in a row now, but it seems like I’m not going to find a shower anytime soon. So I’m curious if people will still stop for me tomorrow. I already covered Catania (in Sicily) to Salerno (on mainland Italy) today. I’m probably headed to the Amalfi Coast to camp close to one of the hiking trails tonight. We’ll see about that. The smartest move of the day was asking around on the 3-kilometer ferry from Sicily to mainland Italy for a ride to Salerno. IContinue reading
sicily
Siracusa: Eat Pray Love Streets in Sicily
After hitchhiking yesterday from Pozzallo to Siracusa, I was feeling a little #EatPrayLove—though I REALLY dislike that movie. Siracusa has some cute small streets that reminded me of it. And somehow these streets activate the girly travel girl Instagram pose instincts in even the ones most aware of performative femininity. Makes me want to buy a dress or something? (And then I look at the photo and think ehm, you tried!) Anyway, I ate some Sicilian stuff that came highly recommended. But the only name that stuck was “arancini”, which is a sort of fried rice ball with for exampleContinue reading
Hitchhiking Failure of the Year: No Malta to Sicily
Philosopher Jagger once said “you can’t always get what you want” and that’s what happened last night. I couldn’t find a boat willing to take me to Sicily from Malta. It’s a hitchhiking failure! Therefore I was forced to use the extortionately priced ferry! After more than three weeks in Malta and almost one week at the marina, enough was enough. And I’m very sad about it. Mick Jagger also said, “but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need!” Though it was frustrating, the people from La Marina Trattoria were so kind to feed meContinue reading
A Modern Odyssey: Sailing Theatre Company in Valetta, Malta
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
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