• Hitchhiking Bucket List: #1 The Top Gear Crew

    Hitchhiking Bucket List: #1 The Top Gear Crew

  • Kayak Trip Day 62: Golubac to Donji Milanovac – Entering the Iron Gate + Breaking Fifty

    Kayak Trip Day 62: Golubac to Donji Milanovac – Entering the Iron Gate + Breaking Fifty

  • Ioannina, Greece: Hitchhiking Clearly Ain

    Ioannina, Greece: Hitchhiking Clearly Ain't Dead

  • 6 Stories from Hosts + Guests in Lockdown: Hospitality in the Time of Corona

    6 Stories from Hosts + Guests in Lockdown: Hospitality in the Time of Corona

  • 94 Things to Do in Rodrigues

    94 Things to Do in Rodrigues

  • Sibiu, Romania: Spontaneous Couchsurfing + German Influences Everywhere

    Sibiu, Romania: Spontaneous Couchsurfing + German Influences Everywhere

  • Avakas Gorge Nature Trail: A Popular Canyon Hike near Paphos

    Avakas Gorge Nature Trail: A Popular Canyon Hike near Paphos

  • Days in Palau: Arrival from Taiwan + Palau Pledge + Hitchhiking to Koror (Day 1)

    Days in Palau: Arrival from Taiwan + Palau Pledge + Hitchhiking to Koror (Day 1)

  • Travel Movies I Can Watch Again and Again

    Travel Movies I Can Watch Again and Again

  • Sail Mauritius: Dinghy Sailing a Tiny Catamaran in La Gaulette

    Sail Mauritius: Dinghy Sailing a Tiny Catamaran in La Gaulette

  • Kayak Trip Day 17: Friesheim to Straubing

    Kayak Trip Day 17: Friesheim to Straubing

  • Kayak Trip Day 58: Belgrade to Grocka na Dunavu – The Worst Paddle Day... Yet!

    Kayak Trip Day 58: Belgrade to Grocka na Dunavu – The Worst Paddle Day... Yet!

  • Seaside Freecamping in Durrës, Albania

    Seaside Freecamping in Durrës, Albania

  • Kayak Trip Day 9: Günzburg to Dillingen an der Donau

    Kayak Trip Day 9: Günzburg to Dillingen an der Donau

  • Drouseia to Neo Chorio, Revisiting Akamas – E4 Cyprus Hiking Day 9

    Drouseia to Neo Chorio, Revisiting Akamas – E4 Cyprus Hiking Day 9

  • Mediterranean Hitchhiking Route (Idealized)

    Mediterranean Hitchhiking Route (Idealized)

  • Inspirational Quote: Not All Those Who Wander Were Told to "Get Lost!"

    Inspirational Quote: Not All Those Who Wander Were Told to "Get Lost!"

  • Geocaching and Tree Climbing in Treptower Park (Berlin, Germany)

    Geocaching and Tree Climbing in Treptower Park (Berlin, Germany)

  • Kayak Trip Day 18: Straubing to Deggendorf

    Kayak Trip Day 18: Straubing to Deggendorf

  • Transitioning from Solo to Couple Travel: Bloggers Share Their Experiences

    Transitioning from Solo to Couple Travel: Bloggers Share Their Experiences

‹›

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

tehran

tourist tourism iran bus solo female travel gringa

A Desperate Bus Ride

22nd October 201417th January 2021 Iris Veldwijk

So this asshole took a bus a couple of days ago to get from #Tehran to #Kashan. First time I took a long distance bus since #Mexico City. I feel bad about it because I should. #hitchhiking #not #lame #staytrue (at مسجد جمكران)      

 
    
embassy united states of america iran tehran graffiti usa us

US Embassy in Tehran

21st October 201417th January 2021 Iris Veldwijk

At the former US embassy in #Tehran #Iran (at Tehran, Iran)      

 
    

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

It hurts. (9 August 2026) But I'm doing my own th It hurts. (9 August 2026)

But I'm doing my own thing without constant discussion and criticism. There are a lot of things I've learned since the 6th of September 2015. One of them is that a finding a good partner who treats you well doesn't mean a thing. They can absolutely turn around and actively decide to become a piece of shit. Someone who abandons all their principles and goes from being your dream human being to your biggest enemy. 

Everyone always says "Just find a good [insert gender]". I'd found one who was a much better partner than my other two long-term relationships. Perfect, in a sense. The alignment was insane.

Finding a good partner is no guarantee they'll stay good. I don't believe you can fake this for a solid 8.5 years. I've tried to explain it away: midlife crisis, depression, brain injury. Or perhaps plain cruelty.

They neglected and then refused to fix things while I kept working. I went from carrying 50% of the relationship to carrying 100% over the course of about 2.5 years. Mentally and physically, I've been set ablaze. 

Outwardly, I kept pretending everything was fine. I protected their reputation (something you might have noticed I'm done with). That adds to the loneliness. Talk to friends, my loves. Don't stay silent. 

Love yourself first and foremost. I'm an excellent navigator and even I got fucking lost on this road I chose in life.

What a waste of my capacity for love.

📸 in Aguilar de Campoo (Spain) on some hill overlooking the village. I'd just spent the night following my feelings doing whatever I wanted and exploring things in a way I haven't in over a decade. I've gone to Hades and back and it's been a ride.

#roughbreakup #abusiverelationship #midlifecrisis #digitalnomad #hitchhiker
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 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