isobelll - with 3 l

D also inspired me immensely, he'd been hitch hiking around the world for nearly 2 years now. Wow! With almost no money at all, sleeping outside or depending on others to help him when he needed food or shelter. Ok, I don't wanna be a burden but I really want to travel more and more. I'd thought about hitching before I meet D but didn't really have the guts to do it for real, not until I got to know him. He taught me some of the most important things to think about while living on the road and I owe him big time for some of them. Like - never conciser yourself as a bum, you're not even if people might think you are at times. You've got the choice to be out there living of the road, they don't. I never considered myself as a bum, a homeless person, until I got confronted with some of my old friends and family back in Sweden asking me where I was living now and I said - on the streets. Or on my best buddy's couch for the summer. And no, I don't have a home. I have the road. He also taught me a few hitching tricks that really work and are well known amongst the "professional" hitchers.

1. Never stand/walk with your back to the traffic, they want to see you and some of them are more likely to pick you up if you are walking - showing them you do really wanna get to your destination however far it might be!
2. Never ware anything that will cover your face, no sunglasses or hats!
3. Trust your instincts! If you don't wanna accept the ride, then don't!
4. Try to get the sun out of your face so you can smile and look the on coming traffic into the eyes.
5. However tempting, never curse a driver that just went past you. They might come back and pick you up or the car behind them will see that you're no fun and games at all. (Several people have come back to pick me up!!)
6. Have clean and nice clothes, not to dark and not to freaky.
7. The stretch of road you're standing on has to be strait so that the on coming traffic can see you from far away. Preferably low speed.
8. Always try to hit the beginning of the big roads outside of the city's - on the right side of the city! Even consider taking public transportation to get to a good spot, ask local people for help with finding one but know that they aren't always experts when it comes to knowing how a good spot for a hitcher is all about.
   
9. Travelling alone as a girl you might not wanna have a sign. That way YOU can ask the driver where he/she is going before accepting the ride. This gives you a couple of seconds to decide if you wanna get into the car or not.
10. Look like you are a traveller, not to much luggage so they don't think they can fit it but not to small - you haven't just missed your bus home.
    

I've seen a lot of hitchers that haven't applied to these guide lines along the road but if you all keep to them we'll be getting a better reputation then the one us hitchers are having now. And a huge thanks to D that inspired me to really start my adventure. I hitched for about a bit more then 3 months in New Zealand before I flew up north again and I loved it. Even though hitching isn't always fun and games. Everyone who's ever done it can tell ya that.

And oh, as you might have guessed by now - I did have a small crush on D but he had to much of an ego for me to even wanna act upon it, besides we stayed at Chill-a-While for a week and I soon noticed that it was just a pure fascination for all his adventures. In fact many - far to many - of the New Zealand guys have a huge ego that is extremely annoying, they seam to think the world of themselves. Not all of them of course but a lot more then I'd first thought, looking back at it. Girls on the other hand didn't realise that there could be something else then just "oh, we're drunk kissing other girls" - action. None Heterosexuality is not that common, not the places I've visited or I might just have always missed the more "open minded" people while on the road. But hey, you weren't easy to find!!