Ditch the cheap flight itch and choose to hitch!

A 10-minute wait and a car pulls along side you. They didn’t have to stop. What requirement do they have to pick up a shabby looking man with a rucksack and let him ride in their car? Why should they trust that you don’t mean any harm and just want to come along for the ride? They have no duty to help me out, or anyone else for that matter. Yet time and time again they do. My love affair with hitch-hiking began with Warwick Jailbreak. What started as a fun charity activity has now evolved into a routine means of travel.

To describe what hitch-hiking is tricky. A trip of 100 miles could take 2 hours or 7. The beauty of this means of travel is the true unexpectedness and sense of adventure that comes with it. You never know who will pick you up; you never know where they will be going, you never know what their background may be. The joy of this type of travel is the questions left unanswered before leaving. Sure, you could buy a train ticket, wake up at 7am and hop on your Eurostar ride to Paris. But where’s the fun in that? It’s just a series of knowns. Hitch-hiking, on the other hand, is a series of unknowns.

In coherence with Go Green Week (check out their schedule- there’s so much going on!), I want to make the point that hitch-hiking is the only true environmentally- friendly means of travel. Of course, a train ride’s better than a flight and a coach ride’s better than that, but why not go the whole hog and go carbon neutral. Jump in someone’s car and go with them to the place that they’re already heading to, making that journey far more fuel-efficient per-person and avoiding the increased demand for other forms of transport (and thus increased emissions) you would otherwise have to use. Add to that the knowledge sharing and improved view of humankind that you get when sharing a lift with a complete stranger and hitch-hiking suddenly seems to be the most efficient and invigorating experience possible when going from A to B.

Contrasting this to a flight; you buy a ticket (admittedly they can be very cheap these days). You go through the ordeal of airport madness, sit on a plane, put your headphones in, maybe take a little nap, wake up 3 hours later and you’re in your destination of choice. Just think about how crazy the whole concept actually is! All the beautiful places you’ve just flown over? Hurling your emissions on them whilst you’re at it! No knowledge, no adventure but serious damage to the atmosphere.

‘Hitch-hiking’. ‘Tramping’. ‘Thumbing it’. Call it what you like but this art of travel is on a downward trend. This saddens me, yet I sense a reversal. An environmentally savvy generation, constantly looking for the next adventure and ‘authentic travel experiences’ surely provide the perfect audience for this dying art to re-connect with. The fact that so few people do it nowadays should surely make it more appealing, rather than put people off, as the experience is made even more special by the fact that you’re one of a few and not a million. The environmental point also deserves more focus. When people look at eco-friendly means of travel, they should not just consider trains and coaches. Hitch-hiking should be at the top of the list! So I urge you: confront that €10 Ryanair flight and say no to that Eurorail pass. Put the social stigmas aside, throw the fear out the window and I guarantee you an enriching, exciting and unforgettable experience, all accompanied with a CO2-free conscience!