WHere?! Nomad Local Blog

“Are you going to hitchhike to Spain?”, my Dutch friend said before I left her house. “Take care; it can be hard in Lyon.” And certainly, it was! I stood up there for six hours and didn’t make it!

I crashed her couch for three days, and the plan was easy: to get from Lyon to Barcelona by hitchhiking, which I thought was not going to be hard after doing it in Slovakia (from Žiar nad Hronom to Prague). and it didn’t take that long.

But in Lyon, I did the same, and I spent hours standing near the highway in the middle of summer (around 35°). So ended up spending an hour walking back to her place, and taking a bus two days later.

Getting a ride by hitchhike!

The most popular budget-cultural travel mode is hitchhiking, in other words, standing up in the middle of the highway to see if someone takes you.

I’ve met many people who have traveled like this for months, like a Czech girl, Nicola, whom I hosted in Puebla. I was impressed by how she was traveling in this way around Mexico.

She taught me some really good life advice: never be scared, just be careful and that’s it. And the last day I saw her was in the closest gas station on the highway to Oaxaca and she made it! (she said this to me in a message a couple of hours later.)

But you just have to be careful, because in Mexico, Slovakia or Turkey, it might be easier to do it. But not everywhere, and it can get more dangerous when you’re a girl in some countries.

Girls are always more vulnerable to this kind of travel. I’ve heard from other female travelers that the best thing you can do about it is to trust your gut. There are many signs when a driver wants something more than just a chat in the highway, like being really pushy or even in the way the person communicates.

That’s why you always have always to ask friends from any country how it’s the situation before doing it. All in all, another good piece of advice is hitchhinking with another person. I’ve found other people doing so on the way. And be always sure to have water and places nearby where you can get some wifi, in case you need help.

“(A Czech girl) taught me a really good life’s advice: never be scared, just be careful”

The thing is that you can find a raid, many people travel like this. There are websites that find you the best spots.  Nevertheless, you must consider that it won’t always work out, so have a Plan B as well, in case it gets harder. And think about it twice during the summer…

Sharing travels

Many people are constantly traveling from city to city because of work or family stuff. And most of the time, they go alone, or they have some free seats that they may share.

In that case, some people opt to post their travels to fill that extra space, and what they get back is some cash for gas (but certainly half price than a bus ticket), as well as a travel partner. Sometimes I also have shared my ride because I need to talk on the highway to avoid feeling sleepy.

So Blablacar is the plan B if you do a nomad travel or you make a trip with a tight budget. I’ve used it several times in Mexico and is very friendly. Only select where you want to go and where are you, and set the time you want to leave.

The advantage of sharing a trip in Blablacar is that you have the opportunity to practice the language of the country you are in, which it’s important if you want to live the best local experience (besides than staying with them).

On Where?!: Why did hosting travelers change my life? What to do before being a nomad

Likewise, you must follow your gut when deciding which ride would be the best to take. Once a guy told me to pay him 30 euros for a ride, more than the bus. So obviously it was a scam.

Buses & flights, the last options

The very last cheap option is conventional transportation, like buses or flights.

I suggest taking local buses, which you can find mostly at the main stations. Normally, these buses don’t have the best service and can take longer to arrive at their destinations, but they’re cheaper.

Also, Flixbus is a good option, but you have to pay more, so it’s not that cheap but they’re really useful due to they have roads in most of Central-Europe countries.

Nevertheless, you might save a lot of money whether you take these buses (from 16 to 8.90 euros for example), and it can be even more if they’re at night (besides you skip a day in a hostel if you take one of these.)

And only in certain situations, when they are long-distance travel, it’s better to be ready to take flights which can be even more affordable than buses. I’ve found some in 17 euros, like from Vienna to Bucharest!

Nevertheless, you have to take into consideration that if you want to keep it cheap, you can only travel with a handbag, for example in Ryanair, because otherwise you will pay double for extra cabin luggage.

“Flights can be even more affordable than buses… (but) you can only travel with a handbag.

My suggestion is to check out the flights on Skyscanner, which it’s a website that compares flights between companies and gives you the best ones. Only enter to the website, choose where you want to fly and the dates, and it will do all the work. You can check it out by months to see when it’s the cheapest flight as well.

But make your own research later in the original websites, to check availabilities and prices. But most of the time, these prices are accurate.

In the end, the ways of traveling depend on every person. And each one has different porpoises if you want to get immersed in the culture, or you want to skip nights (which can make your trip more affordable), or make long-distance travels.

Choose wisely and you’ll have the best experience traveling while saving money, and you’ll probably meet amazing people on the way too.

Would you give it a shot?

• How to Understand People: Identifying Mirrors to Improve Your Life and Travel Experiences
• Moving to Another Country: Why Locals and Immigrants are Equally Important in Life
• Action and Patience: The Secret to Turn a Cultural Travel Sustainable
• Sickness when Traveling: Emotional Balance, the Key Factor of Health
• The Secret to Become Polyglot: Learning Languages with People in a Cultural Travel