Interesting experience

A French guy commented on my previous post saying he's in the same place so we met ! Kinda crazy thing! He's now hitchhiking all the way back to France! Good luck gros!

Even more crazy with low probability: Dutch guy came to the hostel and after having a good talk he said : "Wait, aren't you the hitchhiker guy on Reddit with a broken arm?" It blew my mind hahahaha

All in the same day !!! This is like really crazy

Hey, I try to go there but I don't know how to go as Google maps says there is no route. Does someone has any info?

That was really beautiful guys!

I got a lift from Trabzon Turquiye to Batoumi Georgia by a cool truck driver. Everything was perfect, he took me after 2 hours of waiting time and was happy I was going to be in Batoumi where accommodations are cheap.

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BUT

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He dropped me before the tunnel of the border because he's going to sleep. He told me he was going to stop 10km before, not 30km.

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So despite the fact that he was nice he just dropped me in the dark where no cars wanted to take me, and of course no truck drivers BC they are heavily controlled.

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The tunnel before the border is 3 HOURS LONG of walking, with cars beside you in the dark !!! My left arm is kinda broken and I did not sleep the night before so honestly the worst moment of my world tour trip so far.

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However, after the first section of the tunnel was kind of truck driver restaurant, I went there following my guts and a group of truck driver talked to me, they were friend with the owner and they offered me food, tea and a ride to Batoumi in the night !

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The story is not ending yet but at least I'm reassured now.

Leaved Paris May 6th for a biiiig hitchhiking trip around the world. Everything was perfect from the beginning of my trip. Had good rides, met great people, was invited several times... The perfect start !

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Unfortunately, when leaving Istanbul I felt and cracked my arm's/elbow bone while walking along a highway. It was not even a dangerous thing honestly, I usually avoid any risks. There was just some gravel, I stepped on it and felt.

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Doctor said today I should not move my arm for 3 weeks and get 1 week of reeducation. If it was just that, it sucks but I can adapt, you know.

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My biggest problem is that I got this Russian visa for 1 month and it ends July 21. If I wait for everything it means I will have only one week to go from Bursa (Turkey) to Kazakhstan: spoiler it's impossible!

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I paid 200€ for this visa and was so much complicated to get honestly.

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I considered leaving in like two weeks but I will never be ready to set the tent with one arm for example. Anyway, I just wanted to share my situation 🥲

I was walking along a highway and I put my feet on some gravel, I instantly felt like a potato and used my left arm to find balance. My hand was bleeding and the arm was progressively becoming painful. Kind of stupid thing that can happen to everyone, ironically I climbed the summit of Mount Athos without issues but cannot avoid falling for this lol

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The Turkish hospital was very nice, fast and cheap (I am insured anyway). Total 20€. Maybe this experience is good to remember that anyone can go to hospital for random reasons and it's always good to be insured especially in countries where healthcare is expansive.

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It's good I am staying in a friend's place right now so I can just chill. The doctor said I need at least one week so it's fine 💪 (he said it's a small crack, I cannot use my arm at all for now tho)

I had so many things to eat for free, this guy was a legend. Thanks to him!

It was a hard day tho, long waiting time and I felt on the ground because it was slippery, so now I can't use my left arm it hurts too much

Literally asked the first Turkish truck if he was going there, driver told me to come and have lunch with him 🙏 I guess catching a ride to Istanbul at the border should be fine

I did not even use the beautiful TÜRKIYE sign I made 😭

Took 3 buses, waited maybe 1.30 hour in total to get them, then I have to walk minimum half hour. It can be so long sometimes... Last time when I wanted to go out of Thessaloniki I lost 4 hours to go the the point ☠️

Cannot resist the urge to hitchhike in this special place lol. Going from one monastery to another can be difficult because there is very limited transportation, so hitchhiking can be convenient

Tomorrow I go to Mount Athos ⛰️🇬🇷

The road was so beautiful guys, the world we live in has to be protected and I'm sure every hitchhiker and driver contributes to this in some ways.

I guess I am going to sleep on a beach tonight, the weather is good 👍

https://hitchmap.com/?user=cavalierrustique&starttime=2026-05-01

https://www.reddit.com/r/hitchhiking/s/jxiytcNrZW

Life is beautiful folks

Leaved on May 6 from Paris for a world tour and arrived to Thessaloniki yesterday where I'll stay a bit less than two weeks, as I am planning to go to Mount Athos.

I have been really blessed for every driver I have met so far, every day was perfect in my eyes! Met a lot of cool people in cars, trucks, hostels and on travelling apps. Was blown away by some buildings, churches (St. Sava in Belgrade!!!), nature, cities. Was invited by lot of people in the Balkans! I have been told Yougoslavia and Italy are hard countries to hitchhike but I personnally had good experiences, low waiting time and hope that lot of other people will experience similar stories.

I just stayed on the highway so it was a fast hitchhiking trip and did not experienced "slow travel" yet, but I plan to do it along the Black Sea in Turkey and again in the future. As I had an appointment to get my permit to Mount Athos I had to speed up a bit ! Also, as a european I prefer to give more time to central Asia during spring/summer !

Link of the map : https://hitchmap.com/?user=cavalierrustique

3mn waiting times in Belgrade and in Nis gas stations. God is good! Will stay there few days before going to Thessaloniki 🇬🇷🇬🇷 take care guys

Average waiting time, 50 mn to go from Zagreb to Slavonski Brod, then around 30-40 minutes to ask people around for a lift to Serbia or Belgrade. Most cars were full so that's why it took so long.

Will stay a day to explore Belgrade then moving to North Macedonia and Greece.

https://www.reddit.com/r/hitchhiking/s/oMFOex6W8h

Literally waited 0 minutes with two lifts

I heard Croatia is a difficult country, I'll see what I do next to go to Greece.

Following this discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/hitchhiking/comments/1ta8jcy/hitchhiking\_in\_italy\_this\_week/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=mweb3x&utm\_name=mweb3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button

https://hitchmap.com/?user=cavalierrustique#filters

I did Milano/Bergamo to Trieste : 370km in one day

I don't want to "ragebait" but it was actually really easy in comparison to what most of the people said ! Honestly everything went so smoothly ! I know a lot of people here had bad experiences in Italy but I want to cheer the Italians because they were actually so cool with me. I had one of my most beautiful hitchhiking day in a country I was really scared to hitchhike. I just hope people can understand it's not impossible and it can actually be fun to hitchhike in Italy.

Few things to consider :

_I speak Italian

_I never used my thumb or the sign on the highway (I always talked to the people)

_I didn't see one single police car in all the stations I went to, and if they were here, what could they do? I'm just standing with a backpack talking to people calmly. They wouldn't even notice me.

_I might look like a traditional european guy with a moustache and a nice hat 🎩 look is important especially here imo

GETTING OUT OF MILANO

I started today from Milano, a friend from this sub suggested to hitchhike from Orio-al-Serio airport near Bergamo. It's 12€ to go there so it might not be interesting for some people (it's literally the price to take a bus to Venezia e.g.) but I wanted to stick to the hitchhiking plan lol. I just used thumb and board VERONA/VENEZIA. It's not on the highway so not illegal.

I was stubborn because I wanted a ride directly to Verona so I can go directly to Venezia after (I was kind of stressed to go on the highway so better to just be there one time) but I have been offered 4 rides to Brescia, the first one after 15mn. So it's not even a matter of speaking Italian or not. People did stop. I struggled more in Romania which was known to be a paradise...

TO VENEZIA AND TRIESTE

There is not much to say : I talked to the people nicely and the people were nice with me. I talked to a lot of people, everyone was cool with me, really. I usually waited around 20-30 minutes. I have stick to the highway all along.

First was an Indian (thumb and board) but all the three people that stopped before for the same destination were Italians.

Second was Italian, looked quite fancy and not the guy who would usually take hitchhikers.

Third was Italian, also a bit fancy but quite normal guy.

Fourth a Slovene guy in a cool vintage van

Fifth a Ukrainian family that dropped me directly in the city center of Trieste despite they were going for Rijeka.

LANGUAGE

My golden phrase was :

Ciao, scusa il disturbo. Per caso saresti andando in direzione di [town]?

Hey, sorry to interrupt you. By any chance are you going to [town]?

And then, I explain quickly my travel project.

IMO it is necessary to learn some Italian if you want to hitchhike in Italy, considering : talking to people = no problems. If you speak to the people in English I think most of Italians just don't want to understand. Italians actually really appreciate when you speak or try to speak their language.

Anyway, I hope this can help some people. Again I don't want to make it sound like it will be always easy, but IMO it's far from the hell people described

From Milano to Venezia https://www.reddit.com/r/hitchhiking/comments/1t6an3v/got\_a\_lift\_from\_lyon\_to\_milano/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=mweb3x&utm\_name=mweb3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button

Wish me luck xD

I am going to stay at the gas stations asking people around, sticking to the highway and hiding my thumb 🥷

I have to be near Thessaloniki the 27th of May.

Hopefully I won't lose too much time, the timeline should be ok