Mind of a Hitchhiker

#MOAH is the travelblog of Iris Veldwijk, a solo hitchhiker who does badass shit. Current updates to on: www.mindofahitchhiker.com !

[mindofahitchhiker]

These are the hitchhiking routes, trips and maps of when and where I've been standing next to the road and blogging for you about solo female travel.

It’s not even all of it..

[mindofahitchhiker]

Experiences of 2015, #3: Tarifa's Digital Nomad Scene • Mind of a Hitchhiker

Tarifa's Digital Nomad Scene. Through the Tarifa Digital Nomads Facebook group I found a couchsurfing host in just minutes.

Tarifa, or how a lone female hitchhiker submerged herself in HTML, SEO and other acronyms.

[mindofahitchhiker]

Experiences of 2015, #1: Albania! All of it! • Mind of a Hitchhiker

Albania has everything: snowy mountains and sunny beaches, Italian espresso or Turkish coffee with WiFi.

Don't worry to travel alone in Albania, it's a lot of fun!

[mindofahitchhiker]

#Hitchhiking solo in #Iran? I'm writing a book on it! Subscribe to the updates on www.mindofahitchhiker.com/newsletter and be the first to know all about it! Photo taken on the island of #Qeshm in the #PersianGulf last year. Hitchhiking sign says "Tabl" (a village on the island). #majanisavarshodar #otostop #bookstagram #autostop #adventuretravel #ttot #digitalnomad #adventure #travel #Tehran #qeshmisland #writersofinstagram #dontmissathing #nextlevelshit #irantravel #iranian_photography #khodahafez #badassery #nonstopautostop #farsi #persia (at Qeshm Island)

[mindofahitchhiker]

Hey, love your blog <3 It's beautiful. I am going on my first hitchhiking trip starting from London tomorrow and heading to Berlin. Very excited and a bit stressed out. Seeing your blog and beautiful photos comforts me a bit.

Awesome to hear that! Best of luck on the trip and don't forget to smile ;) Berlin is spectacular, enjoy!

[mindofahitchhiker]

On the move again! I just left #Málaga to take the scenic route towards #Granada, though I might go to Ronda or #Gibraltar directly to catch some speed again on my way to #Portugal. I've no idea where I'm going, but it's fun to pointlessly #hitchhike in some direction just because of a nice mountain pass, though in #Spain you can't be picky. So far the average of 50% rides with foreigners and 50% with locals holds up, which is the highest I've ever experienced. Let's go more north and see what's going to happen! #hitchhiking #España #autostop (at Plaza De Alhama De Granada)

[mindofahitchhiker]

The Evolution of Packing

I wasn't always a backpacking traveler. Being from a tiny affluent country in Europe, it's pretty normal to go on holidays abroad (privilege!) and I personally don't know any of my fellow same-passport holders who hasn't been abroad. Travel has been a part of my life since birth. Normally, we'd travel by car, giving us plenty of room to bring Stuff™ and sometimes we'd go by airplane. Only for the latter we'd have to really think about what to pack as there's limits to how much Stuff you can bring. 

Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, July 2011. I'm flying to Argentina for five weeks to learn Spanish. My premature birthday present: a huge, lime-green suitcase for checked-in luggage. The weight limit is 23kg and that's what I've loaded into it. Dresses, shoes – yes, even make-up – goes in there. I have to sit on it to close it. I drag the dead weight on the scales for luggage drop-off. Weighing the suitcase at the airport brings the total weight a little under the maximum. Success! Or not... Five weeks later, I've used maybe 60% of the Stuff I put into that huge, lime-green suitcase. I arrived  back at the airport of Buenos Aires with five pairs of shoes on top of the ones I'd already brought, among other Things™ that I counted as Souvenirs™. I can't lift the monster of a suitcase by myself. Panicking about the weight, I drag it onto the scales and see the number climb to 30kg. I look the check-in lady in the eye with trepidation. As I was the first person to check in for this flight and she could probably smell my consumerist regrets, she calmed me down and let me take the 7kg extra without charge. I fly home. The only borderline-genius Thing I bought in Argentina was my first backpack for a meager €18 for some trip with my new friends. Only once more would I use that huge, lime-green suitcase, but now it's collecting dust in the attic of my grandmother's house. By now, I've evolved into a Backpacker™.

That backpack joined me on my first solo-backpacking trips in Scandinavia, when I was still flying. Most of the time, I was able to pack it under the weight limit for hand luggage and I enjoyed the freedom this brought me: no more waiting for Stuff after landing, no paradox of choice for what to wear and manageable weight I could load on my back from the ground with ease. I still bought Stuff though, but slowly I started to kick out the excesses and impediments. No more impractical shoes and clothes, no make-up (the world doesn't care), a near 100% use of the contents. Alas, this cheap backpack didn't last too long, in Greece, 2013, I found a new backpack for €22 to retire the one from Argentina. As I discovered couchsurfing, the need for a sleeping bag became apparent and the size and weight of the backpack went up again. When I wanted to go freecamping, I realized I needed to bring a tent, too. Then I found out that hitchhiking is a really efficient mode of travelling and there's no weight limit. Finally, I bought a guitar and now I was back at carrying a lot more again, but it is worth the weight for me. Now I don't use airplanes with their weight limits anymore except for emergencies, but the struggle to pack my backpack as light and efficient as possible will remain a struggle for life.

Armenia, August 2014. I'm hitchhiking together with possibly the most annoying "I'm a better traveler than you"-guy™ in the world, but there's one thing I envy: his packing skills, or lack thereof. He has a backpack the size of a normal day bag, with an insulation mat hanging on the outside. It weighs 5kg and I'm in awe. By now, I'm at my third backpack, a shitty €17 one bought in Georgia, that had a strap ripping off the first time I put it on when packed. Excluding my tiny guitar, this was about 10kg and I was impressed with myself until I met this guy. By now I've met many of these guys – somehow, they're almost always guys – and I've come to realize that they have to give up a lot of things to travel as light as they do. Things they usually don't bring are a tent, sleeping bag and mattress for camping, and for clothing only one pair of pants, two or three undies and socks, two t-shirts and a blouse. Not even a jacket or sweater for the cold. I'm incapable of that. Oftentimes, my feeling of disgrace for not packing as smartly as they do is cancelled out by their immense stupidity of putting their passports in their bags (Never-Do-This™).

Spain, summer 2015. Currently, I'm at my fourth backpack, an inheritance piece from a family member and it's a good one. The twelve kilos I carry consist of my house (tent, sleeping bag, mattress), my four-season wardrobe, my kitchen (2,5L water, food box plus stove and pan), my guitar and my other Things like a book, playing cards and other optional Stuff that do bring joy to travelling. This backpack is fully equipped to be travelling year-round in pretty much any climate – and that's exactly what I need, having gone hitchhiking since the end of 2013. These Things actually bring me more freedom to do what I want while travelling than if I'd leave them out. I know this is not a static state and will evolve again, but I do hope I'm never going back to being that little girl that carried 80% of her body weight in Stuff she didn't use in Argentina. Moral of the story: cheap backpacks die young, go and find out your own balance of too much Stuff versus too little Stuff and evolve your packing skills where neccessary. Less Stuff makes happy, people.

[mindofahitchhiker]

Street Harassment Abroad - an Introduction

Share this piece if you think it matters! Keep travellin’. We know the drill of catcalling in our home towns and countries and possibly have set up our own systems of avoiding the everyday comments and “compliments” from strangers on our commute. As women or individuals perceived as women – as a collective – we know and even expect this to happen. Once you travel, whether solo or in a group, things become different. Men scream things at you in a foreign language and instinctively you know what it is, but as you don't understand the exact meaning of the slur, you start doubting yourself as to what it is. Don't doubt yourself, you were being catcalled – and you have the right to be pissed off. Sexual harassment abroad is a little different, especially as you'll now feel – presuming you didn't feel like this before at home – as a minority. Well hello new dimension of oppression! 

In some cultures, catcalling and other forms of sexual harassment are so ingrained in culture that women start perceiving it as real “compliments” themselves. Maybe this is also true from the culture you're coming from and you have to take a long hard look at yourself and your peers as to how you interpret these comments and if they change your feeling of safety. Catcalls are never compliments, it's somebody (usually a cis-man) exerting power over you as your body is considered (men's) public property – and being property is being an object – in public spaces. Something like “Smile, baby!” in any language might sound harmless, but this is the cunning way these intrusions on your privacy and person work. You'll probably be warned before going abroad by friends and travel resources about the local levels of harassment, but no matter how well you prepare, you won't know the real situation until you're on the ground. Most warnings will give advice to “simply” ignore catcalls as it's considered the best way to avoid trouble, but sometimes ignoring the situation will aggravate things as the harasser demands a response. There's a reason why guidebooks such as Lonely Planet always have “Go away!” in the emergency language section and a special section for LGB and Women Travellers in the back of the book. I haven't seen a Lonely Planet without the local translation for “Go away!” or “Leave!” and I've had to use it myself on occasion – while my male travel peers never even considered learning these words beforehand. Considering this is only one response to a wide array of different harassment situations, I'd suggest Lonely Planet to also put in phrases like “Don't touch me”, “I'm not interested”, “Shame on you” and “God is watching”, the latter ones being often the make-or-break of a dangerous situation in any deeply religious country.

While for some countries it's the law that women need to dress more conservatively (i.e. some Muslim countries), others don't provide a special dress code and it's all up to you. Just know that whatever you choose to do, dressing conservative or donning a bikini, will both get you street harassment, as harassment has very little to do with desirability and everything to do with power and control. Know that in most countries – yes, western nations too – if something goes terribly wrong, the authorities will give very few shits and mostly put the blame on you, as I've experienced myself too. I've worn the hijab voluntarily in some Muslim countries where it wasn't the law for foreign women to cover up, just to avoid stares and create confusion as to where I was from. In most countries – except for the narrow north western Europe (my origins) – I wear a ring on my left hand as to have a story about a fiancé or husband somewhere I'm hitchhiking to. I'm not ashamed to wear the traditional Islamic head covering for women when in a Muslim country as it's showing a huge amount of respect for culture and gives you more access to that culture, but I am ashamed for that ring on my left hand. A ring has many symbolisms and assumptions, the most obvious ones being “she's a virgin” in case of engagement (many instant kudos) and “she's taken by another man”. Both are problematic as the former keeps the virgin myth alive (in the 21st century) and the latter makes women the property – again, an object – of men. Certain visa applications will straight-out ask you for your father's full name, birth date and whatever if you tick the box of “unmarried” and of course this is only asked to women. This comes from the assumption that if women are unmarried, they're still the property of their fathers. My own father had to laugh from surprise about this, once I told him the story of my visa application to the Islamic Republic of Iran, as in my own culture this idea would be quite silly. In fact, if I'd be dependent on his permission to travel there (or anywhere), I would have probably seen half of the world as I have now. Smell the privilege? Some of my friends have to ask their father permission to obtain a passport! Coming back to the ring: it still doesn't protect you 100% from nasty comments, propositions for sex and downright marriage-proposals. So what is a 100% harassment-proof tool to use when abroad (or at home)? I have bad news for you: nothing will keep you completely safe – even traveling with a man will not protect you from sexual harassment, assault and rape. This is the grim truth of why you don't have to look for a male (or female) travel buddy/chaperone to protect you; bad shit will happen anyway. On the “bright” side, this happens in your own country too. The fact is, it's far more dangerous to live your life as a woman than a man. Yes, being (perceived as) a woman is a risk to your life. So to those who claim that women shouldn't travel at all – whether alone or accompanied – it's really a matter of how you want to live your life until you eventually die. Inside being scared of the outside, or outside, knowing that you can always go back inside? It's all up to you.

Just know: you still don't owe people shit. Not a single smile. I'm gonna get all anecdotal now, but what you read is what you get. Oftentimes, I feel like I didn't respond well enough to the situation and I feel I want to go back there to correct the course of time. How I've handled things in these examples doesn't mean you have to do the same thing, on the contrary, don't handle them the same way; I can do these things the way I do them, often from my privilege as being a white woman from the west. This privilege goes really far and crosses many borders. In the blog posts following this one, I'll write down some stories of the plethora of harassment I've experienced abroad and how I responded to those situations. I'm a female solo hitchhiker and as Lonely Planet correctly and boringly states “hitching is never entirely safe” (duh.. as is breathing), I'm probably taking a greater risk than women travellers who are not hitchhiking. I'm also taking great risks in the way I respond to harassment as I try to have a zero-tolerance policy towards bullshit. Keep in mind it's anecdotal, not exemplary.

[mindofahitchhiker]

A letter of advice to solo female hitchhikers/travelers..

Dear (self-identifying) woman, I usually don’t have solid advice as hitchhiking is very different woman to woman and I don’t think of myself as someone in the position to give you advice, especially the unsolicited kind. While traveling – whether that be by hitchhiking or not – you’ll be in situations I have never encountered and some of my experiences will never happen to you, despite our general similar experiences of going through life (being perceived) as women. The advice I’ve given you on “only listening to other female solo travelers/hitchhikers” is more about “not listening to men’s advice”; they’ll either tell you it can’t be done as a woman because it’s too dangerous, or they’ll tell you it’s completely safe because they claim to have had this experience – they haven’t. Those *two things men advice you – unsolicited or not – translate very roughly into “don’t leave your front door, you’ll be killed” and “I have no clue what I’m talking about, but go jump from a rooftop, I turned out fine”. Clearly, if you listen to either of these, you’re not gonna have a good time..  The point is that men don’t and can’t have the experience you’ll get as they don’t know what it’s like to be a woman in a public space – and traveling/hitchhiking is like being in public space permanently. I could elaborate on how public spaces are considered men’s spaces if you’re not familiar, but other people have written on that better than I ever could. My actual advice? Develop an instinct for bullshit, don’t do things directly because other female solo hitchhikers/travelers are doing it, make your own system of what works and what doesn’t by learning from every experience you have on the road. Simplify things when necessary, learn effective hand gestures to communicate while being culturally sensitive at the same time and get the hell out at the first signs of trouble, while not doubting your decisions. Your safety goes first and you’ll need to do whatever you think is best. Never panic, don’t show fear, always be in control. If you want to do something and you’re seeking advice, think about who you’re asking in the first place, and whatever they say next: take it with a grain of salt, as it is your decision in the end. Out there, your mere presence is power – and empowering others to strip away constraints of their own. Peace, love and tranquility, Iris/Mind of a Hitchhiker * Third option! Maybe you get lucky and a guy tells you “I don’t think I’m the right person to ask”. This guy deserves a cookie/high-five/adaboy/whatever you think is appropriate. A little explanation: I wrote this piece for someone who was seeking safety tips for hitchhiking and she asked me where it was on my blog. So far there wasn’t anything tackling this or clarifying my position, so I decided to copy paste my answer to her from Facebook on here and add and edit a little. This blog is not about giving (unsolicited) advice to other travelers/hitchhikers (m/f/o), it’s about sharing my experiences while hitchhiking and inspiring other people from their electronic devices with pretty awesome pictures and badass stories. I’d never incite someone to hitchhike by telling them “it will change your life!! Just do it!!” as I think that’s incredibly irresponsible and plain stupid. If these posts encouraged someone to hitchhike (while solo while female) it was their idea to begin with and I just showed that it’s not that radical of an idea (yet it somehow still is). All the Q&A and other “advice” you might find on this blog should be read as a “What worked for me..” sort of thing, not an absolute truth.

[mindofahitchhiker]

"Not all those who wander were told to "Get Lost" ~ Iris the Hitchhiker I'm really on a creative roll for the whole "#inspirationalquotes" kind of thing after finding peace, love and tranquillity in the south of #Spain :) first of all you should know that I find a lot of "inspirational quotes" very uninspiring, secondly I like to mock shit occasionally, thirdly, I love practicing my MS Paint skills every now and then to make #Art. One of those sayings you'll find time and again abused by travelfolk is the quote from The Lord Of The Rings "Not all those who wander are lost" by Tolkien, so I decided to make a few changes. Would you send this e-card to a friend? ;) Photo taken close to the Zvernec Monastery in #Vlorë, #Albania #Hitchhiking #hiking #nonstopautostop #autostop #notallthosewhowanderarelost #LOTR #Tolkien #SorryFrodo #inspirational #inspire #inspiration #ttot #travel #MSpaint #comicsans #skills #rtw #travelling #adventure #camping #freecamping #Shqipëri #otostop (at Albania)

[mindofahitchhiker]

Happy birthday!

Thank you! :D

[mindofahitchhiker]

24! Celebrating my #birthday with family and the beautiful mountains and rivers of #Die, #Drôme region, La #France! I think this is the 8th time or so I've celebrated my birthday in France, as we used to go here almost every year when my sister and I were younger, so it's like the good old days! Today we went shopping for gifts, or actually necessities, as the pants in this picture were completely destroyed after 19 months of #travel and getting stuck in places like bushes and fences I had to climb over. NEW PANTS!! Also, I finally have some cooking gear so I can prepare something instead of eating raw stuff at the #hitchgathering in the valley next to this one. Thank you mom! :) <3 #ouiouilavachequirit #hitchgathering2015 #hitchhiking #hitchyourfamily #croissant #speakfrenchtome #goodolddays #nostalgia #camping #ladrôme #syndicatdinitiative (at Domaine du Murier)

[mindofahitchhiker]

Besides meeting the newbie hitchhikers from the #CzechRepublic yesterday here in #Monaco, I also met these two cyclists from #Poland who are doing a big European tour. I haven't seen any #backpackers or that category of travelers since.. #Greece..! That was more than one month ago and suddenly I meet two duos in one day! These guys also have a Facebook page (that I still need to find) but unless you speak #Slavic, you can't follow much I guess. Yesterday's attempt to enter the #MonteCarlo #casino or any other establishment for that matter failed drastically as people didn't allow us to enter anywhere with our backpacks.. what can I say, Monaco has a tough crowd to please, there's too many rich folks and no money no love.. I think even prostitutes get better treatment around town than good willing travelers.. so, who wants to open up a #hostel in this place?!? (at Monaco)

[mindofahitchhiker]

Moody morning in #Monaco #Monacograndhitch2015 #Hitchhiking #France (at Monte Carlo Marina)

[mindofahitchhiker]

Arrived in #Monaco and met these crazy #CzechRepublic guys with a #spongebob #ukelele. We're about to make things down for real, probably at the Monte Carlo #casino. Be prepared for nasty updates.. (at Palais Princier de Monaco)

[mindofahitchhiker]

This morning's #hitchselfie from #Taormina. I slept outside in public for two days in a row now, but it seems like I'm not going to find a shower anytime soon so I'm curious if people will still stop tomorrow. I did #Catania to #Salerno today and I'm probably headed to #Amalfi coast to camp close to one of the hiking trails tonight. Smartest move of the day was asking on the 3km ferry from #Sicily to mainland #Italy for a ride to Salerno and I found one with six musicians from #Napoli who were eager to play my guitar in the van during the long road with free storm and thunder! I haven't seen rain for at least one month and that goes really against my northern European nature where the people apparently need to be watered frequently.. OH YAY I'M BACK ON #THECONTINENT! Now what? Hurry on to get to the #hitchgathering in #France. #hitchhiking #autostop #nonstopautostop #hiking #Italia #speedhitching #ttot #travel #Sicilia #faccioautostop #amalficostera #adventuretravel #travelgram (at Taormina, Sicily)

[mindofahitchhiker]

Was feeling a little #EatPrayLove yesterday in #Siracusa and it's cute small streets, and I really really dislike that movie. I ate some Sicilian stuff that was highly recommended, but the only name that stuck was "arancini", which is a sort of fried rice ball with for example a pistachio filling and general #omnomnom effect. I slept in #Catania, but this morning I moved on to #Taormina and #Messina and now I'm about to cross the strait to mainland #Italy to hitchhike to #Cosenza and #Salerno where hopefully I'm gonna crash on a couch and take a shower. I'm well on track I believe, but I still have 1720km to go to my destinations of #Nice, #Monaco and where the #hitchgathering is at. Just thinking of it makes me tired! #Italia #Sicilia #Sicily #arancini #France #hitchhiking #autostop #couchsurfing #warmshowers (at Siracusa , Sicilia)