Randomness. Spontaneous. Just “whatever”. In the end, it will fit somehow anyway.
This wednesday, I decide, I’m going to hitchhike to Prague. According to google’s maps, it’s just 733 km. Easy to do in just one day.
At 9:00 am I approach the on-ramp in Oldenzaal. As to my surprise, the first car going up the highway already stops. Wow! In his little van, we reach the on-ramp Rheine/Dreierwalde in no time 23 minutes later. If this was one of the usual Enschede-Hörstel trips, it would have been a new record. For sure.
A conversation will not really come up, we’re still somewhat sleepy. He invites me to some events of his scouting team in April, take the flyer, and get out of the car.
On-ramp Dreierwalde. This was the last on-ramp along the A30 I never hitchhiked inbetween Hörstel and the Dutch border. Guess why? No idea, no time to enjoy the view over the fields or think about it, a Mercedes Cabrio already stopps and asks where I want to go. Uh, ehm, no idea, direction Osnabrück. And so I get in. 14 Minutes later, at 9:37, he lets me out in Ibbenbüren, drives towards the on-ramp towards Amsterdam and wishes me a good journey. Me myself just hopes that my dirty shoes didn’t ruined his doormat. It looked more expensive than my whole backpack. Jesus, Mercedes Cabrio….
Realizing that he left me at the wrong on-ramp, walking back to the right ramp, get in position, see the Mercedes approaching again. Shiiit….
Same driver as before, just yells “Ah, threw you out at the wrong on-ramp, but you already got it. Tschööö” and disappears. Whatever.
While I scratch my head, wonder about the hitchhiking speed (37 Minutes, Oldenzaal-Ibbenbüren!), the next car stops. Osnabrück, all right, get in. Usual questions, third time today: Where do you go? - Prag. But this time my driver is confused. “Prag? Wo is dat denn?” (Prag, where’s that?). -Czech Republic, oh okay, still doubtful glances, I change the topic of conversation, and some minutes later, we stop in Osnabrück-Nahne. I check my watch, can’t believe my eyes. 57 minutes only. Time for breakfast.
By the way, he told me that just some meters away from the on-ramp there’s a Currywurst-Imbiss, where you can get your currywurst in 10 degrees of severity. Must be awesome, I hear my driver talking while I jump out of the car. Ok, try it out next time.
OS-Nahne needs some time for the next ride, as usual some local rides I have to decline, then the jackpot: Bad Oeynhausen. The ride was slow, but nice. The driver makes sure I don’t talk to much as he says: “Ok, now I picked you up, but not for entertaining me”. That’s a word, I lean back, and enjoy the countryside we pass by.
Bad Oeynhausen, 11:10 am. I’m still pretty fast on my way, and if there are no traffic jams along the A2, I can make it to Prague before sundown. But hey, Oeynhausen, there was something. Right. The A30 stops, you have to cross the whole city, get towards the approach road and one kilometer later, you are on the A2. I search for the petrol station just before the approach road, but as this is an expensive Shell (or was it Aral?) station, no one even things about stopping here. No cars for 10 minutes, I become nervous, walk towards the approach road. There, Polish and Dutch trucks rush along me, no chance to stop anyone. Shit, we have a problem.
I look up the map, see that it’s just 1 km towards the A2, but hitching at the on-ramp directly as well is no option, as traffic there already drives up to +100 km/h. So, what else? Mh, hitchhiking to the next on-ramp in Porta! I walk some 500 m back along the road towards Minden, hitch a ride easily to Porta Westfalica. My driver promises me that it’s easy to hitch towars the highway from Porta, but no way, another approach road, fast traffic, no hard shoulder. Damn!
A 40-45 min walk through Porta follows, I choose a shortcut through the city center which seems to be a walk up-up-uphill, annoying with a somewhat heavy backpack on your back. Lot’s of stuff you actually don’t need on a short weekend-trip, but whatever, some time later I am along the way to Veltheim. A nice busstop, but traffic doesn’t seem to go this way. The schoolbus didn’t even stop for me as well, but after some minutes an old man stops and brings me further some 5 km towards the Veltheim on-ramp along the A2. “There is nearly no traffic going onto the highway here, most goes up in Porta”, he tells me during our short ride together. Happy Birthday, Porta. The approach road with no way to hitchhike. Thanks anyway, want to give it a try, and suddenly I am there, at an on-ramp of the A2, in the middle of some forest. I wait exactly 30 minutes, while 3 (!) cars pass by.
Options could be to hitch to Veltheim, there towards the next on-ramp in Bad Eilsen. But suddenly a car approaches, blinks, ready to go down onto the highway. I hop and jump like crazy, hope he’s stopping somehow. He does. Auetal, next service station, some 15 km further. Amazing! The little detour around Porta Westfalica costs me 2 hours, but whatever. Back on the road again!