Today at noon I start from Baia Mare. I never hitchhiked before and I am a bit nervous about the idea.
I bet my my luck for 20 minutes near Dedeman but nobody stops. I am starting to feel discouraged. It is hot outside, around 30 degree Celsius, but feels hotter in the sun. I don’t drink water because I don’t want to sweat more.
My mother calls me to ask if someone picked me up. I don’t want to recognize I am scared nobody will pick me up, so I just stood strong and I said no, but I also say that someone will stop. She didn’t accept the idea I am hitchiking. She didn’t even accept the idea I am traveling Greece for a month. She is not supportive in my plans, so I don’t tell her what I really feel. I am afraid to tell her. Because I might lose credibility and because she might think she is right I shouldn’t leave. Yeah, instead of focusing on the road ahead, I had to take care of this parental luggage.
A man comes from my left, from the city direction. At first I believe he just pulled over behind the truck which is 50m up the road and he would pick me up.
He seems to be 50 years old, walking towards me with his shirt’s buttons all open, showing his undershirt. It felt just grosse, but I try to be polite and optimists about everything, so I cheer him. He is not driving, but he is hitchiking as well. Only that he is doing it with the money. I stick to him for a while and we try to hitchike together, even though I feel I am loosing credibility coupling with him. He looks like the kind of person you wouldn’t pull over for. I mean, he literally has his belly revealed, easily visible to any car or airplane which could pass. Would you stop for him? But one must try everything and one must appreciate whatever is given to them.
We walked down the road a kilometer and a half, right after the junction which connects this way with two more roads.
This guy is living in Reșița, but is currently trying to arrive in Zalău. Our roads are different, but we can still be partners for a 20km ride.
Here, at the new place I just saw him being really rude to the drivers and trying to make them stop by force. He puts his right foot on the road and he leans towards the cars coming, with his hand in the air, trying to attract the attention of the drivers and begging for a ride. I felt he was not doing this right and I felt ashamed I could be compared with this man. No offense, I always try to be polite even to the drivers. If they have seats and they don’t want to take you on, don’t be rude and try to convince more. And don’t scare them.
Me and the folk from Reșița split. He was staying down the road at 30m distance from me and I just try to do everything in my own way. I put my backpack laid on the ground, I take my panel in my left hand and I thumb up. Nobody stops for 25 minutes. I walk down the road for a couple of meters, then I stop for a pause and for a quick meal to give me energy. I use some sweets to increase my dopamine and to strengthen my moral, I lay in the grass, beneath some threes and then I receive the second call. This time it is my sister. She checks on my trip progress. I just tell her I am taking a break, but I start feeling the weight of uncertainty about my trip coming from her too. I didn’t even progress anything towards Cluj and I already feel I totally discouraged and with no support around me. But after I hang up I start watching the horizon and the area around me. I see nature’s beauty around me and I find my support in the picture I take. I feel charged up again and I take my backpack and start walking.
And I walk, and I walk. I arrive to the next town, Recea, I thumb up in one mote place, then I just continue walking. I already walked 6km and it didn’t seem that I will find any cars, but I was fine, I had beautiful nature around and I had nothing to worry about. I have time.
Then I enter the next town and I find a pack of trees, shading my way and cooling me down.
It’s already 1 o’clock and I have done only 10km. I am not falling again in despair, but I try realistic. I cannot do all the distance just by walking, so it’s a necessity to find a car. I pass a courtyard and I see locals sitting inside on the bench. I ask them if they know a place to hitch and they pointed a place few hundred meters away. Good, this is a big win. At least I gained knowledge from someone, so I feel like the possibility chances are increasing. I start to hope again. I go to that place, I leave my backpack flat on the ground and I just pull my finger upwards. No more panel. Just me, in the village center, during a sunny hot day. Cars pass and pass, but the forth one pulls over. This is the first car that ever stopped for me. Now I am going to tell him I don’t have money to pay the ride. But what if he says no? Nobody else stopped before. And I was on the main road, in high traffic, lots of cars have passed, but none stopped. I didn’t even got to tell anyone I am not going to pay because there was none who has stopped. But I get closer to the car, I thank the driver and the first thing I tell him is that I cannot pay the trip. My heart stopped for a moment while waiting for hid answer. I was so scared I would not find anyone else to stop. But exactly 100 milliseconds later he tells me it is fine. Angel. I got really impressed. Hope. That’s what Emanuel gave me. Not the 90km ride, not his opinion about people who should stop and pick up hitchhikers, but only hope. I feel again I can do it.
He went in a total different direction than I was needing, but anything was just better than what I had. I even got the time to power nap on the road, which charged me up.
He’s a good auto mechanic in Oradea I can say. He talk-thought me ways to push more power from my engine only with sport filters: air, oil and particle. He got 30 more HP on the one he is driving. And his car is moving amazingly.
In Zalău, I arrive on the other side of the city, not the one that leads towards Cluj. I walk a couple of kilometers, but the road is not going to end. I take rests, I try to hitchike from this part of the city, even though I know is less probable I will find someone heading directly to Cluj from here.
Close to a factory, two men see my panel and they tell me about the bus station towards Cluj. When I tell them I have no money, they were thinking I am arrogant and they thought it is not possible to do it. But I got belief in what happened with Emanuel. After sometime they approached me, reconsidering their opinion and trying to help me. They tell me to take the bus to the other side of the city. I am half approving to their idea and I still try to hitchike for free. I was trying to keep the money only for the cases when I really need them. (Future me here thinks I was stupid and stubborn, the price for the ticket was low, so I should definitely take the bus).
After half hour, at 3:00, I take the bus. I decide the trip is more important than my stubbornness. On the bus I am searching a poster with the phone number where I could send message for a ticket. Surprise. There is none. There is only the machine that pins the ticket. Opa. What do we do? What if a controls comes. Maybe it is better to hop off at the next one and buy a ticket. But I will have to wait one more hour to catch the next bus. It is Sunday. Bus is scheduled at a low frequency. Let’s ask someone. No, the ticket is only available in some stations where you have to hop off. Well, that sucks. And I am tired to manage this problem. So, yolo, I try my luck. So the past stubborn me wins this fight, I don’t pay. And I get to the destination. And another rider tips me to talk to the driver for a further ride. I even convinced the driver to take me 1 more km. Without even having a ticket. How convenient. I even feel a little bit bad for my behavior. But, again, I am too tired to care.
In the new spot, I already see the local community of “autostopiști” and I am encouraged. The next thing to do is to start hitchiking. A man, staying in front of his parked car asks me how much I am willing to pay him for a ride. He saw my panel. I felt insulted. I was convinced people like Emanuel are out there and they would help me. I told him I am not able to pay and be started to laugh. He tries to lower my moral, telling me nobody’s going to stop. And start reconsidering my judgement over him. I think that driving people for money is just his way of living. I cannot blame that. So I just continue minding my own business and showing my cardboard to people driving. I smile, I keep myself in one piece, but I also start considering to camp in the forest ahead. It is already 5 and there are 80km ahead, so it might be difficult to reach my destination today. A group of women politely invite me to walk a little further for a better spot to hike. I follow their instructions and in the next 5 minutes I get another ride, luckily to the my target for the day: Cluj-Napoca.
It is 3:30, I got my ride to the proposed location, so this was a great day for myself. I did my first hike in my life without money and I felt more liberated I dared to ask the people for help. Because telling them I travel with no money is like asking for their help. And I was never good in asking for help. Especially from strangers.
Tomorrow I target Sibiu, then, the next day Bucharest.
For today I will enjoy my stay in the students’ campus with Dan, Radu and Alin and I meet my ex-flatmates in the city center Alex and Roberto.
