And now?

I am Albi and I will be hitchhiking through the world for a wee while. On this website I report everything that happens during this journey. Here you can read about it in detail.

I've been hitching for 8 years, 11 months and 8 days now. Together with Hanna I went from our hometown in Northern Germany to the beautiful Scotland. I've been working there for bed and board for half a year (the cold half). Then I hitchhiked on my own to the Spanish coast. From there I hopped on different sailboats and made my way step by step to the Caribbean. My aim is to reach South America.

Generally, I try to spend as less money as possible while travelling. There are a few reasons for doing it:

First of all, it makes it possible for me to travel for a longer time period. Also, this way of traveling is opening doors, which might have stayed shut if I was booking busses, hotels and flights ahead. It's unbelievable how many hospitable people I have already met, from the ones who gave me a lift. These unconditional offers from complete strangers make me brave enough to continue the journey and to discover more countries. Furthermore, it forces me to travel slowly. So I can experience the actual distances between two places more realistically, instead of flying in 12 hours from one continent to another. By meeting locals through couchsurfing and hitchhiking I can feel the transition between cultures, when they let me see their country through their eyes.

Working for board and lodge makes me reflect the actual work I'm doing. It's such a wonderful thing, how many skills you can learn as a traveler and what places you are allowed to see. On the other hand, if there's a job that doesn't fulfill me anymore or if I can't support the idea behind, it means to pull up stakes and get going. This can be tiring as well, but usually it's also very rewarding to have been taken the decision.

I'd love to make it a hitchhiking world trip, but I don't know if at some point the desire in me grows big enough to go back home and see everything there from a different angle. To settle down, to rest the restlessness, not be be a guest... this belongs to a fulfilling life as well. At least for me.