Continuing the theme "I'm so not a hippy, but deep-down I want to be one" I thought I would drag out the story of the time Babes and I thought it would be fun to hitchhike. Actually, that's unfair. I wanted to hitchhike, Babes told me I was crazy, I called him a chicken... you see where this is going.
It was the summer of '95 and we were InterRailing through Europe. (For the non-Europeans: InterRailing is a right of passage for many European teenagers - you buy a train ticket and in return you get all of Europe for a glorious month.) We were touring Greece and on our way to Epidaurus. I thought it would be clever to save some money by cutting out the bus fee. (No trains to Epidaurus.)
The first car that stopped was driven by a kind man who was willing to take us half-way there from the nearest train station. When the time came to get out, the doors wouldn't open. Mild panic set in, but of course the guy just had children and the car's child lock was on.
The next person to stop had a pickup truck. We could sit in the back. After the previous experience, I was a little twitchy about getting inside a car, so I was ecstatic to be in the open air, wind in our hair, whizzing to our beautiful destination. Until he stopped. In the middle of nowhere. Not a building in sight. When we jumped out of the truck, he came at us creepily, waving a condom, frantically asking something in Greek. We ran rather fast. And that was the last time we ever hitchhiked.
The end.
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Was he intending to use it on you while your husband watched? Or vice versa? Either way, eeeew. I would totally be chicken, too; I have never hitchhiked, and now I never will.
ReplyDeleteI still don't know, but I admit I've been kind of curious about that ever since.
ReplyDeleteI was a hippy back in the day, and hitch-hiked loads. I stopped because I was fed up of being scared...of the bad driving. I obviously wasn't as attractive as you or Babes :)
ReplyDeleteI've always wanted to be a hippy. My MIL was and still is.(I'm not joking she's 100%)
ReplyDeleteI find her extremely interesting.
I've never hiked but have picked up. Never alone. The hubby is always driving.
I was a hippy. I hitch-hiked. Enough to know it was not a good idea.
ReplyDeleteGlad you figured it out too.
BTW- I am still a hippy.
You made that second bit of the story up. You definitely made it up.
ReplyDeleteHahaha. I love this! Maybe he was filming a documentary about mating in the wild.
ReplyDeleteEwwwww!!! Nasty! Please tell me you're kidding!
ReplyDeleteI'm a would be hippy, so not a hippy at all. But I hitchhiked, rather a lot, mostly in Ireland when I was surviving on very little money (on my own I should add). I never had a bad experience and count myself lucky for it. I've also picked up - never alone though ;) Your experience is creepy, esp. because you weren't even on your own!!!
ReplyDeleteI used to hitch-hike as a student in Norwich... once (memorably) all the way to Ipswich for a parachute jump. And then, when I bought a car, I used to offer lifts when I could as a kind of quid pro quo.... never seen anyone hitch-hiking now. And I'm not sure if I did, that I would stop. Sad!
ReplyDelete@Pueblo girl - :-)
ReplyDelete@Kingsmom - My mother used to pick up lots of hitchhikers. I think I might, if there were as many around as there used to be.
@Ms. Moon - And I love you even more for being a hippy.
@Iota - I wish I had.
@Angie Muresan - Mmm. Maybe. Or maybe he was some kind of crazy idiot.
@Mad Woman - Not kidding. Absolutely not.
@cartside - I actually love the idea of hitchhiking. Trusting your fellow human and all.
@The Dotterel - It is sad. Because in theory it's a lovely thing to do.
Oh dear! where did you run to??
ReplyDeletewaving a CONDOM??? dear dear dear god.
ReplyDelete@Jo - Into the shrubbery/wasteland at the side of the road. He couldn't follow us there by car at least. I'm so glad there were two of us.
ReplyDelete@screamish - I suppose at least he was being safe. :-)
Scary. And horrible!
ReplyDeleteI would have been too scared to hitchhike, but I did the same trip to Epidaurus with The Doctor in 1993 - by coach. But then was an episode on our Greek holiday where we went to a nudist beach and got propositioned by a greasy nudist wanting a threesome... Needless to say we made a sharp exit.
@nappy valley girl - Ha! We should have gone on that coach. On the other hand, we wouldn't have had the story to tell.
ReplyDeleteThe nudist beach thing is funny, too.
OMG! I have always been far too much of a woos to ever consider hitch hiking. Or even Eurorailing. Pathetic. My anecdotes in comparison, are quite rubbish. This one was quite brilliant.
ReplyDeletewaving a condom? WTF? the mind boggles, really. We get quite a few hitchhikers around here in the summer months, European youngsters that have come for the hiking usually and I do pick them up if I don't have my kids in the car.
ReplyDeleteIn the early 1960's that's how we got around. Hitched everywhere. Never had a problem.
ReplyDelete