For many people it sounds strange that there are, in 2013, still people traveling around using their thumb to hitch a ride. However, for many backpackers all over the world, hitchhiking still remains one of the key ways transport to get around in a country. Albeit hitchhiking might entail unsafety in some countries, I believe that it is an enriching and amusing way of getting around in a country. By referring to my own personal hitchhiking experience, I will dig into the hitchhiking culture in Costa Rica.

Last weekend, our community development intern, Guillaume, and I hitched around the central valley in Costa Rica. With the help of locals and tourists, we reached the sights and villages we wanted to visit. Moreover, people who gave us a ride told us about places we did not yet know about. When we got a ride to Poás Volcano, our 50-year old Tico (Costa Rican) driver with a typical moustache told us that we should actually also check out a very nice laguna and showed us some beautiful photos. He even invited us to come and visit him in another weekend, so he could teach us how to fish in these areas. After exchanging phone numbers and getting dropped off, we still had a couple kilometres to go to the entrance of the Poás Volcano park. Within minutes, a middle-aged Swiss couple gave us a ride all the way up to the top. We shared our Costa Rican travel stories with them and they taught us about the Swiss way of life.

For our next ride we did not even have to use our thumb. We met two guys from Washington and New Jersey in the park who were willing to take us back down. Around 3pm, we felt that we would have to start looking for a place where we could stay overnight. Instead of hitchhiking, this time we chose to opt for a bus which would take us close to the place we wanted to visit the day after, Juan Castro Blanco National Park.

A local student in the bus told us we should definitely stop by a small village called Zalcero. In this rustic rinky dink town, which is famous for its organic farming life, we pitched a tent on a hill with a view over the town. The sympathetic local student guided us all the way up the hill where the three of us -Guillaume, the local and I- consumed a beer while learning about the farmer culture in this town.The hill was part of the meadow and, every once in awhile we would be confronted with the cow staring at us, only a couple meters away.

The next morning we met a cowboy, with a lasso in his car, who gave us a ride to the national park. The vaquero (cowboy) loved to acquaint us with the cowboy way of life in Costa Rica. His tall tales made us almost forget the scenery we were driving through. On the way back from the national park, this scenery was even more miraculous as the fog started to encircle the road as well as the tall trees. When looking down the valley, we could see nothing but one big cloud. We sure would not have seen nearly as much as we would have visited the places using only buses or our own car. At no point did we have to wait longer than one hour and we made use of more than 10 rides. By and large, Costa Ricans are very hospitable people who are pleased to help the tourists out. Therefore, I consider it as one of the best places to hitchhike.

If my above experience did not impress you enough, below I listed the most important reasons why one should hitchhike:
– You make new friends
– You get to visit places you did not know
– You learn a lot about the local culture
– You get to improve your knowledge not only the countries language but also many other languages, when getting a ride from tourists from another country
– It is very, very cheap (free)

Clearly, there is not one side to hitchhiking. Therefore, I also listed the most important things you should take account when you are gonna raise your thumb.
– You don’t know the people who give you a ride, try to always hitchhike in couples.
– Check out hitchhike experiences on the internet per country. A good tool to use is hitchwiki.
– Hitchhiking might be a lot more time consuming compared to using public transport or your own car.
– Don’t hitchhike when it’s dark.

If you have the time in Costa Rica, I can only recommend to take some rides, improve your Spanish and learn about the culture by putting out your thumb. Lastly, but certainly not least, it is common in Costa Rica to ask the driver if he needs some small money for the ride. You will soon find out that the driver in 99% of the cases will wave your offer away. And don’t forget, keep always smiling!

Please share your hitchhiking experiences with us! bram@tropadvent.org