Hit the road, Jack!

Moving yourself, moving material, moving with friends to discover other places. EVS is more about mobility than you probably assume in the beginning. Once you realize this, you’ll see that fixed train schedules, long queues at the counter or paying tickets of your tight budget (don’t forget: ești voluntar/ă, nu ai bani!) don’t meet your thirst for movement. Or maybe, you simply want to get home quickly after an exhausting excursion/work day? There are most different situations that demand some more consideration of you as a wily volunteer. In this case, the solution almost suggests itself: streets full of passing cars, half empty, really longing for more passengers! Add the overwhelming Romanian hospitality and willingness to help and whoosh, no reason to be concerned anymore. Modus operandi: HITCHHIKING! The perfect solution to get from place to place and at the same moment get an insight in habits, opinions,... of people in your host country. And I have made very good experiences so far!

After some short moments (if you are lucky) of thumbs up and a desperate expression on your face, preferably a small Dacia stops by to pick you up from the snowy, lonely street. Hardly sitting down in the back of the car, the conversation takes its course. Topics that are covered during a ride range from a crash course in Romanian history to dangers of hitchhiking (in a hitchhiking car). It is really interesting to meet random (in our case) Romanians and hear how they perceive their country and others. I have been told already a couple of times that the drivers would demand some cash in Lei but I guess most of them are way too selfless to take money from foreign volunteers in traffic need.

This is not the only reason that after getting off, you feel an urgent longing to hitch the next random car and let it take you anywhere, wherever the road might lead. Romania and far more places are just at the minute waiting to be explored, this feeling never really releases you again. There should be no reason to hesitate anymore: Take your thumb off the screen and show the road your real-life like!

Daniel