During 2015 I travelled from the South of Argentina to the North of Colombia. During our trip time in Argentina and Chile we only travelled using the cheapest and probably funniest way of travel: hitchhiking.
Before traveling to Argentina and Chile I already had quite clear that what we wanted to visit those two countries hitchhiking, or how is it called there: "with finger" or "a dedo"
I had tried hitchhiking in Myanmar following the advice of a Argentinian couple and the results were magnificent. What was going to be a monotonous journey in a tight and crowded minivan became a little big adventure aboard a truck, with two Burmese drivers who didn't speak English, with a well-deserved stop for drinking beer along the way. Thinking about how expensive was the transportation in Argentina and Chile, we decided to explore them using this method, which is undoubtedly the cheapest that exists after your own legs.
We arrived in Ushuaia and our friends encouraged us to "hitchhike" as many people did it there. In the end, we travelled more than 5000 km just with our fingers, in 40 different vehicles, crossing the Andes twice. In this post I will try to explain a bit about the truth and lies of the hitchhiking from our own experience.
SECURITY
The first thing that perhaps comes to mind if you're imagining yourself in the middle of Patagonia with a raised finger is security. Will a serial killer stop? Jack the Ripper? The devil in person? It was the first thing everyone asked us before we went there and nothing is further from reality. There is no official statistics of hitchhikers kidnapped in the world, but I would say that 99,74% of the people in the world is good and has good intentions. In our case it was 100% but we read some cases of people who had some minor problems, especially girls solo travellers. The great majority of people who crosses your path is friendly and helpful and we saw that reflected during our trip.
Anyway, there are some precautions that must be taken to avoid scares:
-Do not hitchhike at night. Never. This is the first rule that you have to comply and only in desperate situations you should ignore it. It is likely that anyway no one will take your at night.
-If you travel with someone is much better. Probably the best is to be two hitchhikers because more will prevent the driver to stop.
-Try to notify someone always your route. You can send an e-mail to a family member or friend if you have access to the internet and warn them of your next moves.
-If the person that stops does not inspire confidence simply decline the offer. Remember: you are not obliged to join any car, for sure another one will come.
-If inside the vehicle you do not feel comfortable with the person, you can ask politely to stop and drop you somewhere where you can find other transportation.
-If you have a phone with local SIM is better as you never know when you might need to call the police.
-If the situation gets really fuzzy and you want to go, never jump from the vehicle in motion. Try to do it when the vehicle stops and never use the handbrake for stopping.
HOW TO DO HITCHHIKING?
Perfect. You have already decided to hitchhike and use the magic powers of your finger to move the world. Now what?
The first time you do it you feel a little weird. You are not accustomed to being in this position and you can feel a little ashamed but nothing happens, it is normal. When you take some trips you will feel much more confident.
The idea behind is that someone stops to drive you, so it is best to wait with a smile on your face, go to places with good traffic and your nicer look in the eyes of drivers. A study showed that eye contact with drivers doubles your chance of being picked up!
The best thing is to reach the exit of cities/towns and start to hitchhike from there. Within the city it is difficult (but not impossible) that someone picks you up. Situate yourself in a place where cars will see you from a distance and can slow down well and doing so will increase your chances of being picked up.
It is also a good idea to get to some area of service and ask people if they can take you. Your chances increase with a nice speech and you don't have to wait on the route!
About the sign, we did not use it, although we saw people that it did. The reasons are simple: the driver has to pay attention to your poster (which not everyone will do) and if not going to this place maybe it won't stop.
It can sometimes be the case that you find someone waiting in place that you had planned. Besides being a good chance to meet people they can also give you an estimate of the time that they have been waiting for. The ideal and gentle is that you place yourself waiting a few meters ahead waiting for your turn. It happened to us that someone came and stood before us. In this case you can kindly comment you came before and if the person refuses to help you, you have two options: stand before him/her or stay by his and prove to the driver that you are much nicer and interesting than the other person :D
Once in the car try to always be courteous and friendly. Be careful when placing your backpack and do it where the driver indicates. The person that stops might be from super quiet to the more talkative person of the world (especially in Argentina) so you must be prepared for everything. Usually people are friendly and are interested a lot on your trip, your life and your stories. Don't miss these occasions to know that popular restaurant that serves the best dishes of the village or hidden gems somewhere that only the locals know about!
The wait can sometimes be long, although we never waited more than 1 hour and a half despite being in the middle of nowhere, in places where there is only desert, road and wind. Sometimes, someone takes you within 1 minute to hitchhike! During waiting times, it is important that you are ready for cold, heat, wind, rain, insects, etc so try to check the weather forecast before you start your tour!
OUR ROUTE
Below you will find our path in hitchhiking by Argentina and Chile. At each point you can find a brief explanation of how got to the destination and the time of waiting. Still, never wait more than one hour and a half which is probably the same thing that you expect for a bus to pass.
You can check the full animated map in this link
CONCLUSIONS
Hitch-hiking in Argentina and Chile was one of the most fun adventures we had as travelers during all our trips so we recommend that to you without any doubt. We encourage you to try it at some point in your travels only to discover the feeling of traveling freely with someone who will not ask anything in return for taking you and perhaps you will discover a new way to move and travel while you get to know amazing people!
HAVE YOU EVER DONE IT? WOULD YOU TRY?
In Argentina is very common to hitchhick, not only for backpackers travelling in a budget, also for local people: police, villages people, my 90 yo grandmother... hahaha.
My father told me that the car broke and my grandmother had to go to the following town in someone's else car in the middle of Patagonia (not the nice Patagonia that a tourist can imagine - the arid and dessertic Patagonia).
And yes, in 2005 and even now Argentina is very expensive. :(
Find funny that there is actually kind of protocol to follow to hitchhike, and unwritten rules! I have travelled a lot but never tried hitchhiking, but coming to think about it im sure most of the time you will be a lot more confortable than crammed into a tiny bus with a load of other people.. Will keep it in mind and will wait for the opportunity.
I liked the post, keep them up, Ill send a follow!
Thanks for your comment!! yes indeed it's much more comfortable sometimes, but others you go on the roof or the back, which is not comfortable but funny ;) I really recommend everyone at least to try it. Very fun!
This post is so so interesting, thank you for sharing and all the helpful tips ! I am a girl and would be to scared to hitchhike alone (like you said better if you are 2 persons). But I am so fascinated from you story! I can just imagine what a big adventure it was and how much you have experienced. Someday I wanna try it.
Yes it was really a great adventure!! We meet some girls travelling alone and it was fine, but it's maybe a bit more recommendable to be at least two persons. It's specially safe in Asia! Try it and you will enjoy for sure!
Yes, hitchhiking is an incredible experience in life. Only in it you can open the country and people again. Your story is incredible)
absolutely agree!! the best way to discover a country :)