Feeling inspired after RAG’s successful Jailbreak event last month? Keen to give Hitchhiking a go? HCX explores the truth behind this event, and the realities of hitching a lift with strangers.
The things that they don’t tell you in the handbook:
It is crazy. It is very, very crazy. The handfuls of free Red Bull that we grabbed at the launch only fuelled this craziness.
Yes you can have too much caffeine! (I mean thank you for the free red bull and coffees but I regret taking all offered caffeine in the first few hours of leaving.)
Sometimes you make the most progress by staying still.
Yes, your tracker looks rubbish when you stay in Exeter for four hours. People will already be at the airports but do not panic because whilst they are stuck at Bristol unable to fundraise you are still making money from businesses and locals.
You will not have packed the right things. No matter how organised or worldly you think you are, you will not pack the correct things. Everyone told me I would be cold, so naturally I took a woolly hat, thermals and spare gloves. Then you end up in Turkey having nothing suitable to wear. But just accept it, and don’t worry about needing sunglasses but only having a nice woolly hat.
The world is a weird and wonderful (and dangerous) place. Nothing prepared me for the strange hotel lobbyist who asked for a glass of our wine, then came back later to ask for more. And nothing prepared me for the uncomfortable feeling of intimidation at the Ukraine border. But just enjoy everything. Embrace getting lost on the metro and then technically crossing into Asia (but having to go straight back so you don’t miss your flight.)
Embrace eating weird things at weird times (I am talking baklava on a 2am National Express and the random assortments of free chocolate you were given.)
You will do strange things like decide it’s a good idea to jump over the barriers on the underground before getting stuck behind the barriers without a ticket. And you will have sudden spurts of energy and excitement (booking the tickets to Istanbul) as well as moments of despair (realising Canary Wharf was an expensive useless detour.)
Things you never thought would happen, do. You get a photo taken in the pilot’s cockpit of your fourth flight. You end up tweeting Obama as you are so desperate that you might as well!
At some points you lower your standards and don’t even take your makeup off. Then you decide you are so Exetah so have muesli, Rosé and cheesecake for dinner.
Overall, Jailbreak (and hitchhiking in general) is amazing. It may be seen by many as a ‘free holiday’ but it is hard work. It ends up costing a lot (partly as you end up buying hundreds of souvenirs and ‘treats’ for getting so far) and you get badly judged for trying to ask people for money whilst they are in Business class. You will have wicked, strange and often unexpected stories to tell. You will achieve more in 36 hours then you thought possible and of course you might fail miserably and not even be able to get out of Exeter. It is not for the faint hearted.
You have to be prepared to be unprepared and expect the unexpected. But it will definitely be worth it (even if you do end up regretting all of the red bulls.)