Berlin, DE – Roskilde, DK
My day started quite early with 5h of sleep and a bunch of things I still needed to do before we left. It felt strange to put on my ridiculously heavy backpack (I have over 25kg of luggage I think) and start walking to the main road. So strange to think this tiny act was the start of travelling to Northern Norway and not knowing where I’d end up tonight or if I’d even get there.
As I left our farm and said goodbye to the horses, I got a text from my mum saying that today was the worst hitchhiking weather possible because a massive storm was in the forecast and a look at the weather map told me it would be following us all the way to Norway. I decided to leave anyway, hoping that it might increase our chances of being picked up out of pity, especially with Eistla. Just as I left, it started to drizzle a little.
We still had to get a dewormer for Eistla to be allowed to cross the Norwegian border, so our first stop was the vet in neighbouring village. I wasn’t sure how to get there, but I decided to hitchhike there also. A good start.
My first spot was the main road next to where Iive, but that didn’t feel good and I felt super awkward standing there and waiting for cars to stop just to get to the next village. I decided to walk to the centre of my village where there’s a big crossing and try my luck there. As I crossed the road and headed towards a bakery, a couple was just coming out and they were beaming at me: “How’s it been hitchhiking with a dog?”. They probably thought I had just returned. I replied something like: “I don’t know yet. Depends on where you’re going and if you can take me to the next village.” and it turned out that was exactly where they were going, so they dropped us off at the vet. First ride successful!
We had to wait at the vet’s quite a while and eventually another patient (a lady with a dog) came in. Eistla felt very protective of my backpack and the tent in it, so she growled at the dog, but after a while she realised it was in fact possible to be happy about another dog and sniff it and try to play. The lady and I talked a little bit and I ended up asking her where she was driving afterwards. She was in fact driving almost to where I wanted to go to get picked up on the Autobahn to Hamburg, so she took us all the way there. I picked the start of the Autobahn in Berlin as the real starting spot. My experience with the local ramps onto the highway wasn’t great, so I thought I’d have more luck in Berlin, where there was also a better spot to stand.
I got out of the car and had barely sorted my things when the 3rd car that passed me already stopped and said “I’m going to Hamburg, hop in!”. What luck! My sign with all the first stops and flags seemed to work well.
We were driving in a Tesla and had to stop for charging. The sight at the charging station very funny – it was full of Danish Teslas. One Norwegian. A handful of Swedish and very few Germans. So of course I started chatting to every car, still feeling really awkward about it, but all of them were full. Either with large families or full of bags. At least I could use some Norwegian and they answered in Danish which worked really well.
We continued towards Hamburg and I got dropped off at a big rest stop with a petrol station. This was where I stood the longest. Maybe 15mins or so. Most cars were really full, yet again. It started to get incredibly hot, with full sun and blue sky, which I definitely wasn’t dressed for trying to wear my heaviest clothes. I started to wonder where the big predicted storm was. Maybe my plan of being ahead of it worked out, but still, it was hard to imagine that there would be a storm.
After a while one woman had an empty car and was driving a little bit in the right direction. First she said she couldn’t take me because she wasn’t going all the way to Flensburg at the Danish border, so I went to look for someone else, but then luckily realised, that just a bit in the right direction was also helpful and she did want to help. As I was getting my bags to ride with her, someone else approached me because of my sign and it turned out he was going almost to the Danish border, so we rode with him instead. He offered me some fries and lots of other stuff, which was super nice and I was really grateful, but we didn’t actually need anything yet. Interestingly so far all the people I rode with were really big Scandinavia fans.
We got a ride to Schleswig, about 30km from the Danish border. We missed the last bigger rest stop with a petrol station and instead we went to the next small parking space, but it felt right. It also allowed me to sit out the traffic jam we were driving into since there was yet another accident. I checked it out, looking at the cars and asking a few people. There were two girls on the side of the road looking at me with interest and I asked them if they had space, but they said they didn’t have a car and their parents left them there. It turned out they were from the car that had the accident.
Once we reached the other end and exit of the rest stop, there were 3 Swiss people with a car, a camper van and two dogs and we got a ride with them. They were going all the way to Roskilde, almost Copenhagen tonight and it turned out they are actually driving over the Öresund bridge tomorrow. They offered we could camp with them since I have my little tent and that they take us over the bridge tomorrow. So amazing, what luck and perfect timing. Coincidentally, they also missed the other parking space and by fate made it to the small one.
Driving over the Danish border went so fast. It was hard to realise we weren’t in Germany anymore. This whole trip so far there was an incredible amount of traffic, traffic jams, cars on the side of the road, accidents and emergency services rushing by. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many. The weather stayed over 30°C and with full sun.
The storm first showed itself when we missed the exit to the place we were planning on camping for the night. We sudenly ended up in another massive traffic jam and that’s when the lightning and thunder started. It was pouring down in ridiculous amounts all the way to the camping spot,making it pretty much impossible to see the road. I’m impressed with how well our driver managed it!
Luckily it cleared up at the camp site, just in time for us to set up our tents. But the weather also stayed stable afterwards. We ate pasta and then had a beautiful sunset swim in the warm fjord. Eistla enjoyed playing with the other dogs and now we are falling asleep to some crazy Danish people dancing around a fire.
Also, the storm produced some massive rainbows today which I haven’t seen in ages. Just as I was writing and thinking about rainbows the other day! It felt like fate. Where the rainbow meets the earth.
Eistla managed this trip so well. I could see she was getting a bit tired and stressed towards the end of driving, which was also why we decided to end the first travelling day at 7pm instead of trying to find someone else who was going to Sweden. She definitely recovered by swimming in the fjord and playing with the dogs, though, and she slept really well and quietly in the tent. No barking at passing people and cars!
We set up our tent under the roof tent of the car to protect it from possible rain. I did not feel like having a soaked tent after the first night!
Today’s stats:
5 drivers total (German, Algerian/Spanish and Swiss)
738km (a bit more with detours and rest stops)
8 driving hours (ca. 10am – 7.30pm. 10am is when we left the vet)
