So I just wrote a three-page long blog post about our hitchhiking trip to Scarborough, and accidentally deleted it.

Yes, I did. And I feel such a big big lost.

So here I go again.

It was a sunny Tuesday, we were free of commitments (except the fact that I had to go to Manchester to apply for my visa that Thursday) and so we decided to hitchhike to the coast to eat fish and chips.

Not that there was no fish and chips available in Leeds…but it was just so much better the last time we had it in Whitby, and we wanted some more.

And we wanted adventure.


So we set off at 8:30 in the morning, jumping around with grinning faces and breathing the air full of joy. Little did we know that our next hour would be spent walking around the city centre, trying to find a place to hitchhike from, trying to find the right bus to take us out of the city.

At last we got on the bus no. 13a which took us to Oakwood Clock Tower, where hitchwiki recommended was the place to hitchhike towards York. Whereby Road leading to the A64, however, was full of care homes and old people who frowned upon us being like ‘What the hell are you two girls doing here?’ The closest we got to getting a ride was the driver waving at us, giving us a thumb or teasingly pulling over and away.

We kept on walking and hitchhiking with the sun on our faces until we got to the lake in Roundhay Park. We tried to hitch from there and at last found a guy who just left the car park who agreed to took us just out of that place.

Philip Woods just went for a run in around the lake and drove us near the big Tesco in Seacroft. He had never picked up any hitchhikers before but had himself hitchhiked once from York back to Leeds after a night out in which he lost all his mates. Before driving away he said to us, ‘Let me know if you guys make it to Whitby. Seriously, add me on Facebook! I’m Philip Woods from Seacroft!’ Not in the ‘I hope you will be safe and alright’ tone, but rather ‘I bet you won’t make it there’

At the end, Flo did let him know with pride and grinning face that we made it to the sea.

We tried putting our thumbs out there until and arms hurt and no car would stop for us. At last we gave up and walked over to Tesco to refuel ourselves and think of a new strategy. As we were walking through Tesco car park, Flo decided to ask this guy who was standing by his red car, smoking a cigarette, if he, by any chance, was driving towards York.

And he did. So we had yet to refuel ourselves but instead jumped into his car.

Josh was a chef at Marriott Hotel in York. He has been cooking for four years, probably since he was 18, and his favourite food was burger. At some point during the journey he said, jokingly serious, ‘Are you two running away from something? Maybe I should ask for your IDs.’ He was getting a bit paranoid as there was a police car behind us. Flo replied, ‘Maybe WE should ask to see your ID.’

We didn’t see each other’s IDs when he dropped us of at the big Tesco just outside of York. The first think we did was buying some dried fruits and nuts, giving our bodies some energy before continuing our adventure.


Munching away the monkey nuts with great fun, we tried hitching from the gas station with no succeed, and walked back to Tesco car park. And all of the sudden Flo went, ‘Look, there’s a guy with loads of beer!’ and so we chased him to his car and asked if he would give us a lift out of here, and he did. This pub owner drove us (and his dog who constantly trying to eat our nuts) to Monks Cross Shopping Park where there were several big supermarkets, restaurants and clothing stores. We had come to believe that our place to hitchhike from was not the road but car parks. English people, for some reasons, wouldn’t stop for us on the road. We had to do it the hard way, confront them and harass them. And most people seemed to be terrified by our simple, one sentence question.

Considering that we were two small girls, I wonder what it was that made people so scared of giving us a lift.

This car park, though, proved to be tricker than others. We spent a few hours walking around from Sainsbury’s to ASDA’s to TOPSHOP to McDonalds, and we had no luck. Everybody was driving back towards York, and again their facial expressions reflected their thoughts, ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with you two.’ After what felt like several hours has passed, we finally found a lift on a taxi.

Well, not by a taxi driver, but this guys who lived in Heworth was getting a taxi back home after he’s done his shopping and let us share a ride with him back home.


And so we found ourselves in Heworth, the village that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, which it kind of was. Even though the Coasliner drove through this village, there was not a lot of car passing by, and from our experience we kinda knew that we wouldn’t get a ride anywhere just with our thumbs out.

Just when I said that we’d give it one more hour, until 3pm, and if we haven’t found a ride anywhere towards whitby or the coast, we would cross the road and hitchhike back to York, a lady who lived in a house opposite to where we were standing asked where we were trying to get to. The next thing we knew, we were getting in her car.

A mother and a former hitchhiker, she has hitchhiked down the South before and her daughter has hitchhiked all the way to Riga, Latvia. She was incredibly sweet and dropped us of near a roundabout that would lead us to Scarborough. It was a busy road and hardly anywhere to pull. We kept walking towards the roundabout and just when we got there Flo asked a van driver if he was driving to Scarborough. He just told us to get in the car and we did. and of we went to Scarborough.


As easy as that.

Ben was driving some plants from York to Dean’s garden just outside Scarborough. He dropped us off not too far away from the train station.

After 6 rides and 7 hours, as opposed to the normal 2 hours drive, we made it to Scarborough! Grins appeared on our faces as we got of the van. We made it here!

The first thing we did was going into a pub, used the toilet, connected to the internet and trying to find somewhere to stay the night. We sent out a few last minute couchsurfing request then headed to the sea.





Scarborough sea didn’t smell as salty as Venice’s one, and it was rather windy with very little sun. Nevertheless, we were happy to be there, and more than happy by the fact that we hitchhiked there. I guess it was more about how we get there than the destination tat mattered. But we did enjoy fish and chips by the pier and felt the accomplishment.


We did it! Hitchhiking to Scarborough to eat fish and chips!

Then it was the time to start sorting out where to sleep. As we were asking about hostels in a pub, I got a missed call from someone. I called back to find out that a couch surfer I sent a message to has offered to host us.

All sorted.


Daniel met us at the pier a few minutes later and then showed us his place, a first floor apartment with huge windows in the living room overlooking the seafront. It was like a dream place to be. We went to his game shop which has Star Wars’ lightsaber I was really excited about, and spent the evening in the living room, playing Carcassonne that made me missed Germany so badly.

And then went to bed in my jeans. That was how unprepared we were. No toothbrush, no comfy pants, just random stuff like book and journal which I didn’t even take out of the backpack. We would be a bit more prepared next time.

At least for the toothbrush…


Next morning, Daniel gave us a lift out of town, to some random shops with big car park and a gas station. The first thing we did was going into this friendly community cafe opposite and had some very cheap but tasty English breakfast to start the day off. Then our mission continued.

The weather wasn’t as compromising as yesterday, it was cold, windy and drizzling down ever so slightly. And all the cars were going back to Scarborough. When we were hanging around the gas station asking for a lift, an incredibly sweet lady came out of the little shop in the station, asked where we were trying to get to and offered to buy us bus tickets back home. We politely said no as it was our challenge to hitchhike back. She said we were welcomed to go inside and have a cup of tea or coffee, wished us luck and disappeared back to her little station.

It was people like this that kept us going and reminded us that there were many kindhearted people like this out there.

By waiting at the car park exit, we finally got a lift out of there to the big Morrisons not too far away. The rain became heavier and our jackets, which weren’t waterproof, only made it worst. The guy at the gas station wasn’t veery nice this time. He asked us to leave the premise if we were not buying anything from there. I was becoming less and less determined and started to think about getting a bus back home. But then Flo found someone.

Trev was waiting for his wife who were to Morrisons, and when Fo asked him, he was happy to give us a lift out of there. We got onto the back seats with they two dogs, waiting for his wife. We stayed silent as she approached us and got onto the car. She looked at the back seats and we started cracking up. He said to Pat, his wife, ‘Look, I can still pull.’

It was hilarious.

Trev and Pat was really sweet. They used to live in Scarborough and had hosted a few international students from Japan and Germany. Now they lived in Filey, a village South of Scarborough, which they invited us to stay over next time we are in the area. We couldn’t wait to come back.

They were going to drop us off at a gas station near a roundabout which would lead us back to York. However, once we got there the gas station wasn’t there anymore. None of us knew what to do. Trev drove back to a little parking space with a random burger truck and pulled over next to a businessman’s car. He said, ‘Let me take care of this.’, left the car and walked over to talk to the guy. The next thing we knew, we were exchanging numbers with them and got on to the businessman’s car.

We were for ever so grateful to be inside this spacious comfy car which sheltered us from the rain.

This guy was some sort of businessman from Barnsley who had to drive a lot around Yorkshire, attending different meetings. He goes to Scarborough at least once a week. Through conversations we later found out what Trev said to him that while we were still sitting in the car, ‘Are you driving to York by any chance? Would you be up to taking two ladies with you?’

Two ladies he couldn’t even see, that sounds rather dodgy. But maybe we were lucky he was on the phone at the moment and only paid half of his attention to what Trev said, and said yes to him without giving it much thought.

With limited amount of energy left, we weren’t very socialising but that seemed to be okay with him as well. He was making several business phone calls while we were drifting away. He drove us all the way to the main bus station in Leeds, and unexpectedly gave us his business cards, ‘Just in case you need a lift somewhere and I happen to be around the area.’


I love that small act of kindness, which we had received so much during two days of our adventure. It reminded me how kind we generous we human beings can be. It gave me a sense of community, caring, faith and trust. Most importantly, it made me feel alive.