look attractive!

so our hitch-hiking adventures continued, much to our delight. and while i must give a full account of the craziness of the weekend, it is neccesary that i dedicate a few words to the wisdom we have gained from our car-hopping extravaganzas across ireland.

1. always, always wear waterproof boots!


2. getting the first ride is statistically the hardest and takes the longest...wait it out.

3. its much better to have a girl with you as old women will feel sorry for her...make sure she stands on the outside so oncoming cars see her first (we got a ride so much faster!)
4. in ireland, don't walk along the road; its not the way the irish do it. instead, wait on the outskirts of town and give ample room to pull over (it took us 3 tries to figure that out!).


5. if the road is narrow, adjacent farm land is a nice escape from the road, until you realize there is a river, fence, and stinging nettles in the way.


6. speaking of roads....hitch-hiking should never, ever, under any circumstances, involve sprinting between oncoming cars.
7. the irish think their country is bigger than it actually is, and tend to mutter "oh god" when you tell them you are going across the whole country in one night.
8. dads with empty car seats are frequent picker-uppers...they must miss the open life and want to live vicariously through their strange passengers.
9. even funerals don't stop people from picking you up.
10. the irish aren't really flipping you off when they raise their hand to you, they are just signaling that they are about to turn...phew!
11. it's absolutely necessary to get picked up in a combie and have tea and ginger snaps with a retired german couple.


12. trust the system and peoples' good hearts...you will get picked up.

and above all, the most important thing to do when hitch hiking is to look attractive. (an absolute must).


and from now on, i will forever call speed bumps "sleeping policemen" as the germans do.