25th of January, 2022.
5 lifts, 4 gas stations and lots of flowers later…
I have decided to hitchhike in a spot just before the highway. It is not great, but it is the only way I found it, without need to go to a gas station in the highway. And how the hell would I do that?
It does not take long to this nice man stop for me. I have written “A31 / A33” on my sign, meaning I can be dropped anywhere in some of these two highways. He is not exactly going there but he keeps saying that here is not a good place for me to stay, so he can take me to a gas station in one of those highways.
We get to know each other quite well in those 15 minutes we drive together. He tells me about some personal problems he is having right now but which, hopefully, soon enough he will manage to fix it. I admire the fact that once he realized his mistakes, he admitted them and now is trying to change them, to change himself into a better person. We have some things in common and we notice that when we are talking about my travels. He also used to hitchhike before. Talking about where is the best place for him to drop me off, we decide for a gas station in the A2, which will lead to A33.
The gas station it seems desert from time to time, but still some cars come by. When I ask a guy about if he is going to Netherlands, he says yes but he needs to check with his wife if they can take me. They do!
They are going to the Netherlands to do some shopping. They are living in Germany but are actually from another country. I cannot remember which one now. I tell them all about my travels and they get very surprised about it. They are actually going to the Netherlands in a different direction than I was planning before, not up North but in a straight line, more into the centre of the country. I figure that it might be easier getting lifts to Groningen from anywhere inside the Netherlands itself than from somewhere in Germany. That’s why I decided to come with them. They will turn towards South, so they drop me in another gas station.
The Netherlands and their flowers in the gas stations. It is so funny. Do people really by flowers in gas stations?
A man tells em he can bring me closer to Groningen, but he also warns me that this morning, one of his daughters got a positive test for Covid-19, even though his other daughter got a negative. I tell him it is fine so I get in the car and we drive.
He is a very friendly and funny. He has a farm and tells me about his life. He drops me in another gas station.
Flowers.
Two guys in fancy cars (a Ferrari and a Mercedes) stop for gas. I think it is quite funny that both of them have troubles to get out of their seats. Laugh. I don’t really feel a good vibe from them but I decide to ask about Groningen anyway. They say they are not going there and the big guy from the Mercedes even has some strange features in his face when I ask him about it.
But surprisingly enough, when they come out of the shop, the big guy, after talking with his friend, tells me he can drive a bit closer to Groningen. He is only helping his friend to take his car back (the Mercedes) because he has just bought the Ferrari. Apparently they both love cars so they have a few different ones. I don’t think the guy who is driving me is a bad person but he is not my type of person either. He keeps telling me, and some people who called him, that he was only helping me in order to help his Karma. Who would say something like that? And he was proud of it.
Anyway, because his friend changes his plans of where to bring the Ferrari, they actually can drive me even closer to Groningen. The gas station where they drop me is only about 20 KM from Groningen.
Flowers.
A man in a van tells me he can drive me to Groningen. He works with restauration and his van is packed with stuff and material for that. When we are already driving, I tell him I am actually going to Warffum, but because is quite late, almost dark already, if he could drive me to the train station, I will just grab the train to there. He says something like “No you don’t need to.” When I ask why not he tells me he lives just a few kilometres from Warffum so he can drop me there. What? I cannot believe it! After a whole day of short lifts, many of them, I finally get lucky on my last one.
He tells me a few things about the area and the small villages between Groningen and Warffum. I try to call my Workaway hosts but there is a missing number so the call cannot be completed. In anyhow, I arrive to their place sometime after 5 o’clock. And they couldn’t believe on me before when I told them I would hitchhike to Warffum.