this photo is not of montenegro
it's of lake ohrid, macedonia
but i used it because it was here on my laptop
it was summertime in the balkans. i was on the adriatic coast in montenegro with the starter husband and a good friend, D. we were staying at my friend's aunt's house in herceg novi and somehow, we'd gone to budva. i think we must have taken a bus to get there, as i only recall hitchhiking in one direction.
D insisted we had to go to budva because that summer claudia schiffer had done a photo shoot at the old castle/fortress there for some promotion or other. i don't know if she thought claudia might have fallen in love and would be hanging about, but it was beautiful (and sadly, i'm where my pictures are not, so i have no photos of it) and we had a lovely day. when the day was over, we needed to get back to herceg novi. buses were sporadic at best, so D suggested that we wave down a passing car.
thinking our chances were better as two women, we had the starter husband (hereafter SH) stand some distance away and soon waved down one of those aging mercedes that were so plentiful in the balkans in the late 90s. D established that the driver was at least going in the right direction and we waved SH over and we all got in. D, who is gorgeous and tall and thin and looks like a model herself, worked her magic on the driver and he took us all the way to our doorstep, tho' i don't think that was where he was going.
after that, i became downright fearless in my hitchhiking and even hitchhiked from the greek-macedonian border up to the town of bitola in macedonia. that was an old red car and the driver was so young that it crossed my mind that perhaps he didn't have a driver's license. i was happy on that occasion to be traveling with a friend, because i wouldn't have been comfortable in that car alone with the young man, with whom we didn't really share much language (my macedonian being a bit too rudimentary for more than the simplest things). but he was undoubtedly quite harmless.
i haven't hitchhiked in years, but i feel quite nostalgic about those brave and daring days. and when the weather is warm and the wind blows through the lush grass, i long for them a little bit. hitchhiking seems like such a summer thing.
14 comments:
oooh first again! This is a brilliant secret, oh you're very brave. It would never, ever occur to me to hitch or pick up up a hitch hiker. You hardly ever see them in the UK anymore, apart from long distance lorry drivers who stand on the motorway with their plates and get picked up by other truckers.
Brave lady. Admiration for Julie goes up even more. (but don't tell Sabin until she's about 35 in case she can do the same!)
Isn't one of the crappiest things about getting old that you suddenly see the danger in everything? I want to go back to the good old days of truth and dare!
I second Eternally's comment. I hitchhiked a few times while in Europe and never felt in danger, just thrifty and adventuresome. In my niave young mind, Europeans were harmless.
I have never hitchhiked, I don't know if I would! I want to be very old lady and say, you hear so many stories...
i'm loving your secret sharing series!
I have always wanted to hitchhike. Again, another thing to envy you for having experienced! I so agree with Eternally Distracted! Getting old is the pits!
Julochka,
I love hitchhiking. I have done 1000s of kilometres all around Europe. It is definitely summer as you say but it is also freedom and surprise as you can meet anyone and you can end up anywhere.
I could never hitchhike. My parents told me too many scary stories of what could happen to me if I did :-( Maybe that's why my sense of adventure is a little dull.
To be young and free again! I used to love hitchhiking1 It drove my Mother crazy when i did though.
How very brave of you. I used to hitchhike around town, but never in another country where I didn't speak the language. Kudos to you.
Now what are you going to say when you find out S is diong it??
Ahhh, me too, back when I was young & free & felt safe. I also rode motorcycles with no helmet & ditto bicycles. I did other things unprotected, also. Thank God I lived in a time when all that was possible and/or legal.
:) Debi
Hitchhiking seems like one of those charming/dangerous things (like smoking, I guess) which has been tainted by modern paranoia. I doubt that our children would ever think of doing it.
When my dad was in college (in Texas), he used to hitchhike EVERYWHERE. Apparently lots of college boys did. Once, he hitched all the way from TX to NYC. Funny how your story revived that memory for me.
Heck yeah! Hitchhiking? What a fabulous way to see the world and get a sampling of good folks. Well, it used to be that way...before the days of axemurderers. Ah, the 70s.
And I love the idea of a list of secrets! Me next!
when I was young, my uncle used to hitchhike from Philly to Bama and it always seemed so daring. Now it just seems dangerous and scary. you're very brave.
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