Hitchhiking From Tallinn to Riga

With my net worth having fallen below $900, I had become even tighter with my money. So when I heard that hitchhiking was easy in the Baltics, I thought I would give it a try on my journey from Tallinn to Riga, Latvia.

The rain that was driving against the city bus window to the edge of town, probably should have been good enough of an indicator that I should spend the 13 Euro and take the bus, but I was resolute. I hopped off the bus at the edge of town, held up my “Riga” sign which I had written on the reverse of a disassembled cereal box, and stuck out my thumb. While I didn’t much enjoy the feeling of being judged unpickupable by a steady stream of motorists, I was pleased I only had to wait about 20 minutes before getting picked up.

I was momentarily put off by the fact the back seats of this man’s man were all removed, making it the perfect mobile hobo killing machine, but he turned out to be wonderfully friendly. He knew a bit of English so we shared a friendly conversation all the way to Parnu, Estonia which was his destination, and about 40% on the way to mine. When we got there he even gave me a tour of the seaside town which appeared to be made almost entirely of spas. After a quick stop at a bowling alley, where once again I was concerned about an ambush, he drove me to the edge of town and bid farewell

Just after he left me at a broken bus stop, the wind, rain, and cold all increased. After an hour, I was not appreciating the worsening of the weather especially considering the rain had disintegrated my sign. Now I was just a sopping wet crazy person in a yellow coat jumping around a bus stop for warmth that wanted to be let into a car. After about another 30 minutes, a guy missing his two front teeth picked me up. I immediately clung to his heating vents like they were water fountains and I had been stranded in the desert for 2 weeks. Unfortunately, he was only able to take me ten minutes down the street, but it was ten minutes that brought life back to my extremities.

He dropped me off at another bus station which was conveniently located across from a tiny supermarket. I had recently become resolved to keep my meals between $1-$3, while also maintaining a bit of variety. My lunch beside the highway therefore consisted of deli meat, yogurt and chocolate cookies.

Aside from the meal and the lightening of the rain, I was to have no inkling of pleasure for the next several hours. Except for one old man who did not speak English pulled over and pointed to three of his fingers and then drove off, I had to wait about 2 hours until my next pick up.

In between swearing at myself for being an idiot, and running in place to keep my temperature up, I continued my practice of mentally converting Euros to Dollars. The exchange rate changed depending on my mood. Earlier, after being picked up quickly in Tallinn the exchange rate was huge. At that point I was laughing to myself: “I’m saving 13 Euro, that’s like 30 dollars! I’m Rich!” Now, beside the highway for 120 minutes, freezing to the core, the conversion was much different: “I went through all of this to save 13 Euro?! That’s only like $15!” When I saw the bus from Tallinn I could have taken whoosh by me with excess interior heat waving out of the bus, I think the value of the Euro dropped to an all-time low.

Finally, and elderly hairy woman picked me up, and drove me 10 minutes down the road. It was only 10 minutes, but it was the most relieving ten minutes that day. When she dropped me off, she pointed up the highway and said “big machine” to help guide me along my way. After about a kilometer I found myself at a gas station, which I assume was the big machine she was referring to. I wandered inside for some warmth and then around back to find some truckers, but there were none, or they were sleeping.

So, I went back out the highway, put on my best scared puppy dog face (it was genuine) and stuck my thumb out. I began berating myself for this stupid adventure and started to worry I’d be a major inconvenience to my host by arriving, if I eventually did, so late. I had no phone so not only was I extra vulnerable, but could not let my host know I would be late. Then I started to realize that hating people is a luxury. Alone, on a freezing highway in a foreign country with dusk approaching, I wouldn’t be able to indulge in entertaining any prejudices even if I had wanted to. Some shelter of communal support or financial security is necessary to fall back on. If anyone were to pull over and save me from my self-made debacle, they would be my hero.

And indeed I did find some heroes, after only 5 minutes. A wonderful Swedish-Lithuanian couple on their way to Lithuania brought me into their vehicle and I am now forever thankful. Thankfully, the Swede was very nervous about meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time, so he had been throwing back beers since leaving Helsinki that morning and needed to relieve himself about the time I needed relief. I think he was also hoping I could help calm him down because before I could get in the car he asked me if I had a spliff he could borrow.

Just like has been the case along my entire circumnavigation, the highest highs and lowest lows are never far apart. Just moments after getting philosophically depressed, this couple was driving me towards Riga and giving me beer as the horizon over the Baltic Sea turned purple.

This couple then drove me all the way to the center of Riga, helped me find some internet, let me use their phone to call my host, Janis, and then drove me all the way to his doorstop. After thanking them profusely for being my saviours, the Swede then asked my host if he had any “Bob Marley” he could buy because he wanted to be sure to make the right impression with his girl’s parents. He did not, but I think he ended up doing just fine.

Janis then went out for a party at his brother’s place which I would have loved to join, but I was absurdly exhausted and was in desperate need of raising my core temperature. So I spent the rest of the night drinking hot water, taking hot showers, and going to sleep under the covers wearing pants and a jacket.

I saved 13 Euro though, that’s like $45!