Balkan: introduction

After a long stretch of pandemic restrictions, my sister proposed a trip: hitchhiking, cheap flights, no fixed plan. I was ready for a change from routine and agreed on the spot.

For the first two days we travelled the way tourists usually do. Then we met a stranger who showed us how it is done, and we began hitchhiking in earnest. Along the way we got to know many people and their ways of life, and we came to appreciate them. The writing style of these entries changes accordingly: it starts as a list of complaints and gradually becomes more curious.

It turned out to be the first of several trips, which I will write up another time.

At a glance

• Countries: Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary (briefly)
• Length: 10 days
• Companions: me, Katka (my sister), and Šebestián Bok, who joined us later
• Transport: plane and cheap buses for the first two days, hitchhiking for the next seven, trains on the last day
• Rides: about 11 different cars

Next: Balkan 1: Tirana