Why you should Bummit

This year, Bummit, Sheffield’s and the world’s largest student charity hitchhike headed across the northern borders into an unknown world of haggis, bagpipes and tartan: more specifically, Edinburgh. Being a first time hitchhiker, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But I ended the day vowing that, instead of spending money on overpriced train tickets, I’ll hitchhike everywhere. Although I’m not entirely sure how long that promise is going to last …

Bummit begins

We started the day with free cans of Red Bull – still not certain as to whether they were a friendly gesture or a ‘We feel sorry for you, have some caffeine’ present – and a ‘safety talk’, in which we were basically told that the tracker wasn’t working. This was followed by a countdown and the swift dispersal of various students in fancy dress. Bummit had begun.

The first pick up is the most competitive. After 40 minutes of waiting (our first lift having been ruthlessly nicked … not mentioning any names) we were pretty pleased when, Tony, the nicest old man you will ever meet, pulled over. I’d say the best thing about hitchhiking (other than it being free) is the conversation you have with the drivers. Because there’s nothing else to do in the car but chat, you basically hear the life story of a complete stranger.

Our next pick up was from a successful businessman working for Harley Davidson, who pretty funnily insisted that we played eye spy with his mate who, in another car, had also picked up some hitchhikers. Overall it took us 6 lifts to get to Edinburgh and, although we were lucky, sometimes it’s the not so fortunate who end up with the best stories …

Are you gonna go my way?

While one group managed to hitch a lift with some soldiers (which me and my friend were particularly jealous about), another, who were stranded at a service station ended up chilling out on a bed of hay in a horse trailer en route to Newcastle. Some groups were still arriving when we were well into our pre-drinks. That’s right – somehow we managed to gather the energy to hit the Edinburgh nightlife. Hitchhikers are hardcore like that.

Sampling the Edinburgh nightlife

To this day, my team and I are still bewildered as to how we, the most pessimistic of the lot and who were likely to be heading south instead of north, ended up in Edinburgh in under 8 hours …

Tips for Bummit (or if you happen to find yourself stranded on a side of the road at some point in your life):

1. Make sure you know where you’re going – sounds obvious but map your route and potential pick up points.
2. Location – standing on the correct side of the road is a good start. But the key is to be near somewhere people can pull in, like a lay by or a bus stop. Leaving a string of car crashes along your route will not go down well …
3. Don’t look dodgy – nobody is going to pick up someone who looks like they should be on Crimewatch. But it works both ways: if in doubt, don’t get in the car!
4. Service stations – they’re basically hitchhikers’ heaven: full of potential people to guilt trip into giving you a lift.
5. LOOK HAPPY AND HAVE FUN – pretty self-explanatory. If you look miserable, nobody is going to pick you up. Be friendly and prepared to chat to people, awkwardly sitting in a car isn’t a great way of thanking someone for a lift.

So, do you fancy having a go and pretending to be Jack Kerouac? Over the Easter holidays, Bummit are doing their annual European hitchhike, this time ending in Split, Croatia. Interested? Sign up is on Monday 2 December.