Good vibrations

“Don't go hitchiking to Spain! No one will pick you up! Especially the four you! “- But we still did...

The general scenario for the four of us -me, a guy and three girls- was to have at least one thumb (out of eight) always out smiling at every car. One goal in our heads: to head up north along the eastern seaside of Spain. Our line of travel was Madrid-Toledo-Granada-Valencia-Castellon-Barcelona and some smaller pitstops along.
Spain is an excellent choice for travelling without a plan. Not to mention that it gives some sado-masochistic delight if you're hiking on the scorching Sun just begging for a square metre of shade or a ride.
The characters on our travel came in such an order that it seemed faith put in on our plate of desire. In Granada, oh, my love of a city, we met Allejandro, the flamenco guitarist, in the middle of the night, when we had just chosen a spot in the park to be our room under the night sky. He invited us to his flat and let us stay at his casa for two nights - quite a pitstop.
Cooking, chatting, laughing, planning the next few kilometres of our travel characterized this short breathtake in Granada, where the sunset at The Alhambra still follows me. Granada, I WILL come back to you! But let's continue...
Faith brought us together with Gucci at Guadix, a deserty town beneath Granada. Minutes of hitchiking outside of Guadix, Gucci stopped. We hit the jackpot: he was driving all 600 kms up north.
It's always a peculiar feeling to be in a stranger's car, especially throughout hours of travel: how one's personality and life stories unfold, and what the most suprising is that you learn a bit of something about your travel partners with whom you have started the journey. Hitchhiking is a state of mind, an open one. Gucci only confirmed that some people exist to give you proof of humanity. After a night's stop in Valencia – where we enjoyed the protection of the night guards at the Valencia Train Station, yet another proof of human goodness– Gucci drove us further. Constant warm breeze in the car, open mountains, olive orchards all around, great conversations, a sense of ultimate freedom...
The vivid characters we also had the pleasure to meet were a Bulgarian procurer at Camrils with whom we could exchange thoughts in Serbian, an old man who was transporting flower pots and spoke only Spanish and our wonderful ride to Barcelona, where we slept in Park Güell...
Spain loves its hitchhikers!
Note: Have enough water in your backpack! You don't need ten extra T-shirts if you don't have enough liquid. You can die of thirst in a clean shirt, but it's better to keep up a bit smelly, isn't it?
So pack up, your thumb is a powerful tool, don't be afraid to use it!