Living on the Road - Stage 2: Traveling from Lithuania to Denmark

I started this trip in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and the first driver who picked me up and gave me a lift for about 100 km came from the Netherlands. He was on a trip around the Baltic Sea, so we had some experiences to share because I had made a similar hitchhiking trip the year before. The last night in Lithuania I spent in a small village close to the Polish border. I had some interesting discussions with my couchsurfing host Darius, and I enjoyed it to drink his home-made beer and the peacefulness of this remote place.

On the next day I arrived in Poland. My first destination was Elk, a nice town in the North Eastern part of the country which I had visited the year before. My hosts Krzysztof and his wife Kamila, a young couple with a background in cultural activities invited me to attend a rehearsal of their percussion group. My next stop in Poland was Olsztyn. On my way there Robert, a young man from Germany who traveled with his Lithuanian wife Evelina picked me up. Robert told me about his experiences as a traveler on a religious basis, and we had some interesting conversations. When we arrived in Olsztyn, he presented to me some money, some food and a bible. My next couchsurfing stops in Poland were Bydgoszcz and Gryfino, a small town close to the German border. I enjoy hitchhiking which is common and relatively easy in Poland, the only bigger problem were many roadworks, and I enjoyed the hospitality of my couchsurfing hosts in this beautiful country.

I did not have any couchsurfing arrangements when I started my hitchhiking trip through Germany, so I tried it in another way to find accommodations. I visited several smaller towns in the Northern part of Germany, and it was always possible to find accommodation in churches. Partly I followed an 850 km pilgrimage path which starts at the German Polish border and ends in Münster close to the Dutch border. Along this pilgrimage path you can find accommodations for the pilgrims which I used in several cases. After leaving this path I found a place in a shelter for travelers in another small town in Northern Germany after contacting the local pastor. Finally I arrived in Flensburg, a big town close to the Danish border but it was not possible to find a place in a church there, so I ended up in a shelter for homeless people where I spent several nights. In this shelter I shared my room with Maurice, an 18 year old boy who lived there already for one and a half month and who told me his story and asked me for some advice. I had the impression that he was willing to bring his life back on track. Hitchhiking in Germany was not so bad although it is easier in Poland or in Lithuania, and it happened several times that drivers helped me with small amounts of money or with food. A problem I faced in Germany was to get free internet access. In most cases you have to pay when you use the internet in libraries, and you can find there only few and old computers, so I often had to wait to get a free place. I left Germany after less than two weeks, Denmark was waiting for me ...

Stay tuned - there is more to come ...