A Hitchhiker's Guide to Ireland

We are constantly being bombarded by terrible things in the news.  But what about all the good stuff that's happening in the world???  I truly believe that there definitely is more good still than bad!  It's just that the bad is being published more because we react more to it.  It then makes us more hesitant to try new things.
Like...Hitchhiking!  I've heard stories of people trying to hitchhike, they get picked up, but then get abducted or something bad happens to them.  I had never heard success stories about it.  Until I got to Ireland and a couple of the volunteers told me that they had done it before and met some great people by doing so!
It wasn't my original plan to go hitchhiking...I was planning a trip to the south of Ireland to visit Rock of Cashel and Blarney Castle.  Butttttttt everyone that I was planning to go with backed out of that plan.  Except for one girl.  She was up for an adventure.  So we decided that we'd hitchhike instead over to Donegal, Ireland.

Ryan and Harriet gave us some pointers before leaving:

1) Have a destination in mind - make your signs!

2) Make sure you're on the right road towards your destination

3) It's easier if you do it by segments - city to city until you get to your destination

4) Smile :) People don't want to pick you up if you look like you're angry

5) Only get into the car if BOTH OF YOU feel comfortable with getting in the car

6) Let someone know where you're supposed to be each night and check in with them 

7) Have fun but be smart

Easy peasy lemon squeezy!
Hahaha so we thought!  Hitchhiking is actually a lot more exhausting than I ever imagined!  But Ryan and Harriet were right - the people you meet are great!  There are so many nice people who are willing to help!

We packed up our backpack and headed from camp down into the town.

Ready to go with our signs!

We walked out of town a tad and...kinda freaking out...stuck out our thumbs!  Within minutes we had caught a ride. WAHOO!  It was a sweet older lady headed towards Belfast.  When we got in, she told us she had never picked up hitchhikers before!  But she thought "Two girls...Why not!? My husband would be so proud!"
It was a fun ride getting to know her a little.  She dropped us off in Lisburn.

There we caught a ride again within minutes of putting our thumbs up. An older couple with a dog headed towards Belfast.  They were nice! Their dog was beautiful!  They dropped us at a gas station outside of Belfast, on the road headed towards Donegal!

Bathroom and lunch break!  Then we decided to go again.

Thumbs up!
This time we had to wait a little while.  But probably not longer than 15 minutes.  A girl stopped and told us she was going all the way to Donegal and would give us a ride!  She also said that it was her first time picking up hitchhikers, but we looked like nice girls, so she thought "What the F...I'm going all the way to Donegal, might as well!" haha!
She was super nice and we had a fun time the rest of the way to Donegal!

We got a picture with her even!

She dropped us off in Letterkenney and we explored the town a bit! Mostly trying to find a place to sleep - we had brought our sleeping bags and a tarp......but it was starting to rain, we were tired, and having no luck finding a place to stay the night.

This is a flippin' college.  Heck, I wanna come here to go to school!!!

Photo bombing Eszter's picture

So then she takes a normal picture of me

So we went back into town looking for a hostel.  We found one after being SOAKED by the rain!  The Apple Hostel.  A nice cute little hostel on the hill.
Eszter wanted to go back into the rain to go to the pub... hah I was a bit reluctant to go.  But she wanted a real "Irish pub" experience since we were in Ireland, not Northern Ireland.  So we went.

She had her drink, we listened to the live music, and then left.  Back through the rain to our hostel.

The next day we hitchhiked back to Greenhill.  We made our way to the outskirts of town and caught a ride to Londonderry from, first a couple, and then a grandpa who gave us a little tour of Londonderry before he dropped us off in the center!

Londonderry has SO MUCH history!  It is also the ONLY city that has it's full fortress walls intact from the 17th Century!  Ireland vs Northern Ireland has SO MUCH history!  I never knew it.
Anywho, we enjoyed Derry a lot!  Exploring the city, the walls, the peace bridge.  It was a neat city.

On the peace bridge of Derry

One of the gates of the wall of Derry

Derry

We then hiked through the city to the outskirts towards Belfast.  This was probably our longest wait, maybe 20-30ish minutes.  A nice couple was headed to Belfast for his birthday celebration.  He told us that he is a driver for the airport so everyday of the week he usually is picking up people! But today he wasn't going to because it was his birthday...but then when he saw us, he and his wife both felt like they should pick us up!  How nice of them!  We had a fun conversation the whole way to Belfast!

We hiked through Belfast to the road leading to Newcastle.  This also was a little longer of a wait.  But soon enough a young couple, our age probably, stopped and offered a ride to us!  And we made it back to Newcastle!  Walked up to Greenhill and I told my mom I was safe! hahaha

It was a fun adventure!  I'm glad Eszter was with me, because I sure wouldn't go hitchhiking on my own!  No way jose!  I'm not that brave.  haha

One more rule I want to add to Ryan and Harriet's list:

8) Don't tell your mom that you're going hitchhiking until AFTER you've returned home safely! ;)