finding accomodation (hitchhiking)

Finding accomodation is usually easy if you don't mind spending a lot of money. But most hitchhikers don't have a lot of money, so then there are several other options:

Tent

You can bring your tent and sleeping bag and you'll basically be free to sleep anywhere. Beware that in most countries it's not legal to put up your tent anywhere. It is generally legal in Scandinavia, Finland, Scotland and Ireland, though.

DigiHitch has an article on sleeping near the highway (not necessarily with a tent).

Your driver

It can happen that your driver offers you a place at his or her house to put up your tent. It can also happen that you get a place offered inside.

Hospitality exchange networks

Hospitality exchange networks require a bit more planning, but are very valuable tools for traveling. Sometimes there are gatherings of tens, or even hundreds of hospitality exchange members. If you go there you'll surely get a place to sleep!

• CouchSurfing (CS), 60000+ members, slightly North American-centric but growing rapidly.
• Hospitality Club (HC), 120000+ members, slightly Euro-centric because it was started there. WARNING: Don't mention other websites, such as CouchSurfing, in your message or it might be censored. Also, because of this spam check messages sent on HC sometimes take more than one week to arrive at their destination.
• Global Freeloaders doesn't have a fancy website, but it's easy to send out a lot of messages at once, and members contact you directly over email, which makes it a lot faster to use, probably convenient for finding last-minute places. Though the lack of handy profiles and the direct communication over email defintely make this site less secure.

This article is based on a GNU FDL Hitchhiking Wiki article: Finding_accomodation

HHW