3rd of September, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Sweden.
A lady soon stops and offer to drive me to Motala. I take it!
She is a doctor and it is going to work at the hospital in Motala. The place where she drops me off is actually right at the exit to the highway, and there is not much space for the cars to park. But I have no other choice so I just hope for the best.
Behind me there is a parking lot. A car stops there and for some reason I feel that they are people trying to help me. A young man comes out of the car and try to yell something to me but I cannot hear it. I just say that anywhere is fine and start to grab my bags.
I walk to the parking lot and I meet JA and his friend Afshin, and also JA’s little brother and another friend. The 4 of them are from Afghanistan but live in Sweden for many years now. They are going to a kind of farmers market near Kalrskoga, so I can get out there. It is some good 2 hours driving, but I am worried about the fact that we will be three of us in the back for all that time. But Afshin tell me not to worry. We talk about my travels; they tell me they have met in the gym and they all work together. They are very kind and nice guys and find the best place to drop me off, which is in a gas station.
I ask for some hot water and decide to have some of my instant soup because I am very hungry! But even while eating the soup, I keep showing my sign written “Oslo” to people and asking if they are going there.
I couple tells me to be going in that direction but they seem uncertain if they would take me or not. But at least they are honest and before entering the shop they ask me to have some time to think about it. It is their decision, of course, so I try to be as cool as possible, showing them that there are no bad feelings about anything.
When they come out, they tell me that the city to where they are going it might be not the best place for me. I say thank you and they leave. Then I talk with another guy, who tells me to be going to that exact same city, Karlstad. But this time, a bell rings on my head and I decide to check my notes. I have written that Karlstad it would be one of the cities on my way to Oslo. Opa! When the guy say I can join him if I want, I say yes! Yay!
I cannot believe I don’t remember his name but he is such a cool guy! He and his girlfriend do a lot of volunteer work with the doctors without borders. Actually, she is right now in Brazil doing that. What? Yeah, in Salvador, Bahia. They have been to South America countries and in South Sudan too.
I notice he has some Paçoca in the car (a very traditional Brazilian candy, made out of crushed peanuts, sugar and salt) and he tells me his girlfriend sent them to him, but because he gets some kind of allergy to peanuts, he gives me all of them. All of them! Not only the paçocas but also some pé de moleque (also very traditional, kind of brittle) which are together. Lovely! Just lovely! I didn’t realize how much I miss them until I started eating and couldn’t stop.
It is around 5 o’clock so I decide it is a good idea to chill and check my emails in Karlstad, and tomorrow morning finishing the last 3 hours to Oslo. I get off in a McDonald’s by the road.
After checking my emails, a place for camping and where to ask for some leftover food, I leave around 7 p.m.
The first place I ask is a pizzeria, a place called Rimini, and after talking with the stuff and they, for my surprise, not be able to understand English, a man who arrives listen to me. But for my even bigger surprise, he says something like that this is a restaurant and I cannot simply take food from here. I am asking for food you are about to throw it away! And then he tells me I can go around the corner and look for something in the big rubbish bins. Of course, I consider to do that, but not before asking in the only other restaurant around here, called Vedugnen.
I don’t realize how fancy Vedugnen is it until I walk inside. And I tell that to the young girl I talk to. She is nice and ask to the kitchen stuff if there is anything I could have. Unfortunately, there is not but I take it very well because she is super nice.
When I am a few metres in the street, I hear somebody calling me. When I look back it is one of the chefs of the restaurant and he tells me I should go back inside. I am a bit doubtful so I ask him two times if I should go inside the restaurant again and he confirms. Once inside, the young lady tells me they will fix a pizza for me. What? I believe it has something to do with this man who was sitting in an armchair, on his phone, during the first time I came. It seems to me he is either the owner or the manager and he had decided to help me out.
The young lady asks me if I want to eat in or take out. I tell her that so they have more seats for they paying customers, I rather to take out. In a few minutes I have a delicious and steamy Margarita pizza with me. I say many thank you to everyone I can spot in the restaurant.
It happens that right in front of the restaurant there is a parking lot for motorhomes. At least that is what it shows on Google Maps. I go to check it out and it is true. I think that, if motorhomes can park here, I can also put my tent in the grass. And I do it. And as quick as possible so I can have my pizza still warm from inside my tent.
It is quite noisy until late night but I manage to sleep.
Next morning, I start early. In the gas station nearby, I ask for some hot water and prepare my last package of instant coffee, and have it with the two slices of pizza I saved from last night.
Hitchhiking is not so good though. I change spots three times and nothing. By the exit to the highway, I notice that people were scared to park because of the cars always coming. In a small roundabout just before it, the traffic was actually very little; and coming from the town, there was absolutely no place where I could stand. So, I stay by the traffic lights. It is always a rush because you have to keep walking “up and down” to the cars, while the red lights are on, and if somebody says you can come, you have to run and grab your stuff, but if it is the only way…
After 5 hours trying to get a lift here, a young man in a van finally makes a sign I can come. I don’t even ask him where he is going, of course, but just run to grab my bags. We manage to put everything in the front seat quickly, before the green lights go on. Success!
After introducing himself, Allan tells me he is going to Oslo. What? Oh-ho-ho! No way! That’s just amazing! And he is also so adorable!
Allan teaches meditation and is coming from a 10 days meditation retreat trip in Sweden but he is from Oslo. We talk a lot about some very interesting things, and I learn a lot from him about meditation, Tai-shi (his mother is a teacher of Tai-shi in Oslo for many years), and some other stuff. Actually, I do my first meditation ever inside his van, while he was guiding me. It was much easier than I though and quite good.
I borrow Allan’s phone to call my hosts. They tell me to be going to drop off Ellen’s mother somewhere, so they can pick me up from Oslo around 5 p.m. Perfect!
Because we have some extra time, Allan takes me to the top of a mountain, nearby where he lives, and where my hosts will pick me up, so we can have this lovely view of the city and its famous Fjords. It is just lovely!
I really enjoy my time with Allan but we have to say goodbye. Right about 5 p.m. my hosts arrive.
10 Years Around the World 