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[[File:Gerben_getting_out_of_skopje.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Getting out of [[Skopje]], [[Macedonia]] on a nice day in July 2009]]
[[File:Gerben_Ethiopia_to_Kenya.JPG|200px|thumb|left|Hitchhiking on a truck in [[Ethiopia]], just south of [[Addis Abeba]], July 2010]]
About time I start contributing a bit more to this site.
{{CanHostIn|Utrecht|Netherlands}}
Until 31/12/10 I can host you in [[Utrecht ]] if you pass by. (hc and cs username is the same: gerbennap)
'''Gerben''' is a Dutch student, formerly in [[Delft ]] doing civil engineering, but has now almost finished his degree in liberal arts and sciences in [[Utrecht ]] (mainly social geography and international relations), where he has lived for the past three years. He first started hitchhiking on Queensday 2006, and got picked up by a Brazilian air acrobat who told him she always picked up hitchhikers when she saw them. Going only from [[Delft ]] to [[Amsterdam ]] that day, he decided that it must be possible to go further as well. So far, he has hitchhiked criss-cross through Europe in all directions, and has made several bigger trips: in 2008 he hitchhiked from [[Netherlands|NL]] to [[Russia]] and back, while in 2009 he hitchhiked from [[Netherlands|NL]] to [[China]], passing [[Turkey]], the Caucasus and [[Central Asia]] en route. In the summer of 2010 he hitchhiked from [[Egypt]] to [[Kenya]], passing [[Sudan]] and [[Ethiopia]] on the way.
Currently, he is planning his first Atlantic crossing by boat after his graduation in December.
==Hitchhiking experience==
===Countries===
* [[Europe]]: [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]], [[Luxembourg]], [[France]], [[Spain]], [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Ireland]], [[Denmark]], [[Sweden]], [[Norway]], [[Finland]], [[Germany]], [[Switzerland]], [[Austria]], [[Italy]], [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]], [[Lithuania]], [[Poland]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Slovakia]], [[Hungary]], [[Ukraine]], [[Slovenia]], [[Croatia]], [[Serbia]], [[Bosnia]], [[Montenegro]], [[Albania]], [[Macedonia]], [[Greece]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Russia]]
* [[Asia]]: [[Turkey]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[China]]
* [[Africa]]: [[Egypt]], [[Sudan]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Kenya]]
===Memorable experiences===
* Fastest ride: 260km/h on the Autobahn around [[Berlin]]
* Longest ride: approx. 3000 km ([[Aktau]] to [[Astana]] in [[Kazakhstan]] in a limousine-turned-batmobile that was participating in the Mongol Rally.
* Longest wait: 4 hrs, in [[Berlin]] trying to get out of the city, but that was when he was still a rookie and did not know about awesome sites like hitchwiki.org.
* Had several rides with four people at a time, in [[Lithuania]] and in [[Turkey]] along the Black Sea coast.
* Have had rides with ''motorcycles'' twice, in [[Greece]] and in [[Sudan]].
* Have also been allowed to drive for my drivers numerous times (also in the limousine :))
There are really too many experiences that are each worth mentioning, but they are best left for a talk under a tree with a good beer.
