Adaptability: Full-time Job

Over the next couple of days, our luck always seemed to get us out of the frying pan and...the eagles are coming? OK. I lack mastery of metaphors and geeky jokes. Anyways. The point is...uncannily good luck.

After leaving Amsterdam via the conveniently located but not very useful Liftplaats, we had a few good rides towards Germany (during one, I accidentally stole a wicked awesome pillow that got caught in my bags - yes, this is relevant!). But nobody seemed to want to take us across the border (go figure, it's not like we were hitchhikers from Amsterdam wanting to enter Germany or anything). Eventually it got dark, rainy, and gas stations closed and kicked us out. Bummer. No tent, no sleeping bag, no food, no warmth.

Enter Mareike, yet another Deus Ex Machina with impeccable timing. The previous summer, we hung out several times across Canada, and I was excited to be on my way to visit her in her hometown. When we ended up stuck on the road, she drove a considerable distance to pick us up from where we were and drive us back to her place. Simply, stunningly kind.

The following day, to avoid another "Amsterdam effect", we decided to leave early, attempt hitchhiking, and if no luck by a reasonable time, we would take the train to our next destination: Hamburg. After about 20 minutes, a couple of hippie-looking hitchhikers also heading to Hamburg join us and settle a bit further (popular spot thanks to hitchwiki, I suppose). Not 15 minutes later, they hop in a car and wave to us! What?! How...What...Why...?!?! Not only is that not cool hitchhiker etiquette, I just wouldn't believe they would inspire more confidence than we did.

That gave me energy to really apply myself, and it occurred to me that hitchhiking success correlates considerably with the amount of energy you put in. That might seem like an obvious statement, but previously I had been doing what I had seen most other hitchhikers do: wait passively with a sign, half zoned out, or having a conversation. So I approached it more actively, made as much eye contact as I could, smiled, moved around instead of remaining statue-like, wore a different shirt colour, etc. Imagination is your friend. At least people certainly noticed us more, but still no takers. One driver offered to take us only if we would share part of the gas expenses, and normally I might have accepted, but I was still pissed from the hippie couple incident who likely got a free ride, so we refused. Maybe we should have taken it. After almost two hours, we were just about ready to give up. To pass the time, François comments on the cobra pillow, that he now dubs le coussin maléfique (the cursed pillow). Apparently, ever since that pillow decided to tag along, we have had a great deal of trouble getting rides. I start to believe him, so, after pontificating on the pillow's fate, we decide to leave it there.

Some minutes after we disown the evil pillow, a car honks for us! The driver says he can definitely take us all the way to Hamburg, so we stuff our bags in and go go go! Goodbye coussin maléfique. The driver's name is Christian. He is a navy officer from Germany but working in...yeah, damn straight...Norway! He learns of our travel plans and tells us that he's actually leaving Hamburg in two days and crossing Denmark to take the ferry to Kristiansand, then driving to Stavanger, where he works. Says we're welcome to go with him for any part of the way. OH MY WHAT LUCK! I've come to describe this kind of situation as "bad news brings good news brings..."

I didn't even notice the distance to Hamburg because most of the ride was spent discussing Norway at considerable length. This marked the first personal account I had about what Norway is like as a country. With every anecdote, with every tidbit, my eyes lit up. So I took his words seriously, and they guided a lot of the trip decisions as well. Christian says: bring a fishing rod, because there's fish everywhere; just stick your rod out and the fish will come like magnets, it's insane. My little naive and idealistic mind is already dreaming of feeding myself with fish in the wilderness! And camping, and bathing and washing clothes in the rivers! Who needs money? 

Another important piece of information he shared was how expensive everything is, particularly alcohol, and how much Norwegians love their alcohol. One anecdote that persisted in my mind was how he once exchanged a bottle of cheap German Schnapps for a giant-ass salmon from a fisherman! Now my brain is purring! We need to get alcohol to bribe people and feed ourselves this way.

And last but not least: in Norway, never underestimate the distances. (But what the hey, I live in the second largest country in the world, so I should be used to vast distances...right?)

So upon our arrival in Hamburg, we exchange phone numbers and, instead of enjoying the city (not entirely true), I spend the next two days running around looking for all the important supplies I can still buy cheaply. It's panic time! Need a tent, and food. Lots of food. No way I will be going broke buying food in Norway. Fast forward to the night before our departure. Supplies? Check; tent, sleeping bag, camping stove & gas, lots of nonperishable food, and, last but not least, three bottles of cheap German beer. Not for personal consumption, but to exchange for salmon, naturally. As we make the final preparations for our early wake up the following day, we get a call from Christian. Bad news. He found out on very short notice that he has to take another officer along, and so he can't take us anymore...

Although it would have been awesome to go with Christian, I did not feel very discouraged by this change of plans, for some reason. And, because of this news, we got offered two giant Turkish pizzas on our ride out of Hamburg the following day, got to see more of Denmark and Sweden, met more interesting people, hitchhiked my first ferry at Puttgarden, and got to see my good friend Sacha in Copenhagen. So, something about bad news brings good news brings...