Advice on hitching down through Mexico, and Central and South America?

[zephyr23]

which farm are you at in mastatal? i lived at cabanas siempre verde - the owners name is Marcos, cool dude. you should ask for him, if your interested.
ps. DONT go to rainsong - a terrible wildlife rehabilitation center. the woman mary is infamously crazy around the Montezuma area, the place should honestly be shut down.
BUT do check out Montezuma, you'll meet cool people at the beach and cheap hostel prices.

 

[suzie fox]

i was just at marcos's for a month! i left today. i miss it already! i probably read your entry in the guest book then!
i was going to go to montezuma today actually! because i read in a guidebook that it is a popular hangout for hairy backpackers, and thought - that's me! but then we got 3 new volunteers who are lovely and we manifested a lovely ride into quepos instead!
so as much as i cried when i left mastatal today and i miss it already, i am excited to see what i will find next.
do you have any more recommendations for volunteering in costa rica?
i plan on staying here for as long as i want.
i feel like the right opportunity will come my way.
also i'd love to hear all your stories about marcos'! what a place, what a man, what an adventure...

 

[suzie fox]

i have done a little bit of hitchhiking around costa rica and have found it nothing but the best. but that particular hitchhiking partner left on a plane, so it's back to the bus for me. booo

"even just the thought of paying for a ride...is enough to make my thumbs hurt!"

 

[Kim Chee]

I hitched down to puerto vallarta and back a few years ago. Rides were often frequent, sometimes not. Get out on the highway and put your thumb way into the sky (even a bit aggressively). I speak a little espanol (that helps). Also, the buses are inexpensive and sometimes you can get on free. I saw a choo choo out there but didn't ride it as I wasn't doing that back then. Didn't hitch further than PV. Have fun and be safe!

 

[Belogenberg]

Heya, Im currently in Guatemala having hitched up from CR. It was a great trip, a little sketchy at times, but honestly if you keep your wits about you I don't believe it's particularly unsafe and people are incredibly willing to give you a ride. Go for the truckers! Some of them are driving all the way from Nicaragua to Mexico and can give you really long rides, though border crossings can sometimes be a monotonous hell... anyways, I stuck mostly to the Pan american highway and never had to wait more than an hour for a ride. Everyone I met was extremely kind and generous, a few people even gave me money. I would say if there-s one spot you can get yerself into trouble its just finding a place to sleep in some cities. If you end up in an urban area in el salvador honduras or guatemala it can be dangerous. Customs offices at the Fronteras are always good places to sleep. And if you dont speak spanish, learn some! It will make your trip MUCH more enjoyable, I promise! 8 hour truck rides just arent the same if you cant speak to each other... Im in Guatemala fora couple more weeks than hitching back up to the states, if anyone wants to meet up let me know!

 

[Belogenberg]

Also> when you're hitching and a bus goes by, theyll often give you a ride for free! dont instantly wave them off.

 

[lkz]

rides will be easy to get. Remember its polite to offer people money after they give you a ride in all of latin america. i just ask em how much i owe them, no ones ever accepted any money though.

 

[iamwhatiam]

got my ticket for costa rica, early march. who else is goin?

 

[barefootinbabylon]

Sooo freakin' jeeaallloouuuss! Hope you have a BLAST! How long are you gonna be down there for?

 

[freedude2012]

man i wish i could head down tht way sounds like a ton of fun but cant have a passport any more cuse i was dumbass years ago. but have fun and be safe guys

 

[barefootinbabylon]

That sucks, man... :\ I've been researching into this, as I have accumulated quite the record meself, but still have a pasaporte... I thought the only thing that would prohibit you from getting a passport was owing back child support, being convicted of espionage/terrorist activities/attempts to overthrow the government, and/or crossing international borders to commit trafficking offenses. Of course, I did meet a kid once who apparently can't leave the U.$. due to his Earth First! days; he got convicted of 'ecoterrorism' for tree-sitting a redwood - fukkin' BULL; you can be convicted of even violent felonies and still get a passport, but a lovely little hippie kid can't leave the country b/c he loves trees??! Ohh, Amerikka. Anyways...

 

[freedude2012]

ikr and i owe childsupport in wy (thank god they dont extradite over state lines) and you cant have violent gun offences either ant the fucked up part is that i can get a medical licence i was a ff/emt-I for a few years after i got out but now if ur a felon (even if yopu come out with a different attatude) you cant get and or keep a good job hence how i came to this chapter in my life and said fuck capitalisem and our fucked up goverment ill live on what i can get from were ever i can get it and have a good time doin itpirateshipwiththbf-palmsmiley

 

[iamwhatiam]

yea..i'm glad i still have a passport. i had to buy a rountrip, so just bought it for 3 months but i'd like to stay down there for a while and travel around different countries

 

[Xavier Booph]

What would I need to know about doing this? Is it especially difficult? Is there a big stigma or unfriendliness regarding hitchhikers? Any general tips, advice, things to loom out for, things to know? Any help would be great.

I have a passport.

Learning Spanish

 

[ceege]

Yo I know I'm a little late on this post, but I just joined. I spent a year hitching From Tijuana to Colombia, and did a bunch of circles along the way. I had to pay for a boat to Colombia, but not before having worked my way to the Kuna Indian islands, where the cops let me hang out and ask boats for rides. I know about the guy who got a ride for free, apparently, but it's pretty much unlikely. In fact, after him I found out that the new police at the island where he hitched the boat were not going to be so friendly to travelers of the same ilk. I felt impatient, so when a chance came to pay for a week long cruise at less than half the price, I took it.

But from those island or from Colon, you can meet boats going to Cartagena, Colombia to take you along. From the islands, there are slow cargo ships that you can board and work your way to Turbo, Colombia, but it's a long haul. The boat traffic from Colon is heaviest from right now to about the end of April. I also know that this is the best time to get a position as crew for cross-atlantic or cross-pacific rides. That's my plan, eventually.

As for hitching in Latin America, Spanish will definitely come to you, as long as you stick to the journey and not go out of your way to find english speakers. Eat anything and everything, don't worry about the damn water all the time, it's not bad in every country, only some. The hitching goes from good to bad depending on the country. In Central America hitching is fine, and Mexico too. A little slower in Panama. Costa Rica the majority of my rides were gringos, so I only stayed a week in that country.. too damn touristy and ex-patrioty, but definitely a beautiful place (I crashed a few nights in quepos) with good people.

If you want stories you can check out my buddy's at hitchtheworld.com, or mine at velabas. But really that shit doesn't matter, better to just throw yourself into the mix and let it stir you around. If you wanna chat more about it shoot me a pm. I've already hitched to the bottom of the continent and now I'm back in Lima. cheerio

 

[iamwhatiam]

Yo I know I'm a little late on this post, but I just joined. I spent a year hitching From Tijuana
If you want stories you can check out my buddy's at hitchtheworld.com, or mine at velabas. But really that shit doesn't matter, better to just throw yourself into the mix and let it stir you around. If you wanna chat more about it shoot me a pm. I've already hitched to the bottom of the continent and now I'm back in Lima. cheerio

hey, tried to pm you but i think you have your profile set so that we can't

 

[ceege]

Think it should work now.