Well, my time in Namur was over, also in Belgium. The reason why was that I've found my new host in Tettingen, Germany. You probably never heard about this city. It's all right, me either. It was a tiny village close from Trier. This day I had been in 3 different countries: Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany.
I can't say that it was a hitchhiking trip, once I almost didn't hitchhike this day. But well it wasn't easy either.
First I needed to leave from Namur and move to Luxembourg. My best option was taking a train from Namur until Arlon (Luxembourglish border) and from there trying to hitchhike.
The train tickets in Belgium for people up to 25 years old have the same price whatever the distance that you will travel. You can change maximum 2 stations. Meaning that you can travel sometimes 400km paying just 7 euros. In my case it was just 130km. Who already have been in north of Europe (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland) knows that to travel by train is a little bit expensive. Even traveling by flight sometimes can be cheaper. Eg. Luxembourg - Geneva by train is about 150 euros, if you're luck you can buy flight cheaper than 100 euros, by Blablacar will spend less then 40 euros.
But well, I just took my train to Arlon arriving in the train stations, needing to walk 15 more minutes then reaching the exit of the highway. This ride was easy, I've waited less than 30min when a Belgium old guy picked me up. Our language skills didn't work again, I believe that the only thing that He understood from me was the word "Luxembourg". He tried to say something in french that I couldn't understand at all, I was just saying "oui" for his question. My mood was like: "whatever you're saying I will join you, thanks!".
That's what I did and later I understood what he was trying to say. After 10min He just dropped in the highway, like middle of nowhere, even before the Luxembourglish border.
Translating what he said was: - Hey dude, you can come, but I live in a small Village in Belgium, before Luxembourg. I can drop you few kilometers head and then you can try some luck again. Is it ok for you?
And I said: - Oui
This language misunderstood wasn't that bad. I was 2km from the border and 4km from a bus station in Luxembourg, where I could take a bus to the capital.
Actually it was super cool walking in the countryside during one hour. I could cross the border between 2 countries walking and even taking a selfie with the Luxembourg transit signal in the EU format.
After this walk I took the bus to the Luxembourg city, spending some time in the city that I was away for 2 weeks. Including the fact that I stopped in my old place to pick up my letters that included my credit card and job contract. Then just I took another bus to the German border.
Buses between countries are expensive, like Belgium - Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Germany. But in Luxembourg once I was student, I could take any bus / train for free for national trips. That's why I didn't need to hitchhike there.
Again in the border, but this time LUX - DE. What I remember was that I need to cross a bridge and I was in Germany already. The river basically separated the both countries. It was night already and once it was Sunday, there wasn't any bus going to the village of my host. Then I need to walk and once it was night already, hitchhiking doesn't seem to be the best option for me. I should have walked theoretically 5km, but then my GPS was crazy sending me to a forest, until I realized that I was kind of lost. Gladly I had internet and I could talk with my host all the time and after I've found myself, I was 3km from her home and she and her mom just picked me up in a road that there wasn't anything around. Super, but super kind from them.
It was just the first welcome and afterwards it was even better. Having a warm place to stay, a shower and some food. My host had just 19 years old, but she had some cool travel experiences to share. It was being her first CS experience and for me was really interesting to see how their parents were open minded to receive some traveler that they don't know anything about. I really appreciate this kind of situation, because even trying hard, I couldn't convince my parents that use it, and it's safe and we don't pay or charge for it. It's another generation and I'm really happy to see older generations with modern minds. I wish that in 30 years I will keep having my mind opened to understand and interact with next generations.
Well, we just ended the day with a beer having nice talks until we were tired and we went to sleep. By the way, once the house was pretty big, I have one floor just for me, like living room (where I slept), bathroom and service area. All her family and she was living just in the first and second floor. I'm just thankful for the hospitality.
This day was over and the day after was coming. I had no clue where to go, once I didn't find any host until this moment.
Crossing countries by feet
You're close buddy
My bed / room
Good night!
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