The post below is written by Robert Strauss, friend of STA Travelbuzz and former Lonely Planet author. He came along to our most recent meet-up where Camilla cajoled him with charm into giving us a few words on his experiences of changes in the world of travel over the past 30 years. As an extremely busy fellow we greatly appreciate his thoughts on the most cost effective of all transport – hitch-hiking…

In 1970, at the age of 18, I made £600 by selling shares in British Car Auctions and spent it all in 18 months on the road hitching across Europe and Asia…

Salzburg to Athens with an atomic scientist in a mini.

Kabul to Delhi in a VW combi.

From Khorramshar, Iran to Basra, Iraq in air-cooled luxury with a Kuwaiti businessman.

The length of Syria in trucks to the Turkish border.

On phosphate trucks from Amman, Jordan to Aqaba.

Throughout Israel, from Kiryat Shemona to Eilat.

In 1986, I travelled on trucks with traders from Sichuan, China over 5,000m passes to Tibet and out again to Qinghai.

Hitching was also a key way to get around New Caledonia in 1989. In 1992, I hitched as part of my research around northern Japan and Hokkaido.

In brief hitch-hiking has a much lower profile in the travel world now. We as a society have become far more wary with drivers and hitchers weighing the risks more often and opting for convenience and security.

What can I say – Salzburg to Athens with an atomic scientist in a mini. I hope this journey will eventually become fictionalised in movie format. I imagine you could learn a lot about life while sharing the interior space of a mini with an atomic scientist. However, I digress…

Hitch-hiking is not something I’ve ever tried, though I did discuss it with our STA Explorer AJ, who was planning to use it as a primary method of getting around on his next trip to the States. We think it might be illegal there though…

Thanks Robert for the words and hopefully we’ll see you at the next meet-up.