The girl hitchhiked from Sweden to Malaysia with only $200 in her pocket
Petrina Tong has been hitchhiking from Sweden to Malaysia for the past 13 months. The 29-year-old girl left Stockholm in June 2015 with only $200. She wanted to see how far she could go. As a result, she arrived in her hometown of Kuala Lumpur in July 2016, having traveled through 22 countries.
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A freelance screenwriter describes adventures as a challenge to herself. "When I went to Stockholm last year, I was going to explore the experience of hitchhiking, just because I couldn't imagine being able to do it. I thought I might give it a try, figuring I'd be on the road for three to six months depending on how long I could live on $200. I was standing by the side of the road with my thumb up and driving to where the stopped car was going. Only upon arrival I gave the universe the opportunity to reveal where I would sleep and eat," the traveler recalls.
"In order to eat, I fished food out of the trash cans near the cafe and attacked the leftovers, asked for fruit in stores that could no longer be sold. As soon as evening came, I was looking for a place to camp with a tent, or I was invited to spend the night by casual acquaintances." Petrina says that although many people are afraid to hitchhike, especially single women, she met wonderful kind people who were very happy to help her.
However, there were some scary moments. She had to cross the Iran-Pakistan border through Balochistan, which is quite dangerous. "Due to cases of abduction of travelers, I was not allowed to go alone. At the Iranian border, I got into a police car under the escort of two more armed men on a motorcycle. We got to the first checkpoint, after which I got into a police truck. We reached the next checkpoint. I had to wait forever. Then I was handed over to a military man, and he hitchhiked with me to the next point. From there, I got three more military trucks," the girl says. According to her, it was quite an experience, perhaps the most stressful for her entire trip. She wasn't even allowed to stand in the open while crossing the border, and she had to jump from one truck to another.
Petrina says that one of her favorites was the moment when she met on her way the hippie festival "Rainbow" (Rainbow Gathering) in the mountains of Lithuania. This gathering, which originates from the American Burning Man festival, brings together people from different countries for several weeks to create a "utopia". "Money has no value, food is equally distributed among everyone, everyone is one family," says the traveler. — There is no hierarchy, neither alcohol nor drugs are allowed, so you can only enjoy life itself. It's very close to the roots. I fell in love with this strange community. Having no contact with the outside world, everyone reconnects with nature and builds relationships with once-strangers, sitting around a common campfire and trying to warm up or enjoying the sun after a few rainy days."
Petrina's path ran from Sweden through the whole of Europe: through Denmark, Germany, Poland and through the Baltic countries. Then she traveled through Albania, Kosovo and Bulgaria to Turkey. From there she went to Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand and reached her native Malaysia. When she got from Europe to the Middle East, many people wondered why she was traveling alone. "I was constantly asked why I was alone and where my husband, brother, boyfriend or parents were. They asked me if I was scared, if I was lonely. In Asia, it is not customary to travel alone, especially among women."
Despite some obstacles, Petrina advises other women to travel and hitchhike. "I expected it to be an unrealistically difficult journey, but when I look back, it doesn't seem so terrible. Of course, there were many moments when I asked myself what the hell I was doing and why I was forcing myself to go through such trials, but now I have a new view of the world. The most important lesson for me was that the world and the unknown are not as scary as they seem. People everywhere are incredibly kind and willing to help. Now I know that even if I get lost in a country whose language I don't speak and I don't have any money, I'll still be fine."
Keywords: Hitchhiking | Malaysia | Sweden