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Solo Female Travel

Accidentally Hitchhiking in Costa Rica

06/20/2012 by Kristin 27 Comments

An old friend of mine and I had been bitten hard by the travel bug – she was stressed out from grad school and I was making my way through my first year of full time, 8-7 work.  We both were in dire need of a break.  While Europe was our first choice, with not that much cash and only about a week of vacation days, we had to get creative.

One day, out of the blue, I said “why don’t we go to Costa Rica?” to which she said “why don’t we?”

We then pulled out a map to see where Costa Rica actually was.  Honestly, I knew nothing about it other than the fact that it existed, which is how I normally pick travel destinations.

Beautiful Manuel Antonio
Beautiful Manuel Antonio

This was the height of the recession, so we were able to score cheap tickets from LAX to Liberia (a tiny airport in Northwestern Costa Rica) for $199 before taxes near the end of June 2009.  This was perfect, because we could then avoid flying into San Jose, which we had heard was full of pick-pockets and should be avoided altogether.  It was almost like it was meant to be, like the clouds were parting, the angels were singing, and the Kayak gods were saying “yes, go to Costa Rica my child, go forthwith.”

Many a day have I spent looking for that deal again in vain.

Yes, this all seemed like a good idea.  We’d land and promptly take a bus to the first destination we had selected – Arenal.  It seemed close, or whatever.

When we landed, we realized that wasn’t actually going to work.  There was no bus depot.  There was nothing of the sort.  We sort of wandered around the parking lot, most likely looking like worried puppies, completely unsure what to do next.

It was then that a large van rolled up, and a guy with an American accent rolled down the window and offered us some candy.

Just kidding, he said “you look kind of lost, would you like a ride?”

My friend and I exchanged terrified glances, and for some reason, two girls who would normally be horrified by this prospect said “yes” in unison.

We slid open the van door to find a local Costa Rican girl, along with an Asian-American girl.  It was an odd mix, but as we started talking more, I felt a little more assured that we weren’t about to get hacked up and sold as the other white meat.  It just didn’t seem that these relaxed and friendly girls would be part of this equation if this was a homicide mission.

Once we started down the main road, my friend texted on her phone and handed it to me, “my mom would kill me if she knew I was doing this.” To which I thought that job might get done before she had the chance.

My mom would probably kill me too.  Actually, I really hope she’s not reading this.  Hi Mom! Please go away now.

It turned out that the trio had met in college in Georgia, and the driver of the van was an American guy who fell in love with his Costa Rican exchange student girlfriend, and elected to move here with her, to work at an ecology company in Monte Verde.He also explained that hitchhiking is very common in Costa Rica, and assured us that unless we had taken about 5 different busses, we would never have made it to our destination using our original plan. He even refused to take our cash when we offered to help pay for gas.  This guy’s generosity was warming.

However, their end destination was different than ours, so he could only take us part-way. We ended up in a random small town with no idea what to do.  After stressing out for about an hour, and realizing the next bus wasn’t coming for another 4 hours, we finally decided to barter with a taxi driver, who agreed to take us for about $20.  This seemed steep, until we realized that this journey would take another two hours.

We had really not planned adequately at all.

We finally arrived and settled in, several hours after having landed, but all said and done, lucky to have arrived at all.

Arenal, Costa Rica
Glorious Arenal

From that point forward, we figured out our transportation plans well in advance, and paid up for a shared shuttle.

This is the first time I’ve admitted that I took that ride from a stranger in an even stranger place.  Funnier still is that I watched “Taken” on the flight home and cringed the entire time. 

Have you ever hitchhiked in a foreign country? Do you think I’m insane? Comment!

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I'm Kristin, and my vision of a better world is one where more women are empowered and living out their dreams. Solo traveling is the best method I've found to become the best, bravest version of me. This site is all about how YOU can have the adventure of a lifetime in an easy, fun, approachable way, so that you can feel empowered, too. Want to learn more about me?

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Comments

  1. Captain Chris says

    06/21/2012 at 10:50 am

    This is phenomenal. Watching “Taken” afterwards was a strong choice.

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/21/2012 at 10:57 am

      Thanks! I’ll fess up to taking rides in Europe as well. “Taken” REALLY shocked me! 

      Reply
  2. Ayngelina says

    06/22/2012 at 7:10 am

    I hitchhiked in Nicaragua and I’ve also been picked up in Mexico – in Latin America if people see you walking and it’s hot out they’ll just stop to see if you need a ride.

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/22/2012 at 8:07 am

      Man, in the States it’s a good way to become part of a serial murder case, perhaps that’s why we were so apprehensive! 

      Reply
  3. Rob says

    06/23/2012 at 7:41 am

    Most of the hitchhiking I ever did was in Africa, some places just feel right and $199 sounds like a solid steal on the ticket. I’m visiting Costa Rica this fall, looking forward to it.

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/23/2012 at 9:41 am

      Wow, in Africa? Suddenly my story seems less badass. You’ll love Costa Rica!

      Reply
  4. Laurence says

    06/25/2012 at 6:11 am

    Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded that there are normal nice people out there 😉

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/25/2012 at 8:29 am

      Absolutely 🙂

      Reply
  5. Brock - Backpack with Brock says

    06/25/2012 at 6:27 pm

    Sounds like an adventure! It’s good that you made it where you needed to be in one piece!

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/26/2012 at 9:37 am

      We thought it was good, too! 

      Reply
  6. Mark Wiens says

    06/25/2012 at 7:48 pm

    Great, and adventurous story! I’ve done a little hitchhiking in Asia, but mostly just short rides in the back of people’s trucks.

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/26/2012 at 9:37 am

      I love it, hitchhiking stories from all over the world! 

      Reply
  7. The World of Deej says

    06/27/2012 at 6:59 pm

    Great story….I’ve only hitchhiked once in my life, and it was for only 2 miles in the Bahamas. Hopped in the back of a random pick up truck for a ride back to the cruise ship…

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      06/29/2012 at 12:58 pm

      2 miles! Nice. 

      Reply
  8. Xpatmatt says

    07/04/2012 at 11:35 am

    I love travelling like that. No research. No idea about the country. Just the cheap tickets and the an aversion to planning ahead that outweighs the fear of ending up stranded on the side of a dirt road asking for the help of machete toting coffee farmers.

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      07/05/2012 at 5:53 pm

      Same here.  Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. 

      Reply
  9. Alexa Hart says

    07/08/2012 at 10:11 pm

    First of all, that pic is gorgeous! And, I have never hitch-hiked. Good to know that it’s a somewhat common thing in Costa Rica. Hoping to get over there in a couple years. 

    Ha, and Taken! I think about that movie every time I am in an airport, bus station, or train station.  

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      07/09/2012 at 1:57 pm

      Sounds like it’s pretty common in most of Central Am. so you should have no trouble! Such a beautiful part of the world. 

      Reply
  10. Ava Apollo says

    07/09/2012 at 1:57 pm

    Callie, I know that feeling – the “oops maybe I shouldn’t have done that but now the car’s moving and I’m taking this ride whether I like it or not” feeling. Glad we’re both alive.  I guess it all worked out! 

    Reply
  11. LifePart2 says

    07/17/2012 at 10:48 am

    I have done a bit of hitching but not that often. I know we are sold a lot of fear but I am still sometimes wary. I have never had anything approaching a bad experience and met some good people. 

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      07/29/2012 at 11:30 pm

      The bad, scary stories definitely tend to stick more than the good ones.  It was a good experience for me – I’d do it again. 

      Reply
  12. Sandy Allain says

    08/09/2012 at 7:53 pm

    I can’t say I ever hitchhiked period. It sounds rather risky. You are
    lucky you got home in one piece. I have seen and heard too many horror stories
    from hitchhiking I cannot imagine risking it on a trip. Have a safer trip next
    time.

    Reply
    • Ava Apollo says

      08/13/2012 at 8:32 am

      …did you just scold me via blog comment, Sandy? 😉 I deserve it. 

      Reply
  13. Kristin Addis says

    02/12/2013 at 11:02 pm

    That’s really kind of them!

    Reply
  14. Alex Wieteska says

    04/24/2021 at 1:28 pm

    Love hitch hiking. Such a nice way to get around and also meet local although I wouldn’t do it everywhere.

    Reply
    • Kristin says

      04/26/2021 at 9:42 am

      Agreed

      Reply

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