rijeka, pt 2

i've decided that hitchhiking in winter is shit. the time frame you've got to secure a lift between sunrise and sunset is so short that sometimes it doesn't even feel worth the try. also, apparently croatians don't like hitchhikers much either. i'll attach a heat map if i still have it saved.

anyhow, as much as it hurts to blow up my spending limits further, i need a new powerbank if i want to go on a mountain tour for a couple of days without electricity along the way. the battery life of my phone hasn't changed at all, so the 70 i spent on the replacement were for shit.

headed to a nearby tech store and bought the beefiest one they had. 30000 mah should be enough to charge my phone at least 6 times, so that should be more than enough. i hope it actually holds as much as it says, because my other powerbank obviously doesnt.

i made it to the gas station i had scouted out earlier around noon, made a sign and started holding out the thumb. two hours and zero lifts later, i realized that i was in the wrong place because i confused two gas stations because of their almost identical names. headed to the actual spot, waited well past sunset, but nothing. at least my music and the panoramic view were great, so i had a great time all things considered.

set up my tent right next to the highway, read some moby dick and watched some netflix and listened to some music. living the life.

went to try again early the next morning (after a dog had found my tent and nicked one of my boots, which the owner kindly brought back), stood waiting for 30 minutes, within which a grand total of two cars passed. i realized that i might be stuck for good. the next shock was watching albus' story (the bikepacking french guy from ljubljana that was now well ahead of me in mostar) of pretty heavy snow in bosnia. the place where i was heading because i thought it would be warmer there. the frustrations of the last days and weeks were starting to take hold of my mood.

i went back to the mcdonalds right next to my waiting spot and sat there for a couple of hours trying to organize my thoughts. i wanted to take my time through the balkans, but winter was pushing me. i wanted to hitchhike the way, but it was both illegal and, more importantly, more tedious than i ever could've imagined. i wanted to head to the mountains but lacked the equipment, time and backpack weight. all in all, pretty fucked. bored out of my mind at this point, i just wanted to get away.

so, i found the cheapest connection for the longest distance, and that was a 40€ flixbus to sofia, bulgaria. it took a lot of fighting what's left of my ego, scince i was once giving up on my plans and taking the easy way, but once i saw the hostel prices there, i couldn't bear the thought of wasting more of my time and resources here. i promised to come back another time when the time was right and finish what i started here.Okumaya devam et