This will not be an unfamiliar scene for the 1,000 or so hitchhikers setting off from the UK in the Easter holidays, as part of the UK’s biggest organised hitchhike- the Link Community Development Hitch to Prague or Morocco. Link Community Development is a charity that promotes education in sub-saharan Africa, and the hitch is its’ biggest event, having raised over £2.5million for its projects since it began in 1992. 

 Not only will these hitchers be taking on an arduous and terrifying task that will have their mothers crying down the phone the night before, they are also required to get together a minimum of £350 each to help education in developing countries. Their hitch will be stressful, scary and exhausting.But it will also doubtlessly be the best experience of their lives.

Last year, after an embarrassing 7 days of effort (the average is 3), 19 lifts and about 24 bags of crisps, I made it to Prague with two friends and the memories are hilarious. David, the cameraman for “Wife Swap”, who drove us through London and tried to get us to dodge the £3 entrance fee and break into Karl Marx’s grave. The French couple who rescued us from an empty Belgian village in a thunderstorm, fed us chocolate and dropped us off in front of the Luxembourg tourist information centre. Jerome, the collector of semi-precious stones, who picked us up in Belgium despite his concerns about British knife crime. Jutta, the middle aged German feminist who drove us to Strasbourg with ‘Everybody hurts’ blaring out through her cassette player. And the Czech boy who had a cushioned area in the back of his wagon for his lady friends.

Without the generosity (and eccentricity) of these characters, and everyone who sponsored us, it could have been a terrible experience. Instead, it was a ridiculous adventure that reinstated my faith in humanity- it was about people taking a chance to help others out. So I take my sweaty hitching hat off to you, everyone who will be helping LCD in the next coming months, and I urge you all to donate to the Edinburgh students who are heading off. And if, on your travels, you ever see a slightly crippled, slightly dirty green t-shirt wearer at the side of the road, just do it- give em a lift.