My Latvian hero

It's monday morning and my alarm rings at 7am. I feel tired as I usually don't get up that early. It's still dark outside and I tell myself there's still time, no need to rush, a few more minutes in this warm and cosy bed. I get up around 7.30 — I don't want to cut it too tight!

My backpack is almost ready. I have the rest of the yogurt with some nuts and a few dumplings I made yesterday as breakfast. Then I boil some peppermint tea with a slice of lemon in my thermo flask, grab the dumplings for my friend, some dried figs and the boiled egg — just in case I need food. With the shakti mat and my winter gloves, hat and scarf there is no space for the snowboard helmet — anyway I'm heading out around 8.30am.

Argh, I just missed the bus — well 20 minutes wait isn't really that long.

It's 9.30 and I'm standing with my M6 sign near the gas station. The sun is out and the sky is blue with purple clouds — it is going to be a nice day!

After a while I notice that I left my hat in the bus and switch to the A74 sign —it is still early, so taking multiple rides is fine. Within 30 minutes two cars pulled over and I thought they stopped for me. But they were false alarms — no worries, I have to be patient and keep smiling. :)

Not long after I changed my spot again due to the car who stopped right in front of the gas station a woman in a four wheel drive stops — yay!

It's my second time being picked up by an Australian in Scotland. We had a lovely chat about hitchhiking, traveling, living abroad, getting settled down and other topics. She dropped me off at a gas station on the M74 — it should be easy now to get to Birmingham.

It's 11am and I decide to ask the truck drivers if they are heading south — no luck. Most of them are going north and one even told me he can't take me and that I should try with the cars in the parking lot.

I shouldn't waste too much time, so just a cup of tea for me and back to work!

As I'm looking for a good spot to stand I wander around the parking lot with my M6 sign, showing it to the nearby people. Most of them look at it and ignore me.

Suddenly a white van enters the parking lot. The guy looked at the sign, stops the car in front of me and rolled down the window, "where you want to go?". I answer, "are you going south?". "I go to Manchester, wanna come?"

So I managed to get my second ride. He parked the van and went to the toilet. The van had no back seats, but the back was completely empty — it looked a bit suspicious, but my worries were immediately gone after I started talking to him.

He was from Latvia and worked as a delivery driver. Over the weekend he went from Stansted to Edinburgh. Now we were on the way to Manchester airport. His English isn't very good but we can still communicate.

We talk about our life stories, families, living in the UK and many other topics. Sometimes there's just silence for a while and every now and then he smokes a cigarette. He shares his salty crackers (like Soletti) with me and I share my figs with him.

He has two phones mounted on his windscreen, a TomTom like navigation and a video camera to record the road. He tells me that one navigation had traffic jams included while the other shows speed cameras. He also showed me some of his YouTube videos — one of them was an accident he once had. Haha — the car in front had stopped all of the sudden and he bumped into it. His car is GPS tracked, so his boss knows where he is going and how fast he is moving.

When we had most of our way behind us we stopped at a Starbucks. He gets his coffee and treats me to a green tea. I'm looking at the map to see where he could drop me off — I need to stay at the M6 but Manchester isn't directly on it. He tells me if he gets a job for Oxford or London he could drop me off in Birmingham, but right now he just heads to Manchester airport to wait for the next job.

He brings me to a gas station at the M6 junction ten miles from Manchester airport. He can park there for two hours for free and if he gets a job he can bring me to Birmingham. I think that's really nice of him but when I look at the clock it was already 14.45 and I think to myself that I can't afford to wait for two hours for a job. Hitchhiking is harder after sunset — and it was getting dark very early at this time of the year!

We exchange phone numbers and i ask him if he doesn't mind if I try my luck while he waits for his job. He's fine with it and I stand with my B'ham sign on an island near the exit to this service station. I turn and smile at every driver to make sure cars entering and leaving the car park see me — many ignore me, some read the sign "Birmingham", others shake their head or shrug their shoulders to show they can't help.

After half an hour I put down my backpack and notice that my sock is getting wet — damn, don't stand in grass you idiot! Lesson learnt. I keep smiling and showing my sign to every car. Nope, no luck.

I heard it's harder in England than in Scotland, but didn't think it was impossible! There's an ibis budget hotel, at least I could stay in a warm place worst case. Oh, I still see my Latvian driver (R.B.) in his car, maybe he'll get a job soon?

After more than an hour I decide to go to the bathroom and bump into R.B. He didn't get a job yet and would have to leave soon. I didn't know if I should just ask him to drive me to Birmingham as it seems really hard get a ride here. However, I didn't. He tells me that he'll call me when he leaves and he could drop me off at the next service station. I reply with a "okay".

I see a few trucks and wonder if I should try my luck with them — i have the feeling they are friendlier than most of the car drivers. But most of the trucks seem empty. So I go back to the island and stand on the road right next to it.

After 20 minutes my phone rings — it's R.B.! He says something I don't quite understand, but I walk towards his car as he pulls out the parking spot. I get in and he tells me he has to leave as the two hours have past, but he hasn't gotten the next job. Apparently it's a bad day at work today.

It's getting dark and we are heading south to the next service station. He gets a call from his boss. The next job is for Sheffield and then London. So he can drop me off in either of those places or at the next service station. I'm thinking, I could stay at friends in Sheffield or London, but I want to make it to Birmingham. I decide to get off at the service station.

As R.B. drivers off to his job the sky is pitch dark — only lamps, cars and signs from the shops and gas station light the place. Time is running and I start to get desperate.

I walk to the cars filling up petrol and ask them politely if they head south to Birmingham. Many say no and one guy laughs at me asking me how much I'd pay. I tell him I have no money. A woman watches me in pity. I see trucks nearby and show them my sign — but I only get shaking heads. I text my friend in Birmingham and she tells me to keep calm.

I wonder where I should stand — I feel like if I walk up to people and ask them in person they are more likely to take me, but then some cars drive from the parking lot past the gas station and I wouldn't be able to get to them. I look at the map and this service station is only for cars going south — so all of the cars are actually going south! :( No hotel here, so it could be a harsh night!

As I'm thinking of where to go next my phone rings — it's R.B. His job got cancelled and he has a job to Birmingham! His package is ready at 8pm in Manchester and he could bring me to Birmingham at around 10pm. He is heading back to the service station — thank god, he saved me! I felt really relieved and told him I'm more than happy to go with him. :D

He picks me up at the north-going side of the service station and we head towards Manchester city. I'm so glad he called — it was starting to look really bad for me!

We got more time to talk and share stories together. Every time his phone rang I hoped that this job didn't get cancelled! During our wait for the package I shared my dumplings with him. I had to get out of the car while he picked up and delivered the packages as he couldn't have any passengers with him. Obviously he came back to pick me up. :)

His packages had to be delivered within 4 hours to Birmingham and to London. He told me he couldn't do stops elsewhere. I was fine with it as it was just 2 miles away from my friend's place. On the way to Birmingham he gets another job request to go back to Glasgow. He asks me jokingly if I wanted to go back to Scotland. Hehe. It turned out that he had 30 minutes free in Birmingham to grab a kebab before heading up north. He told me he can bring me directly to my friend's house. I was really touched and felt very thankful! It was drizzling in Birmingham and I didn't really feel like walking after that long day.

My friend in Birmingham had made a cake and wanted to give him some, but as we arrived he said his boss is already on his way and he wouldn't have much time — so I thanked him once again and had to said goodbye to him in the drizzling rain. I hope he had time to get a kebab — drive safely my Latvian hero!