Out of A'dam

Hitching out of Amsterdam started a bit later than I had hoped for, but as it turned out this was a good thing. Anu and I walked to the Liftplaatz, a dedicated hitch-hiking spot created by the Dutch government before they started giving all Dutch students free rides on the trains, where I would grab the A-2 motorway all the way across Holland and most of Germany. A few hundred meters down the road from this spot was a gas station, a good back-up spot if I was having no luck hitching from the liftplaats. After a short while, Shaun and Valentina showed up, also planning on hitching out in the direction of Berlin. As a courtesy, they continued down to the gas station, so that a driver would not think we were all hitching as a triple (normally more difficult). After an hour or more, I walked back, wanting to try my luck at the gas station (And wondering if they were still there); they moved up to my old spot. Within a few minutes, a car pulled over, and I got a lift with a Dutch gentleman and his young (perhaps 3-year old?) daughter.
This guy was, as most of my rides are, very interesting. He had actually seen Shaun and Valentina, and was considering pulling over for them when he saw me. He was heading to Appledoorn, a good distance from A'dam, and a nice first ride. We spoke a bit about free travel, why I am doing what I am doing, and some of the things he will be doing with his wife and child in the near future. They have decided that the “typical” life is simply not what they desire, so they are in the process of ridding themselves of most of their possesions, and going to travel! Already they have an extended volunteering trip set up to Nigeria, to work in a village doing some form of volunteerism work. I was quite surprised, as this guy had a good job/normal life in the Netherlands, but realized that there were alternatives, and he wanted his daughter to grow up having traveled and having some unique life experiences.
Dropped at gas station on the motorway (Interstate), I proceeded to ask around for anyone whom might be headed towards Germany/Berlin. I had no luck, though I did not wait long for a ride. As I sat down staring at empty fuel lanes, waiting for more cars to pull in and ask for a ride, a pleasant voice popped up behind me “hey, you looking for a ride man?” It was Shaun, along with a very large Buddhist monk. He invited me back into a van, where I tossed my pack into the back next to a cage with a wounded bird in it, and hopped in the front with Shaun and Valentina. They explained that they had seen me in passing, and the driver had actually stopped on the motorway, and driven backwards down the on-ramp to the petrol station to pick me up. This guy was AMAZING. I believe he was originally Dutch, but was living in a commune/monestary on the Germany border. He believed in the preservation of all animals, especially birds, and absolutely LOVED geese! He gave us a lift all the way to Osnabruck, almost 100km out of his way, and the whole time we talked about everything from sustainability to Aikido. There was another passenger in the front seat whom we dropped off on the way, and when we dropped him off, he gave us juice boxes and some cakes in return. The generosity of some people will never cease to amaze me.
Valentina got us our next two lifts by asking people (a small cute Italian girl, go figure!), a woman whom used to hitch around when she was younger but now works on selling large-scale wind turnbines and a gentleman whom did not say much but was more than happy to drive us a hundred or more KM. His good friend was Italian, and happened to call, so he handed his phone to Valentina, and they conversed in rapid-fire Italian, simply to have the chance to speak their native language. We were dropped off at a gas station on the motorway again, though this time we had much worse luck hitching. After MANY failed attempts and hours of waiting, a VW van with Polish plates rolled in, able to take two. I encouraged Shaun and Valentina to go, while I would continue to hitch on my own to Berlin for a meeting that night. I was planning on meeting George the next day in Dresden, so if I would not make it to Berlin I would simply hitch straight to Dresden. Well, I had no luck, and began wandering around in search of a camp. The first time on the road I needed to pitch my tent! Well, I may not have NEEDE to pitch it, but it was great to have a bug-free, warm, dry shelter wherever I wanted. I wrote a bit, ate some cake, and went to sleep.