2015 - Summer - Milan (ITA) to Budapest (HUN)

On the summer of 2015, two of my friends and I decided to go on an adventure. We were looking for an adventure, that we will remember for a long time. We ended up booking the cheapest international plane tickets for one way and try to hitchhike back.

The plane ticket was around 25€ or $27 per person, and we also bought a bigger luggage space for another 25€. It was cheap we had to live with this opportunity.

Day1

Credits.
We arrived at the Airport early to check-in right in time. Wizz Air organized the flight. It wasn't the best, but we can't complain. It was technically 'free.'

Arrived in Milan around 9 PM. The airport was nowhere near to our Airbnb. We had to take a train to city center. We had no idea where to go, and the streets were empty, barely found anyone who could help us. It took us about 15-20 minutes to get the right directions and finally go to our Airbnb.
The guy who showed us the directions said it's far away, but we thought it couldn't be that far away and we can save on the tram tickets if we go by walk. Well, the place we were going was about 6km away, so it took us close to 2-hour walk with all our bags packed up.

We arrived between 1 and 2 AM, so the guy was already asleep. We had to call him few times to wake him, but then we finally arrived. Didn't talk to the house owner much that night, just took a shower and went to sleep.

Day2

Credits.
We woke up early because it was incredibly hot and the humid level was way too high. We needed few days to get used to that climate.
We spent the whole day with sightseeing. The city of Milan is beautiful.
We checked everything from Duomo di Milano to Castello Sforzesco.

I would recommend it to everyone to visit Milan at least once.

Was a long day, bought some beers on the way back home (with tram this time) and enjoyed the night.

Day3

This was our last morning in Milan. We packed up and headed to the nearest highway. We had to take tram, underground and bus to finally get close to the one we were going for and it also took us like 2 hours of walking.
This was the point where our journey started.

We didn't want to risk, so we went to the first gas station we found to start hitchhiking. We knew it wouldn't be easy for three 18-19 years old guy, but we never thought it would be this hard. We were there for an hour when the first car stopped. Unfortunately, it was a police car. They told us we are not allowed to auto stop on the highway (we were at the entrance of the gas station, out of the road), and they will let us go this time but if they find us there again, they will fine us for 500€. Luckily Italian police are cool, so we didn't have to pay. We had to move to the exit of the petrol station where our chances were reduced to close to 0% to find a ride. They also spent like an hour there, having lunch so we couldn't go back to the entrance.

We were there for almost 3 hours when a Volkswagen Golf​ stopped. There was a young couple in the car, and they were going to the same city where we are. Our destination was Sirmione, Italy.

Sirmione is ​on a half-island, surrounded by a huge lake. It's a famous holiday destination in Italy.

At the top of the island, there is a stunning castle.

It was a long day so found a campsite where we placed our tent, and after swimming in the lake, ​we ended that day with few bottles of premium Italian wine.

Thank you so much for reading my journey. This is nowhere​ near the end, but I feel like it's already too long. I'll post the second part to finish the whole story. If you guys enjoyed it please leave an upvote and a follow, so others can see it too!

If you are planning to go hitchhike in Italy, Austria I wouldn't recommend it at all. We've been stopped by police like 7-8 times, but you can read more about that in the second part.