I don't think it's that bad, it is advertised in all the holiday brochures.

Sure youre not thinking of Kosovo?

Wouldnt be too keen on trying it myself due to movies ive seen and the real nutjobs out there, But hope it goes well for you.

I travel to work in a van along with others, it usually slows down a bit for hitchhikers, but only to hurl abuse at them
Must be fairly annoying if you've stood there for a while with noone stopping, and then when someone slows down....

I might be. Either way though, hitchhiking across third wirld countries that may or may not have been or currently involved in some sort of armed conflict is not my idea of, "good times".

Croatia is really nice. It's not war torn at all, it's a real up and coming holiday destination. My friend caught trains through Europe and he stayed in Croatia for a month. He said it's amazing. Clear blue sea, lovely coastal towns. It's just like a mediterranean country.

I think it does have some remaining minefields though from the Yugoslavia business.

I'll be sure to stay away from any suspicious looking fields in that case haha. Croatia looks great from what I've seen/heard about it. And I don't think the company running the Hitch would tell us to get to a war-torn country haha

I think it might actually be illegal in Finland... But for the time being, don't believe that. Since I don't have a source, it's just the sugar-high talking.

Ahem. About hitchhiking... I'd rather take the buss. Seen too many movies about it going wrong

It all makes sense, you are doing it for charity... ...they are sending you to give humanitarian aid!

please kill me now.

Would never do it myself and would never ever pick anyone up

Good luck not getting murdered

Croatia isn't in the middle of a civil war!

It's a perfectly safe country. No need to carry a gun!

That's like saying, don't go to USA because there was a civil war once.

Yep, the last trouble in Croatia was when they were still part of the Yugoslav republic, wich was like 20 years ago.

If you go to Croatia you should visit the national park with the lakes, I don't remember its name right now but it's probably one of the most breathtaking places I've ever been to. Croatia as a whole is an extremely beautiful country.

Croatian War of Independence ended in 1995. Talk about stale news

It's as safe as any other country now, and really beautiful with its amazing Adriatic coast and delightfuly warm climate.
Also, it's definitely not a "Third World" country, Third World being a term used during the Cold War to describe countries that didn't align themselves with either NATO or the Soviet Union (Yugoslavia was a Socialist Republic, therefore a Second World country).
Even with today's popular meaning of the term, that is "poor, undeveloped countries", Croatia obviously doesn't fit in - in fact, it's joining the EU next year.
You really need to read up on history.

I think you mean Plitvice Lakes. I haven't been there, but I heard it's really worth a visit. I've only seen Paklenica National Park because my cousin is a climber and Paklenica is a well-known climbing center.
Anyway, I don't think the OP will have a chance to visit any of these places as he only has 8 days to catch his flight.

Rule #1 of hitchhiking: show some skin

But not too much, lest you get anothe free 'ride'.

Rule 1 of Hitchhiking: Don't bother.

We went and tried to hitch a ride in France. But got stuck in Calais. Stood for hours in the pouring rain with people just driving past and mocking our pitiful attempts to catch a ride. After a few hours, and trying various different spots we gave in and after spending ￡200 each on this trip and future flights we turned around and came home.

It really svcks that we didn't get to make it but none of us planned to pay the extortionate fee's that would get us to Croatia on public transport and our only other option was to turn around. Everything that could have gone wrong, did. My friends phone broke and the weather didn't ease up at all.

So to anyone planning on going hitchhiking any time soon, my advice is to just not bother. I feel sorry, and a little curious as to how the other people doing this trip for the charity are even going to get out of France.

Sorry to hear that I think they may have been afraid to give you a ride because you were 3, it doesn't make you feel safe to give so many strangers a ride.

edit: also we had gang related violence on the highways of southern France a couple of years ago, people are probably wary of strangers they meet on the road because of that.

Times have changed, and hitchhiking is probably more difficult nowadays. It wouldn't be like Jack Kerouac's On the Road type of hitchhiking, that was in the 40's when times were different.

On the Road is an interesting read. Kerouac was part of the beat generation. He travels from NYC all the way to out west.

Well look at it this way, at least you weren't brutally [censored], tortured, murdered, or any combination of those.

I've never attempted to hitch hike before and have only ever seen maybe half a dozen people trying it since I started driving a three years ago. I'm far to paranoid to pick some stranger up and give them a ride.

I was a little curious as to what you were going to do if you made it to croatia but not in time to catch your flight. Would you have hitchhiked all the way back?

Nah, we'd have just booked another flight. Especially after we realised how hard hitch-hiking actually is.

What are you bringing? HItch hiking seems expensive, although I guess Europe has a good hostle system? I'd rather be self-sufficient and backpack. Have a friend who did that half-way across North America. Took him about 4 months, and has soem good stories. And a bad one.

Read Travels with Charlie before or while you go. While it's an American title, it could be a good companion.

Good luck and fair weather!