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It was now 7pm. I was exhausted following the ten-hour hitch and getting a bit desperate as car after car passed me, despite the placard I held which read 'FRANCE: £10?' Just as the streetlights began to buzz a van screeched to a halt a couple of hundred metres down the road, I grabbed my impossibly heavy rucksack and lurched after them. "Ten Quid?" he asked, before opening the door of their small van. I was to share the back with several crates of beer that they'd just bought in the duty free...

European Tales: Switzerland 1996, a lengthy tale

Joseph Tame
2006-06-30 17:53:26

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employment I broke my record for quitting a contract: 5 hours in that petrol station was enough to convince me that this was not for me! It was following this that I got what turned out to be the most physically demanding job I'd ever had. The interview was a mere formality; the interviewer simply handed me a bunch of forms and left me to fill them in. That supermarket warehouse contained some sad stories of people getting stuck in a job, getting so involved in the mind-numbing boredom of picking orders for stores nation-wide that they'd lost all sight of any dreams they may have had. These men got by by being angry and bitter. Thankfully our team was an exception to this rule, apart from one fifty-year-old living with his mum. There were about seven of us, all under twenty-five, with our hopes and dreams that we'd share with one another. The story that I was planning to hitchhike to Australia quickly got around - I was laughed at, but I believed in my dream.My passion for travel had been kindled and there was no stopping me. Going to Australia in the approaching autumn was no longer a feasible option for I had very little money. In any case, the idea of working my way around the world appealed to me immensely as I had recently bought an inspirational book of that very name. The tenth edition has become my personal Bible, without it I know that I would feel lost.

I decided to initially head for Switzerland. It was a safe country; fairly close to the UK should I find that I had to return, and most of all I had a network of relatives there, some of whom I knew reasonably well. I set a departure date, and worked as many hours as possible in order to save for the trip. At this point I had no idea how long I would be away for - months or perhaps years? I stopped all of my post and withdrew every penny from my bank account. The second of September swiftly came around. That morning Jo's mum dropped me off on the motorway with my ruc-sac and a ...