Dutch traveller Timo de Jongh this week hit the 200-day mark on his mammoth hitchhiking journey from Southampton to South Africa.
“We didn’t make it to where we wanted to go today, but to be honest, we kinda already knew that wasn’t going to happen as it was quite an ambitious plan,” the 25-year-old with itchy feet stated on day 197 last week. It had started with a chocolate baguette as he detailed the latest trip from Makoua to Oyo in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“Number of rides after today: 302; total distance covered: 16,821km,” he logged on his account of the journey that he is documenting in daily posts on his social media accounts.
De Jongh, who goes by hitchhikertimo on Instagram, states “Currently attempting to hitchhike from Southampton to South Africa” as his status. The Dutch-born voyager claims to have been travelling full-time since he was 18 and has since drawn 135,000 followers.
I looked at the map, saw Southampton and thought to myself, ‘Hmm, that kind of sounds like South Africa.’ Next thing you know, I'm on the side of the road in Southampton, trying to get a ride out towards Dover.
— Timo de Jongh, Dutch traveller
The decision to embark on his current journey was random and spontaneous, as he had never visited Southampton or South Africa before.
“I'm currently in Cabinda and the internet here is terrible”; “tomorrow I should have better internet”; “we have left the DRC and are in Angola” are among messages received by TimesLIVE Premium in an effort to communicate with hitchhikertimo on Instagram.
“I was in the UK visiting some friends and was looking for my next big adventure. I looked at the map, saw Southampton and thought to myself, ‘Hmm, that kind of sounds like South Africa.’ Next thing you know, I'm on the side of the road in Southampton, trying to get a ride out towards Dover,” he told London-based Daily Mail in an exclusive interview.
Less than a month after he set off from Southampton, on day 26, De Jongh met up with his now-full-time travelling companion Courtney, who decided to join up with him and now regularly features in his posts.
Once they reached Africa and boarding houses and backpacker spots became difficult to find, the pair began using hotels, made use of free travel app Couchsurfing and also pitched Timo's tent in various locations.
The hike drew a growing following, and on day 100, De Jongh wrote: “First of all, a huge thanks to everyone for tagging along these past 100 days. What a journey it's been so far! I mainly just made these videos to keep my mum and the rest of my friends and family up to date, and now all of a sudden there's 130,000 of you legends watching me every single day.”
At that point he had covered 9,915km on 169 rides and was in Conakry, the capital of West Africa’s Guinea. His diary posts are personal and amusing, all conveyed with his bright smile despite odd patches of gloomy weather, boring days or long waits for rides.
His journey so far has seen some unexpected developments, like a follower donating him a brand new phone, encounters with fans and interesting characters and stays in the strangest of places — like pitching his tent on the roof of a vehicle in a remote village.
“Yes, I said 192 in the intro instead of 193. I know guys, sorry. I have failed as a content creator. I hope that despite this mistake you'll still be able to enjoy today's episode where we try our best to find some gorillas and elephants.
“Also if someone can please tell me how in the world elephants walk through this rainforest without like constantly knocking everything over then that'd be great,” he posted on Monday when he was in Lango, a small village close to the DRC’s Odzala National Park.
“We're sleeping in the village tonight and then tomorrow we're going into the jungle to look for gorillas,” he wrote.
This prompted one follower to comment: “Compass ❌ Map ❌ water ❌ Food ❌ Putting all your trust in some random guy you’ve just met who doesn’t speak your language ✅.”
“I can't decide whether you are clueless or courageous,” said another.
Increasing numbers of South Africans have started following De Jongh, many of them inviting him to come and stay with them when he reaches the last country in his epic journey.
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