'I solo travelled 5,000 miles across continent without spending a penny'
Courtney Allan hitchhiked from Guangzhou in China to the Russia-Mongolia border - a journey which took 50 days - and has described her method as "such a great way to see the world for free"
A young woman has travelled 5,000 miles without spending a penny - by hitchhiking.
Courtney Allan grabbed lifts from strangers to get from Guangzhou in China to the Russia-Mongolia border, a journey which took 50 days. Courtney, 26, says she feels "incredibly blessed", having seen some "beautiful countries" for free.
'It's (hitchhiking) becoming more common though, and it's such a great way to see the world for free... I feel incredibly blessed. Hitchhiking was so not normal for so long, it didn't even seem like an option," Courtney said.
The Canadian native first experienced hitchhiking in the UK as, in late 2023, she found public transport too expensive to get around during a holiday here. During her three-week visit to the UK, Courtney was able to persuade a driver to give her a lift from Bath, Somerset into Wales.
And she since used this method during a trip to Africa - travelling from Morocco to Cape Town - a distance of more than 8,000 miles, and has now completed the 5,000-mile trip - for free - in Asia.
Courtney, from Toronto, said she has "not yet felt in danger". She continued: "When I think of who I am now, it's an exponential growth from who I was when I first visited the UK two years ago.
"When you're hitchhiking, you're with the people who live in that country. You get a much more intimate experience. It's such a good way to meet local people and get the best things to do in a place. This isn't the stuff you see on TripAdvisor."
Courtney, who documents her trips on her Instagram page @hitchhikercourtney, travelled through 16 countries to reach Cape Town on her African adventure. In that time, she said she spent less than $20 (£15) on transport, of which more than half was spent on a single ferry across the Congo River.
But she didn't have to pay a penny on transport during her Asian journey, which saw her catch rides through China, north through Mongolia to the border of it and Russia. The journey started in May this year, ending this week. The social media influencer continued: "My budget would have gone up by thousands if I had been paying for transport."
She added: "Women are often scared of going out into the world because of the risks. But there is a risk everywhere, every day, no matter what you're doing. You can't let them get the better of you. For me, the benefits of being able to explore the world outweigh those risks."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time Out
3 hours ago
- Time Out
This Shanghai design school with a cathedral-like hall is one of the most beautiful campuses in the world
Trust a design school to have one of the most gorgeous campuses in the world. The Prix Versailles, a prestigious architectural award, has just named Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Design one of the most beautiful campuses worldwide. It joins a list of six global laureates, such as the James Cook University of Engineering and Innovation Place in Australia and the University of Copenhagen Niels Bohr Bygningen in Denmark. Like the Prix Versailles lists for the world's most beautiful hotels and the world's most beautiful museums, this selection celebrates beautiful designs that combine form, function, and sustainability. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (@sjtu_1896) The Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Design is the only Asian entry in the list, and what a worthy one. Established in 2008, the school offers a consolidated curriculum of architecture, design, and landscape architecture. To reflect the merger of these disciplines under one roof, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Design engaged Studio Ruan Xing to design a unifying central space within the new school. The result is a majestic new hall with a striking wooden structure that soars to the hall's ceiling. According to Prix Versailles, this is inspired by Song-era rainbow bridges known for their repairability and replaceability. The glass roof allows in ample sunlight, creating an overall effect reminiscent of a cathedral. Coupled with new terracotta facades, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University stands as "a judicious dialogue between two seemingly antithetical cultures". the most beautiful campuses in the world.
Daily Mirror
5 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Brits urged to switch off one mobile phone setting on holiday - it's not roaming
Before you settle in for a comfortable long-haul flight, there's one thing you need to do for added peace of mind. According to one travel expert, incorporating this extra step into your pre-flight routine can save you from an unexpected charge when you return home. Georgia Brivida, of international SIM provider Sim Local, is advising British holidaymakers to switch off the autoplay feature on their phones before boarding their flight. She says neglecting to disable this setting could lead to a hefty charge. According to Brivida, this unassuming setting can drain data and rack up your phone bill - often without you even realising it. 'Autoplay is a feature that automatically plays videos as you scroll through apps like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, often without you even tapping play. It's fine when you're connected to Wi-Fi at home but when you're abroad and paying per megabyte, it can quietly burn through your data in no time just from using your phone like you normally would,' says Brivida. If you fail to disable the setting you're likely to scroll quickly through your socials as you normally would - even streaming a short video to kill idle travel time - draining your data all the while. Streaming a video on platforms like YouTube or Netflix for just 10 minutes can use up to 100MB of data, according to Sim Local. As well, scrolling through TikTok or Instagram uses around 20MB and listening to music or podcasts on Spotify may use around 15MB. Web browsing uses slightly less at around 10MB in just 10 minutes. But if you spend 30 minutes scrolling through TikTok while waiting for your taxi when you land, that's roughly 60MB of data gone and watching just a few YouTube videos en route to your hotel will burn through another 200MB. Over several days of your holiday it is all too easy to rack up several gigabytes of data and if without the right roaming plan, you could be looking at a phone bill in the triple digits. Thankfully, turning off autoplay is very simple and it's worth doing to save yourself an expensive bill, plus it'll give you more control over when your data is used. How to switch it off To switch it off on iOS (iPhone), simply go to Settings, then Accessibility and tap on 'Motion'. Find the toggle switch for Auto-Play Video Previews and turn it off On Android phones, go to Settings then scroll down and select Google, select All Services, then tap 'Search, Assistant & Voice' and select 'Other Settings'. From here click on Autoplay video previews and select 'never'.
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
'I solo travelled 5,000 miles across continent without spending a penny'
Courtney Allan hitchhiked from Guangzhou in China to the Russia-Mongolia border - a journey which took 50 days - and has described her method as "such a great way to see the world for free" A young woman has travelled 5,000 miles without spending a penny - by hitchhiking. Courtney Allan grabbed lifts from strangers to get from Guangzhou in China to the Russia-Mongolia border, a journey which took 50 days. Courtney, 26, says she feels "incredibly blessed", having seen some "beautiful countries" for free. 'It's (hitchhiking) becoming more common though, and it's such a great way to see the world for free... I feel incredibly blessed. Hitchhiking was so not normal for so long, it didn't even seem like an option," Courtney said. The Canadian native first experienced hitchhiking in the UK as, in late 2023, she found public transport too expensive to get around during a holiday here. During her three-week visit to the UK, Courtney was able to persuade a driver to give her a lift from Bath, Somerset into Wales. And she since used this method during a trip to Africa - travelling from Morocco to Cape Town - a distance of more than 8,000 miles, and has now completed the 5,000-mile trip - for free - in Asia. Courtney, from Toronto, said she has "not yet felt in danger". She continued: "When I think of who I am now, it's an exponential growth from who I was when I first visited the UK two years ago. "When you're hitchhiking, you're with the people who live in that country. You get a much more intimate experience. It's such a good way to meet local people and get the best things to do in a place. This isn't the stuff you see on TripAdvisor." Courtney, who documents her trips on her Instagram page @hitchhikercourtney, travelled through 16 countries to reach Cape Town on her African adventure. In that time, she said she spent less than $20 (£15) on transport, of which more than half was spent on a single ferry across the Congo River. But she didn't have to pay a penny on transport during her Asian journey, which saw her catch rides through China, north through Mongolia to the border of it and Russia. The journey started in May this year, ending this week. The social media influencer continued: "My budget would have gone up by thousands if I had been paying for transport." She added: "Women are often scared of going out into the world because of the risks. But there is a risk everywhere, every day, no matter what you're doing. You can't let them get the better of you. For me, the benefits of being able to explore the world outweigh those risks."
