Everyone told us it’s a bad idea to hitchhike in Brazil that we won’t be picked up. That it’s dangerous aka peligroso. So we decided to give it a shot and here are our 10 tips to better hitchhiking in Brazil!

1) Hitching on small roads with fewer traffic works well, you can get around by 30-100km long rides and our avg wait time was about 2hrs

2) No one will take you in the rain. Also don’t hitchhike on national days or ferriados as people usually have their cars filled up with family members

3) The more cars, more people assume somebody else would take you and they’ll collectively ignore you. We were stuck at a gas station for 2 days.

4) We were mostly taken by shittier cars (old, cheap, farmers’ pickups) and sometimes by trucks with cabin for 3 (the new ones are super comfy!). Completely ignored by newer cars (pickups with black windows, middle class cars).

5) Gas stations are safe places to sleep (open 24/7), some even offer free facilities like shower. It’s also where truckers sleep so go around and ask, you might be lucky! Also try going around drivers who are filling up their cars with gas or even the gas station personnel might help you. Plus there’s coffee.

6) If you’re in doubt about a place to sleep, ask locals if they know about alguien lugar seguro para dormir en carpa

7) Always carry enough water. 3L is a safe bet if you’re hitching through the middle of nowhere.

8) Have enough food so that you have the freedom to stay wherever you want. Enough water+food gives you independence.

9) We’re not sure whether it was better to hitchhike with or without a sign

10) Don’t hitchhike forever, there are better places than the roadside. Sometimes it’s just better to pay the expensive bus instead of wasting hours by the side of the road doing nothing. We call this cut off times aka after 4hrs of no one stopping, we’d just take the bus. Also, Blabla car works well in Brazil.

We hitchhiked about 600km in 4 full days. The first 400km part was on an unpaved road with little villages and took 2 days. The second 200km were from Caraguatuba to Angra Dos Reis with loads of traffic (5000 cars a day), big towns, took 2 days and our success rate was a statistical mistake (0.000375%). Hope this helps you, be safe!