A hitchhikers guide to Transylvania

 

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Have you ever heard of Dracula? Well you can soon hitch to the spooky places of the mysterious vampire.

Dümdüdüdümmm *drumroll*

Tramprennen 2019 will lead you to the wonderful region Transylvania at the foot of the Carpathians. WHOOP!
Are you excited? Do you want to teach Dracula some hippieshit? Great! Tell your friends and pack some garlic! From 16. August to 31. August we will hitchhike to the bet to Romania!

 

And now to be truly memorable for the Tramprennen you can organize a starting point! If you know a place where 20-50 people can spend the first evening of Tramprennen 2019 write us an e-mail at gro.nennerpmartnull@ofni.

The starting point should be either in the east/south-east of Germany or in a country east/south-east of Germany. However if you are not sure if your starting point fits just ask us and we will work something out.

 

Stay tuned for more hitchy infos! And don’t forget about the Easterrace!

 

Tramprennen 2019 – Save the Date!

Save the Date

We know… you are waiting desperately to stand on the side of dusty roads in the summer and race criss-cross through Europe with your best friends. Well at least we can give you some good news. The dates for Tramprennen 2019 are set!

From 16. August to 31. August we will be on the road to a wonderful country and spend two weeks with wonderful people!

Mark your calendars and save the date! Tell your favorite hitch-buddy and stay tuned for the latest news!

We are already crazy to see you on the road!

Tramprennen 2018 – Review

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credits: Roman Diller

 

Now, while summer left and winter is knocking at the door, we’re looking back with some tears in the eyes but a big smile on the face and remember a tremendous Tramprennen 2018. After going to Lithuania in 2017, we decided to go back to the warmth of the Balkans and chose Bosnia and Herzegovina as this year’s final destination. In contrary of last year’s large and overflowing backpacks with all of the warm stuff the wardrobe provided, this year we could concentrate on the important things like Juggling stuff, swimwear, Sunglasses and Adiletten.

While Erfurt approved last year as a good starting point in central Germany we decided to stick to it this time. To endorse the cosmopolitan attitude of Tramprennen we arranged further starting points in Switzerland and Austria. While the route from Graz started right at the front door to the Balkans, Zürich wasn’t well-favored and we had to cancel it. However, Alex and Tony insisted on taking part in Tramprennen 2018 and visited every route with their Hippie-Bus. Big thanks at this point for the warm welcome with cold beer and a fun treasure-hunt for every route with a big donation in the end.

Almost 100 motivated hitchhikers hit the Balkan roads to seek for a remarkable time, great adventures and the big win of Tramprennen 2018. Moreover, we showed that hitchhiking works and that it is not just an extraordinary way to move across a continent but that it makes a dialogue possible, despite all language, over economic, social and cultural barriers.

On the way, we witnessed adventures we could not imagine beforehand. Getting your backpacks locked together and be enforced to perform the Las Ketchup Song in the middle of the Montenegrin Mountains, to get involved in a Cow-Threesome, to inaugurate the big fountain on Belgrade’s main square as a public pool. We met great people in Bavaria, that organized a BBQ just for us and experienced the Bosnian hospitality with selfmade booze and Sea-Watch-Soli-Kässpätzen.

…and finally, to get naked and jump into the water. The catchphrase “it’s still a Race” wasn’t a hollow phrase on the very last stages. On all routes the first places were hard-fought, Teams were battling each other in private Races and the Ranking was so close at the end, that the overall winners didn’t know their victory until they’ve been announced at the final ceremony. Congrats to “Und plötzlich der Daumen“ for an incredible hitchhiking-performance! You truly are Queen and King of the road!

Miami

The last days of Tramprennen 2018 faint (and maybe not completely sober) idea of shaving some beards made rumors and peaked at the final ceremony in a mass shaving. Almost 20 young men tried to equal their big idols like Mario (the Go-Kart Driver), Hulk Hogan, Freddie Mercury or Borat. The idea wasn’t only to look gorgeous but to raise more money.

This year, we decided to raise money and awareness for Sea – Watch e.V. because the issue of civil sea rescue is unfortunately still topical and the Tramprennen values are inextricably linked to the same Ideals: To stand up for legal escape routes and the removal of the root causes of migration and flight. We are very happy to support the eminently important work of Sea – Watch with amazing 12.000€. A big “Thank you” to all the lovely people that contributed to this years Tramprennen as participants, team-sponsors and team-owners.

But there are more people we need to thank. All those that supported the organization and planning of this years Tramprennen. At the premeetings, starting points or the final ceremony, designing and layouting, printing T-shirts or packing the hitchpackages, without your voluntary work organizing the Tramprennen would not be possible. If you want to support us next year and contribute your own ideas to the world of Tramprennen contact us at gro.nennerpmartnull@ofni and stay tuned.

At the very end we want to say Thank you! Hvala! Danke! Köszönöm! Děkuji! To all of our lifts and the people that welcomed us on their way in into their homes!

 

Ready to race to Bosnia?!

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BÄÄM! The registration process is closed and we are more than excited to hit the road and hitchhike to the bet to Bosnia! We are already practicing our hitchhiking skills and try new techniques in overtaking our opponents on the road. But just as in Formula1 or NASCAR nothing works without sponsors and supporters! So while sharpening the thumbs and tuning the signs all the teams are looking for people supporting them donate some money to Sea-Watch e.V. Become a sponsor now and send your favorite team some wishes or tasks for their journey to Bosnia!
If you have to stay at home but still want to know what’s up just follow our liveticker! All the teams participating will keep you updated about their journey and if you have an account on our website you can even comment on their posts. Nice? Nice!

What else to say? Just 9 nights left until we all meet and hit the road and we are freaking excited to finally get going! Whooop!!

 

Become Team Sponsor now!

Donation tool is up and running!

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copyright – Sea-Watch e.V.

 

In the last weeks the European borders on the Mediterranean Sea have become even more invincible than before. The civil sea-rescue organizations Mission Lifeline and Sea-Watch are still being kept in port and are not allowed to continue their sea-rescue mission. These actions of the Maltese authorities are not just incomprehensible but also acute life-threatening. Even more horrible is the reaction of the German government. The comments of the secretary of interior Horst Seehofer are leading to a criminal-prosecution of the activists of the civil sea rescue organizations and are fueling racist and nationalist forces in their anti-immigration campaigns.

We stand with the activists, who are stuck in the ports and are forced to let people drown because of inhumane politics. As you might have seen, this years Tramprennen supports the work of Sea-Watch. That’s why we feel deeply connected to their situation and send our best greetings and solidarity to Malta!

At the same time, we want to announce that you can support the Sea-Watch activists very directly yourself. We started our donation-tool for this years Tramprennen and the first donations were already made. Now it is your turn:

Become a team sponsor here  and support Sea-Watch and their civil sea-rescue mission!

Thumbs up for civil sea-rescue!