It was a short night. We usually go to bed late, and last night we went to bed even later; at 4:30 I was woken up by a strange dream (not interesting enough to share on Hive, I don't even remember all the details, but it left me restless) and I couldn't go back to sleep. Life doesn't stop with a little sleep; it's fine. 😇
Coffee, a snack prepared for the trip, got dressed and off I went. It was Sunday morning (well, today, lol). The sun was timidly announcing its rise, and I thought how much I love this feeling - you know, feeling alive and seeing how the sky changes its colour from total darkness to daylight. 🌄
The road in front of me was empty. Of course, who would go anywhere at such an early hour on a Sunday morning? 😂
Well, me. Me and my passenger that I picked up at the agreed place.
We both had our own things to do in another city; I was heading to my piano gig and she was visiting her sister so we were travelling in the same car. We hadn't met before, no... but the route that I posted yesterday on BlaBlaCar partially coincided with her route. She asked me last night via private message if I could pick her up and as it didn't involve much of a detour for me, I agreed. And I don't regret it! She was a perfect companion on my trip today, very kind and talkative - we didn't stop talking for the whole route! 😂
Yep, a true blah blah and a very pleasant one on our shared trip.
I feel that the idea behind BlaBlaCar is amazing. Wait... maybe you haven't heard about this platform..? Then let me share just a few things about it. Currently, it is available in 22 countries: France, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, Portugal, Poland, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, India, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Mexico, Brazil, Czech Republic and Slovakia as I read it here.
So, imagine you need to travel from city A to city B. You drive alone, but you see on the road that other people do the same trip from city A to city B in their cars... Why you wouldn't travel together in the same car? You can share the cost of the fuel, that way reducing your own expenses of commuting and also reducing the pollution. Oh, a little problem... you don't know those other people or how to contact them...
Worry not! Here comes this platform that connects those who are willing to share their journey. It is super easy, especially through the app. You can search for those published trips between the place you travel from to your destination and choose between the offers if there are any. Or the other way. If you drive you can publish your trip, including the departure point with the exact date, time and destination, itinerary, including details - if you stop in any other city, or what your preferences are - if you accept pets, smokers, if you like to talk or listen to music, the price that the passenger would have to pay etc... Many options.
If there is someone interested in going with you, she/he can contact you and reserve the trip. Both the booking confirmation and the payment are made through the BlaBlaCar platform, and you receive the money within two days after completing the trip.
Let's be clear - you won't make money. You won't earn while driving, that is not the idea. The passenger just pays a smaller part of the cost but the real value of these shared trips is the socialization part. I was more than happy with today's journey to my piano gig as I met a lady who was very kind and with a good vibe, I was entertained and not sleepy while driving and the commuting time went by so quickly!
And what about you? Do you use this platform for your trips if you live in one of those countries where it is available? Are there similar services in the place where you live and do you even like the idea of sharing your journey with a stranger?
P.S. This was not an advertisement for this app :D. I was just sharing my experience and was interested to hear do you also find shared trips a cool idea.
Me encanta el nombre de la plataforma!! Y para ti hoy encajó perfectamente....mucho buen blablabla 😊. Lamentablememte aquí no hay nada como eso, sería muy bueno. A mí no me importaría compartir viaje con un extraño, pero para eso habría que cambiar el polakito amarillo, a esa lata no le cabe otra sardina 🤣🤣. Linda semana para ustedes.
También puedes optar por ser pasajero en el coche de otra persona... O bueno, Polakito tendría que crecer :D
Gracias, una semana genial para vosotros también 😀
Good morning from Thailand!
Thats a great idea for getting a few cars off the road and being helping to lower emissions but I must confess, Id hate the idea of picking up a stranger for two reasons. Firstly, Im not good at meeting new people. I find it stressful and difficult to make conversation and secondly, I really enjoy 'me' time when driving alone. Listening to my music or audio books or just enjoying the ride and being lost in my thoughts!
I'm really happy it worked out so well for you and thanks for the delightful and well written post.
Best wishes, I hope you have a great week :-)
Good morning from Spain :)
I thought that I wouldn't be good at meeting new people either, but it is somehow like here on Hive. We all meet at some point for the first time and if there are common topics or similar frequencies then a conversation naturally comes ;)
"Me" time while driving is great, I also like it and the majority of times I go alone. I also like to listen to music and have thought about listening to some podcasts or audiobooks too; this is on the do-to list.
Sometimes I get sleepy, that is the part I don't like when driving alone.
Thank you @nathen007 and the same to you - a great and successful week :))
Oh yeahp, thats a good choice! I don't like to drive, and sometimes there are places where public transportation is terrible, so I was using the app for a while to go to university last year. I repeated many trips with a super nice girl, she is a physiotherapist and had to travel every day from the city to a town farther than mine, so on the way back she would pick me up half way, it made it super short because we got along well from the beginning and talked a lot. There is not always the same feeling with people of course, but I understand what you mean with your experience this time.
Yay, you have a good experience with blabla too :)))
I would like to find someone like you had, and repeat the trips. At the moment it is the "horario" that doesn't match, but we will see. :)
Of course I have never heard of it, but isn't that kind of like picking up a hitch hiker?? I know, in the long back day, people did it all the time. You are braver than me, picking up a stranger to ride out of town. I'm glad you had fun though and I'm glad you made it back home.
blah blah strangers no no ...LOL... not me.
Hahaha, we did it too, I mean being hitchhikers when we were young :D
But this is not really that. You have a thread of steps to do in order to register and become a verified user, you have to prove your identity (to the platform) with your passport or ID, phone number, email etc... then you also have a reputation and opinions that you get from the drivers or passengers you travelled with, so both sides can and should check it first, before you agree to share the trip. When the passenger books the trip the platform withdraws the funds from his card and when the trip finishes and everything has gone well then the driver receives the transfer. And then, there are preferences that the driver can set so you as a passenger have to respect them. It all before you agreed to share the trip, which nothing happens while someone is hitchhiking :D
wait... no blah blah with strangers? 😱
😂
Hola!!!
Sí había oído sobre la aplicación, una amiga que vive en España me había contado desde hace varios años.Me quedé igual pensando que tendría que haber algún mecanismo para verificar a las personas,¿no?
A mí me encanta la idea, sobre todo si el viaje es de día, de noche no recogería a nadie...😅
En serio, me parece una excelente manera de compartir un viaje, gastos y compromiso con la naturaleza.
Un placer leerle nuevamente.
🌻
Hola :))
Que bien que esuchaste ya de esta aplicación, parece que es bastante popular aquí en España :)
Sí, hay varios pasos para verificar tu identidad a la prataforma cuando te registras. DNI o pasaporte, foto, número de tel, email, la cuenta donde quieres que blablacar te haga las transferencias etc. Tienes reputación y opiniones sobre ti lo que dejan los demás y que es siempre muy útil verlas antes de acordar con alguien, y con esa persona ya haces el acuerdo por privado, no puede entrar a tu coche persona ajena del acuerdo. bueno, no sé si explico bien en castellano 😂 A mí me gustaría encontrar a alguien de confianza y compartir el viaje cada vez que vamos, y hay unos usuarios que hacen el mismo trayectorio casi cada día pero no coinciden con mi horario, así que sigo yendo sola y a veces acompañada si alguien quiere viajar conmigo 😉
Oh, sorry for the language!
Well now it has become super clear to me, and I think it is a perfect choice to travel, including security so that both people can enjoy the tranquility of a good trip.
I think it is an excellent option.hopefully one day we can have it here, but for that we would have to improve the functional machine park.😅
Nice week my friend.
🌹
If I lived in Argentina... I wouldn't do that even if I were crazy... very risky .... no way... but here it might be possible as I don't have a car. I didn't know the platform... now thanks to you I do!!!! I'm glad your trip was so enjoyable!
Cool :)
Maybe when you have to travel and you book a trip through the platform it will be me who drives, and then we start to talk about a blogging platform hahaha 😂
You can be sure we would talk about that, about stones, cats and nature... and about music, although I know little about it haha.
And horses, and art, and food... You would maybe mention "mate" and then I would have it clear - that is you 😁
I would take mate and teach you how to drink it!!! jajajaja
😆
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Yes!!! hahaha good night!!!!
Veo que quedaste complacida con tu viaje y tú acompañante, al menos ni te dormiste y fue amena la conversación. Pero siempre es un riesgo que se corre. Muy bonitas las plantas y originales las macetas. Bonita semana. 🥰
Riesgos siempre hay, en todos los lados por eso hay que estar atento, ir con cuidado y escoger bien. Las macetas son divertidas, están en el lugar donde toco los domingos. Gracias Mamani, bonita semana igualmente 😇