Ben Stanley: Along for the ride

BlaBlaCar is, pretty much, organised hitchhiking. Illustration / NZ Herald

Opinion

Good vibes are in the air when ride-sharing on the way from Paris to Lille, writes Ben Stanley.

An hour northeast of Paris, a stereo is cranking and the song it plays is a familiar one.

A French voice takes control of the words - tweaked somewhat by his accent - but still recognisable.

"Home is where I want to be, pick me up and turn me around."

Two more French voices and a Kiwi one join in. "I feel numb, born with a weak heart - I guess I must be having fun."

It's a pretty poor rendition of the Talking Heads' classic This Must Be the Place, but who cares.

Good vibes are in the air, and smiles on the faces of four different people; three of whom met only 60 minutes earlier.

On the face of it, this situation sounds like one of those perfect nights of alcohol, ambience and chance that bars in foreign lands can afford a traveller. Sit down, buy a beer, start talking to the person next to you - and nek minnit you're best buds comparing notes on how to approach pretty girls, or deciphering Liverpool's defensive woes.

Except this was no bar; this was the inside of a Peugeot travelling from Paris to Lille, a ride set up thanks to the hot European ride-sharing website BlaBlaCar.com.

BlaBlaCar is, pretty much, organised hitchhiking.

From their website, you search for a certain journey you wish to take, contact on the site a driver travelling your way, and chip in for some gas money.

Pick-up and drop-off points can be arranged, while the driving time is made clear from the beginning.

A quick check of BlaBlaCar shows on-the-day rides from London to Paris ranging from $47 to $65 - a mere snip of what you would pay for a train, bus or plane at the last minute.

It's a good deal, and is safe too. Drivers, as well as passengers, are email and phone verified, with riders reviewing drivers on a journey's completion.

Payment for a journey occurs only upon completion, when the passenger relays the driver a code they have received, by text, that the driver must type in to collect their fare.

The cool thing about BlaBlaCar isn't the savings on cash, though - it's the people you meet.

On the website you can set your personal options between silence and chattiness, music or no music, and pets on board or no pets.

Wanna to sit in silence as you drive from Madrid to Barcelona? No problemo, amigo.

Keen to crank up the Sepultura and talk about the best Czech metal bars while getting a lift from Berlin to Prague? Sie haben es, freund.

My first BlaBlaCar journey - involving the sing-a-long - was from Paris to Lille and cost me 17 ($26).

Up front my French driver, Kevin, and his workmate, Richard, were off to a conference on food in developing nations.

In the back seat with me was Ali, an Algerian-French computer programmer, heading to Lille for work.

We talked avidly and mostly about the things four dudes in their early 30s talk about: sport and women.

It was a rad two-and-half-hour drive - and email addresses were swapped between us all in Lille.

BlaBlaCar started in France in 2004, but has seen a huge lift in usage throughout Europe over the last three years.

Its usage is still a little on the light side in Britain, although that is sure to change soon.

After all, what traveller doesn't want to save cash as well as meet interesting characters and sing Talking Heads songs?