BlaBla Car: the transportation hack you never knew about!

In theory, there are only four ways to commute in Spain.

1. Train
2. Bus
3. Hitchhike
4. Rent a car
5. ???

But I bet you didn’t know about the fifth way!

It’s called BlaBla Car. We discovered this about two weeks into our trip to Spain while staying in a hostal in Zarautz, Spain.

Jaime was casually laying in his bunk when we got to talking. He told us about how he’d been in Spain for a while hitching rides on the BlaBla Car app. Obviously, we European traveling newbies had no clue what he was talking about.

BlaBla Car is an amazing ride sharing site available in 22 countries. Mostly in Europe but it has also extended to Mexico and India.

How does it work?

1. You need to download the app onto your phone.
2. Fill out your information.
3. When you need a ride, fill out your travel plans.
4. Compare your plans to that of trips posted by drivers.
5. Message a few drivers.
6. Pick the one you’d like to go with by looking at their times, dates, locations, & prices.
7. Establish meeting and drop off locations.
8. Payment is processed when you’ve reached your destination.
9. Leave a review!

It’s seriously the easiest thing ever! A little like Uber but not quite…

Driving with BlaBla Car is like having your own tour guide!

Every drive we had we got to learn something new about the geography, economy, politics, food, culture… you name it! We learned it. In one of our drives we learned about the Spanish smurf city. During another ride we learned about the intricacies of the road system. And in another we drove with a medical student and learned about the process of becoming a doctor.

At the same time, however, it is not necessary to talk to the driver or other people in the car. I’m just a chatty person and wanted to practice my Spanish. Most of the time, locals that were catching rides, didn’t talk at all.

It really is a great way to save money while traveling!

I don’t know exactly how much money we saved using BlaBla Car, but what I do know is that every time we price checked between BlaBla Car, bus and train, BlaBla Car was always cheaper, even if just by a few euros. It also cut a lot of time off our commutes… an important aspect of budgeting travel time.

However, I strongly advice practicing common sense and safety.

The way we avoided any potentially sketchy situations was to…

1. Always meet in public areas.
2. Never share exactly where we were staying.
3. Read REad READ reviews! Just like with anything, read driver reviews. On the flip side, leave reviews.
4. Communicate with them before hand. There is a messaging section of the app.
5. Make sure someone knows who you’re going with. I always screen shot the drivers info and sent it to someone back home.
6. Wear your seat belt 🙂

If you go to anywhere that has BlaBla Car, I would suggest using it!

It’s a real game changer in the travelers world. And seriously one of my favorite modes of transportation ever.

And yeah, at times BlaBla Car wasn’t always available when we needed it so we would have to take a bus or train. But when it was available, we took it and always had a rewarding experience.

I hope this article helps you in your travels of any of the 22 countries in which it is available! Specifically Spain 🙂 Oh! And if you want to learn more about BlaBla Car and see if it’s in the country you are going to, here is a LINK to their site. Just click the drop down in the “choose the country for your ride” box and you will be set!How We Saved Money In Spain

Happy Travels!