Getting around Germany on the cheap
Traveling around Europe can get expensive. Cheap airline carriers are great if you book far enough in advance and the trains within Germany are first rate - but without a railcard (Bahncard) can quickly empty your pocket. Hitchhiking is out of vogue and will probably give your mother an aneurism if you tell her you tried it in a foreign country.
So we have instead the next best thing: car-pooling.
Mitfahren has a great tradition here, long used by students trying to get home for the weekend, or drivers trying to allay petrol prices. The principle is simple: people looking for passengers will post the trip they are making to a website and usually what they'll charge to take you with them. Alternatively, the passenger posts where they want to go and when and hope someone contacts them.
The two biggest websites are Mitfahrzentrale and Mitfahrgelegenheit, although the latter site is only available in German. Mitfahrzentrale offers other services, including scanning the bus and rail connections in case it finds no driver match. Most importantly it offers "safe user". Safe users are those that have sent copies of their ID to the company and their profiles are marked with a castle symbol. Drivers and passengers are also rated by their fellow travelers and so build up a profile.
Of course standard travel safety precautions should be taken. Tell someone where you're going and when, and give them the contact number for the driver you have signed on with, even the car registration. Mitfahren is considered a quite safe and common way to travel within Germany, and can be an interesting way to meet new people too.