By Roadjunky, Posted Nov 24, 2006
Sections: Introduction to Hitchhiking The Basics Tips and Tactics Stayng Safe The Tao of Hitchhiking Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Hitchhiking Stories North and Central America South America Europe Australia, Japan and East Asia India and the Middle East Hitchhiking Resources
There’s a very fine line between hitchhiking and standing by the road like an idiot. Still it gives you time to think, contemplate distant horizons and even write songs in your head as you do all you can not to go insane. Your luck can change in moments and you end up believing in one kind of god or another. Probably one with big thumbs.
Some of the rides you get restore you faith in humanity. All around the world people will take you home and give you food and shelter for the night. The kindness and thoughtfulness of people can leave you speechless. The stories you bring and even just your example of striking out on the road is often appreciated by the people who pick you up. Hitchhiking is a give and take kind of thing and it’s in your power to change someone’s day.
Not everyone wants to talk though. Some rides you just sit there or in silence or else they’ll monologue for three hours about the workings of a Ford Escort engine. Everyone likes talking about themselves so that’s always a good start to the conversation and even if they turn out to be racist bigots there’s no harm in finding common ground if you want to stay in their car. Many hitchhikers unconsciously adapt their accent and vocabulary to meet that of my benefactor of the hour. It’s also best not to have any particular politics or religion for the duration of the ride.
There are also the nightmare rides. I’ve had junkies driving at 130 miles an hour on country roads and once a Spanish guy who pulled out his penis after about ten minutes. I declined the 20 dollars he offered me for a blow job but stayed in the car until the next gas station – I’d been waiting a long time before he’d stopped for me.
Traveling like this is a great teacher of language too. You soon learn how to say where are you going, I’m hungry and thank you very much in the native tongue. Most drivers are in search of some conversation too and they’ll soon be asking you to comment on complex philosophical questions. I remember trying to explain the Indian concept of God in my 3 week old French somewhere near Toulouse.
By the side of the road your entire reality becomes focused on the next ride. Here you have no appointments, no schedules and all you really got to do is stick out your thumb. You arrive at your destination who knows when after who knows what. Yes, you may end up tired, wet and hungry but you’ll get there with a bag full of stories to tell and that’s more than you can say about a bus or a train.
In an age of organized consumer travel, where everything is mapped out, planned and insured from the start, hitchhiking is one of the few forms of true adventure left.
