Hitchhiking

[fwiw]

I found myself walking along a highway yesterday and it started raining really hard.&nbsp; I was miles from my car and belongs and I was very close to hitchhiking back, but I wasn't sure about it because I have always been told its dangerous.<br><br>Have any of you done it?&nbsp; Is it as dangerous as I was told whilst growing up?&nbsp; <br>

 

[Stillwater]

Conditional. <br><br>It's all about the environment. I used to hitchhike constantly along some rivers. Drop off kayak at the whitewater put-in, drive the car to the take-out, walk back up to the road and hitch a ride back to the put-in. Never waited or walked for more than 10 minutes.<br><br>My most memorable experience was training for a "wildwater" race in '96 on the Nantahala. (Wildwater is a race where you make the fastest time from point A to point B.) It was a river I used to teach students on so I was comfortable breaking one of my rules and running it multiple times solo. Anyway, it was a weekday and spitting snow. I stuck out my thumb near the NOC and a two door, white mid-seventies Cadillac with steer horns on the front pulled over. <br><br>I hitched a ride from a Cherokee Indian who was a retired alligator wrestler.<br><br>

 

[fwiw]

That's quite the story.&nbsp; I guess I'll just have to take my chances.&nbsp; I don't really have much to lose.&nbsp; At the very least, maybe I get a travelers tale out of it like you.<br>

 

[Butternut]

<font size="3"><font face="Georgia">I use to hitch hike a lot and all over the country and I found it really depends on the area and you. Vermont, Oregon,a and California were great. Alabama, not so much for me. Use your head, if it doesn't feel right, decline the ride. I've met some great people while hitching.<br><br>In 2003 or so my sister and I were outrunning a hurricane that hit New Orleans. I was exhasted so I'd let Sara drive and fallen asleep in the passenger seat. On the LA Turnpike I woke up to the car jerking: Sara had run my Saab out of gas in the middle of nowhere. We were walking down the highway to the gas station and could see a storm coming at us. Out there is so flat that it comes at you like a wall of water. Luckily a traveling salesman picked us up.<br><br>There are a lot of good people out there, today we just know more about the bad ones.<br><br></font></font>

 

[VanTramp]

This is definitely one of those things where you really have to trust your instincts. Like Butternut said, decline if it doesn't feel right.&nbsp;<div><br></div><div>I picked a guy up once in MN that was carrying a small gas can. When he got in, I asked if he needed a ride to the gas station and he said "nope" and laughed, then he showed me the reflectors he attached to the back of his little gas can. He had lost his license due to unpaid fines and couldn't seem to get a ride often enough just thumbing it so he started carrying the can. He said it really worked well <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"> He was a nice guy, quite a character LOL! &nbsp;</div>

 

[Saguache]

I hitched from Colorado to Guatemala and back in the early 90s. It's doable and can be either a lot of fun or none at all. This is where you get to judge all books by their covers, and carry a back up plan.