Hitchhiking days
The other night over dinner some 50-somethings were telling some 20-somethings what it was like to stand by the side of the road and stick out your thumb.
I had started the discussion by saying (even though I knew it was impossible), "Wouldn't it be nice if the high gas prices brought back hitchhiking?"
And then those of us who once traveled through the kindness of strangers told the others, who couldn't imagine such a thing, what it was like. Waiting and wondering when the next ride would come. How far it would take you. Whom you would meet.
We talked about the interesting encounters, the fascinating conversations, the way that hitchhiking connected people in a way that doesn't always happen today. Because it often involved people of different generations (usually the young and the not so) and economic backgrounds (those with wheels and those without).
It all sounded incredible to the 20-somethings, and even a little, now, to us. And then I realized the greatest thing that had been lost, greater than the sense of adventure and the feeling of connection: trust.
Comments
I'm old enough to have read the Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe. After 10 seconds' research, I discovered that the last edition was probably in 1986, and I probably read the 1972 edition. In the future, no one will get the joke behind ``Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.''
Posted by: david altaner | May 29, 2008 2:53 AM
I spent ten days hitchhiking in Morocco a few months ago, admittedly with a male companion, and had only positive experiences. We never waited more than ten minutes for a ride and traveled hundreds of miles for free. Even got invited into people's homes and taken out for meals. It was a first for me, and only made me want to try it again...just not in America.
Posted by: Terry Ward | May 29, 2008 3:37 PM
Terry,
Nice to hear of your experience. It's true that hitchhiking is still a viable means of transportation on some parts of the world. Let's hope they don't too quickly "catch up" to the United States.
Tom
Posted by: Tom | May 29, 2008 4:05 PM
I spent two months in New Zealand hitchhiking. People bought me lunch, invited me into their homes, and gave me tours of their kiwi farms. I'm not sure there is a better way to meet a broad swath of locals.
Posted by: Kelsey | May 29, 2008 4:46 PM
I hitchhiked 2 weeks ago, in America. the beautiful state of washington to be exact. got 4 rides total and they were all great.
Posted by: oliver | June 4, 2008 12:43 AM