dude, fuck hitchhiking.

Mouse said:

growing up doesn't always mean growing lame. maturity is unavoidable. life teaches you shit that you can't ignore. Or you can do the same stupid shit over and over and never progress at all. whatever makes you happy I guess. haha.
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anyone can afford a car. get $500 and you can get a car that runs enough to get you someplace. saying you can't afford a car just means you're not willing to work and get the money it takes to get a car.

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gah! my flesh is still young but probably not so tender;

when i said couldnt afford one, i meant the petrol and i hate the fact you are forced to buy from these corporate conglomerations; lifes full of difficult decisions...

actually, what happens if the pigs stop you and youve got no insurance? hefty fine?

you gotta register in the state of NH. they have absolutely no law requiring insurance on your vehicle.

I guess where you're at gas prices are way higher. gas is getting bad here but it's still not as bad as in europe and othe places.

NH??! really. very good info. thanks so much!

I'm done with hitchhiking as well. Most people driving have nice cars and don't give a fuck about you. I have to have cigarettes to hitchhike 'cause I get so aggravated

yeah i'm with you on this one. getting stuck in sacramento in the hot hot hot sun definately soured me on hitching. but whatever, i think it all depends on where you're at. i've never had any problems in the northwest so i'll probably hitch up there again. but for other travels i think i'll keep my destinations with in a public bus ride from a crew change.

one post-apocalyptic day i might just drive a car, but for now, i'll ride free.

yea... if you register your vehicle in the state of NH as a non profit organization you get ur vehicle insurance for like 50$ 4 the whole year.

Poking Victim said:

I have to have cigarettes to hitchhike 'cause I get so aggravated

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A-fucking-men. I'm almost too hesitant to ride in nice cars anymore because I know the driver will most likely encourage to 'grow up and get a job' and there will be no smoking allowed.

Anyway, I still won't fucking buy a car. A) I don't have the money. B) Even the worst times on the road make up a bigger picture that I love living.

Hitchhiking in the Digital Age.

While I share your sentiment about hitchhiking, and its many seedy and unsavory qualities--proselytizers, political and sexual wierdos, exposure to the elements, that sinking feeling that the bulk of humanity is without any modicum of compassion, etc.--I must say that I keep coming back to it again and again because I love to meet people at their best. The fact of the matter, at least for myself and all of my road doggs, is that the majority of people who offer us a ride are doing a good thing, even if they aren't usually the best of people.

Which isn't to say that I want to change the tone of this thread, because it's good to share the shitty stuff about hitchhiking. In fact, I think that my preferred method of hitchhiking is probably a shitty last-resort for many others. I like to put my final destination on a cardboard sign, secure it to my pack, and just walk the interstates. I might walk a bunch of miles on a given day, but I've never gotten better rides. I once got a ride in Calgary that took me all the way to Thunder Bay this way. Granted, it was fucking cold up there, and I walked from the West end of Calgary to the East before finally getting a ride. Oh, and when the guy pulled over, because he was a Tractor Trailer pulling three trailers of timber, it took him about a mile to stop, so I had to jog that with my pack on. All the same, there's nothing much more glorious than landing a ride like that after a hike like that. It's because of the suffering that I could savor the sweetness.
Peace and Love,
Dan

Oh, and Craigslist is out there now for those moments when you don't want to pay for a ride, but don't want to wait or walk for one either.

It's definitely tedious. But sometimes you've got to.

WOW,
i guess its been to long for me hitching in the states. ive gone from San Francisco to Vancouver, (mind you im a MN resident) but ive done LOTS ov hitching in Europe. All these shit stories ov weirdos in the states make me hate this country even more. Though im sure this is a bitch-thread, If you want to give up your thumb for the internal combustion engine. Remember evertime you start that ignition, some poor ass soldier fighting a war to pay for college is dying. If you are driving, it better be a good cause. Like saving a life or going to a good concert. i really don't think the horror stories are so true. Don't get me wrong, i drive once in a while too, but to actively deny a better method ov transport is just silly. ive met many travelers who are circling the world and the reverberating theme is the humanity in all the rides. And if we do all grow old and so ugly even a compassionate soul wouldn't pick us up, then maybe its our time to wander the wilderness...

I get frustrated hitch-hiking very easily. Typically after the first two and a half hours, I'm inclined to walk up to the nearest gas-station, grab a tallboy, and just nurse it while I hitch.

Every time I crack that can, EVERY SINGLE TIME, a ride pulls over and I have to sacrifice a full tallboy for the sake of a ride. A reasonable trade, but bittersweet never the less. Every fucking time.

I recently got a nice long train ride, 21 hours. Decent for me, a newb. I thought it would suck hitching out this time 'round, and it was slow at first, but everybody I got a ride with was pretty cool. Some ex-electrician who decided to go self-sufficient, some native guy who just got out of the hospital from being stabbed in the stomach, some german kids in a VW, and then some music junky the rest of the way. it probably beats riding in a friggin grainer hole by myself. hitchhiking will probably always have it's place in my heart, though i do find it much more tedious in the us and other dead spots. no so cool when nobody picks you up for 3 or 4 days, but trains are sometimes no better.

Well, I may be newer to hitching than the rest of you, but I've had nothing but positive experiences. I can't ride trains without facing prison time because of probation, or else I would almost certainly choose that as a method of travel. To me, hopping trains isn't just about getting around - it's a fantastic adventure in and of itself. Hitching can be an adventure, but more likely will result in boredom. Granted, I've never done more than several hundred miles. I've only done a very little bit of riding freights, but I greatly prefer the solitude and the scenery, not to mention the whole "hide and sneak around the yard and jump on discreetly" aspect, which I find to be exciting beyond whatever normal society can offer.

To me, hitching is just a method to get somewhere when you must (despite probation, I go to music festivals frequently, and almost always rely on hitchhiking. Catching out is almost spiritual. I won't ignore the benefits of hitchhiking because of the downfalls, but it never hurts to be aware of them.

mike

there's nothing worse than a shitty hitch. but it someone is being inappropriate to you or yer roaddawg, you can whip out a knife and hop out of the car. what bothers me is those "iffy" rides. example: caught a ride to baltimore with some good ol' boy. vomit was in the front seat, with me and two other roaddawgs in the back. decent ride the whole way (upwards of a 120 mile ride, which is a pretty long hitch for me) until we pull into the city. then homeboy starts spewing a lot of racist ignorant bullshit.

now, he hasnt done anything to us personally, and we made our views very clear. he was offending us, and we weren't comfortable with what he was saying, but he persisted. what do you do in that situation? my gut instinct is to pull out my railspike and smack him in the temple with the blunt end. but my roaddawgs must've read my mind, because i was getting that "dude, dont fuck up, we need to get to baltimore" look from them all. that's what i hate the most. that uncomfortable "do i fuck this guy up, or do i put up with it for the sake of a ride?" situation. ugh.

sorry. i know this isnt a "bitch about bad hitches" thread, but i think this falls under the "fuck hitch-hiking" title

hitch because you care, or hitch because you dont.

Dirty Rig said:

we weren't comfortable with what he was saying, but he persisted. what do you do in that situation? my gut instinct is to pull out my railspike and smack him in the temple with the blunt end.

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You ask to be let out at the nearest possible spot to hitch from. You can't get violent just because people have different beliefs than you; you're acting just like the rest of society. Yeah, racism is whack, but fuck it, how much fun is life without the wackos and tribulations?

mike

Sorry. This is where I'm different from a lot of people. You bust out some ignorant fucking racist bullshit after I've already told you twice not to spew that shit, yer ass warrants a thrashing in my book. It's not PC, but I don't fucking tolerate bigotry. Not against blacks, not against women, and especially not against the residents of my hometown.