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Hitchhiking

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Hitchhiking (also called lifting) is a form of transport, in which the traveller tries to get a lift (ride) from another traveller, usually a car or truck driver.

The distance covered may vary from a short distance that could also be walked, to a long journey involving many rides. Those who choose to hitchhike usually do for one of two reasons: necessity (no funds, no transportation) or adventure (serendipitous travel, meet new and unexpected people)

Hitchhiking is forbidden in some areas, such as near prisons. In some cases, a local government may ban it altogether. Certain American states have created conditional bans, such as Utah, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada; it is frequently illegal on the actual shoulder of Interstate highways, but usually not from the highway on-ramp (entrance).

Method

To obtain a lift in many parts of the world, including North America, hitchhikers traditionally stretch out one arm and stick out their thumb. Car drivers understand this to be a sign that the person requests a lift. A hitchhiker may hold a sign with the name of their destination.

In some areas, other signals may be used. (This may be because the traditional gesture with the thumb has an offensive meaning in that region.) For example, in South Africa, a hitchhiker may show an oncoming car the back of his hand with the index finger raised, rather than the thumb. In Poland, the hand is held flat, and waved. In India, the hand is waved with the palm facing downwards. (Please add signals from other regions.)

Often nothing is given or performed in exchange for the lift, but some hitchhikers will contribute money for fuel. (This would not normally be the case when getting a ride in a commercial vehicle, such as a cargo truck.)

Reasons

A hitchhiker may have several reasons to travel in this way, amongst them:

  • not being able to afford alternative means of transportation;
  • where no public transport is available and one has no own vehicle available; one can distinguish:
    • there is no public transport at all;
    • there is no public transport at the time one wants or needs to travel:
      • public transport is very infrequent;
      • the last bus or train of the day goes very early;
      • one misses the last bus or train;
  • because of social equality reasons (semi-force vehicle owners who would not normally use public transport to share the ride with the public by "bringing the bus to muhammad);
  • because of ecological and political reasons (reducing dependency on fossil fuels);
  • for the challenge of using limited resources to reach a destination; or
  • for the sense of adventure that not knowing where you will be at the end of the day presents.

A mixture of the first two reasons is when the only alternative is an expensive taxi.

Car drivers may also have several reasons to give lifts, for instance because:

  • they want companionship;
  • they have hitchhiked themselves and know how hard it can be;
  • simple good will
  • Requests for drugs and/or sex.

Hitchhiking is often resorted to by stranded motorists or people without money or transportation such as the homeless.

Reputation

Although most hitchhiking occurs without incident, it has a bad reputation with some people. Some criminals who prey on the good will of others to rob or molest have masqueraded as hitchhikers to procure victims, or picked up unsuspecting hitchhikers themselves. There is some dispute as to whether it is actually less safe to hitchhike now than in the past, or if simply more reporting increases the visibility of negative examples.

Any number of urban legends are told about hitchhiking, in which either the hitchhiker or the car driver may take on the role of a bogeyman. For example, some stories have the driver as a ghost, or the hitchhiker as an escaped convict. The folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand wrote an entire book titled The Vanishing Hitchhiker, using the Vanishing Hitchhiker legend (references) as his prototype.

Hitchhiking in literature

The writer Jack Kerouac immortalized hitchhiking in his book On The Road. The road has a fascination to Americans; countless writers have written of the road and/or hitchhiking such as John Steinbeck, whose book The Grapes of Wrath opens with a hitched ride. Roald Dahl wrote a short story called The Hitchhiker, in which he uses the idea that you can hear fascinating stories when giving people a lift to introduce one of his trade-mark eccentric characters. Another lesser known author, a lifetime hitchhiker named Irv Thomas, incorporates hitchhiking into his writing perspective and lifestyle [Innocence Abroad: Adventuring Through Europe at 64 on $100 Per Week], as well as recounting his hitchhiking travels [Derelict Days] in a memoir.

Safety

The safety of hitchhiking varies from country to country. It's rumoured that the most dangerous country for hitchhiking in Europe is Poland. In the United States, where hitchhiking had been a fairly common means to travel from one location to another well into the 1970s, especially among younger people, the practice has greatly declined in the past several decades to the point that is extremely rare to see people hitchhiking in the US today.

Miscellaneous

Hitchhiking is often combined with other often cheap forms of transportation, such as walking or travelling by bus or train.

In Poland, during the communist regime period, hitchhiking was institutionized. Many people would have a formal document for recording travels and they would give the driver confirmation that the travel occurred. It was probably similar in other communist countries. Hitchhiking was likely considered much safer in Poland at that time.

In Eastern Europe, especially Lithuania and Russia hitchhiking turns into adventure sport. There are Hitchhiking clubs with regular gatherings, hitchhiking schools, competitions, hitchhiking gear, etc. In 1994 russian Hitchhiker Alexey Vorov made a first trip around the world, hitchhiking by cars, planes and boats.

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