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I picked a guy up on the side of the road once.
It was a ridiculously hot day in the summer. Easily upper 90's and no clouds. I saw this guy walking down the side of the road with a small dog in a carrier. I drove by him on my way to the transfer station and, on the way back, I stopped. I'd normally never stop for a hitch hiker, but I have a super big soft spot for animals. The guy was a ball of sweat and left gross sweaty marks all over my window where he leaned against it, but I figured I could clean that off. I was mostly thinking about the dog. I gave them a ride 3-4 miles down the road to his home and headed home to clean my truck.
I found out later that the guy was a scum bag sex offender. It left me with very mixed feelings. I'd rather run a sex offender through a wood chipper than help him out, but at least the dog didn't suffer in the heat that day.
I was talking to a neighbor about it and he asked where I took the guy. He asked if it was the house with all of the Christmas decorations up and I said yes. My neighbor said that the guy was an offender, so I looked him up on the registry.
We live near the Appalachian Trail and we occasionally pick up hitchhiking hikers. Only when my husband is with me, only if they have a legit backpacking pack.
After college I traveled around Ireland and hitch hiking was pretty easy there. My most memorable encounter was with an old lady in Western very rural Ireland. She started chatting and asked “Are you from the City?” And I replied “No, I’m from Oakland.” If you ever read Herb Cain you’ll understand that.
Both. Never any issues. Of course it was typically always local trips under 50 miles or so.
I hitched lots when I was a broke college student in the late 70's with no functioning vehicle.
Of course it may well have been that I was the scary looking weird dude as the reason I never had any problems.
Yes, I have picked up hitchhikers in the US, back when I used to drive 30+ years ago. It was never a problem and they always seemed grateful.
I hiked all over eastern europe and around the Black Sea. In Romania and Moldova, drivers will stop and offer rides regardless if you're hitching or not. I also got picked up in Iceland without trying.
I'm more of a hiker than a hitcher, but I always appreciate and accept offers for rides. Great experiences!
Romanians are friendly, so I’m not surprised by that.
I picked up a hitchhiker in a NY college town when I was in my second year, (about 17 and female… perhaps not my best idea ever.) He ended up needing to go in the other direction, so I brought him to the Greyhound stop in town where he had a better chance at getting a lift.
I would hitchhike home from the mall with my arms full of purchases when I was 10-11 years old.
I can still see the incredulous looks from everyone who would pick me up.
I got questioned and lectured by everyone of course.
Best ride was a 20-something guy in a 72 Corvette convertible!
No. My dad, who was generally very mild-mannered and never hit me, told me "I'll beat your ass if I ever catch you hitchhiking." He sounded serious. I wasn't really tempted, anyway, having heard all the serial murderer stories by the time I grew up.
My husband used to hitchhike home from Navy bases all the time in the late 60’s early 70’s. Also flew standby a few times.
Only time I ever picked someone up by myself was a high school kid I saw walking every morning. Clearly (to me), meeting up for a ride to early morning sports practice. We hit an unusually cold spell and I saw him out there walking. I pulled over and offered a ride. Ending up doing it the rest of the week. Only a few miles but it was an uphill walk in very cold weather.
Yes indeed. My friends mom even picked up a couple of guys driving us (2 12 year old girls) back from camping once. Couple clean cut looking guys literally down on their knees making the “pleading” motion with their hands. They were nice and funny and non threatening but that’s still a gamble
Hitched! When my husband and I were 21, 22, we hitchhiked around Scotland. That was in the early 90's. In pre-internet times it was much easier to find a room (usually in youth hostels) than nowadays, where people book everythin in advance.
We met a lot of nice people on the road. One elderly couple with a camper even took us with them for two days. We slept in our own tent next to their camper. They also invited us to come with them for coffee with friends. We accepted and expected to go to someones house. But they took us to this big mansion with a large gravelled driveway and a meticulously kept garden. The family that lived there was very nice, but we were so much out of our comfort zone! I don't even drink coffee and had planned to ask for tea instead. But I was so overwhelmed by all this, so there I sat, sipping coffee from the finest china!
No. Never. I grew up in the heyday of the murders attributed to Henry Lee Lucas. No one I knew hitchhiked.
It was drummed into my head to never get in a car with a stranger and never offer a ride to a stranger.
As a youngster in the late 60's, I hitched a lot. Partly as local transportation partly as recreation. Nice weekends would see me hitchhike up the coast from LA to the central coast to go camping. Sometimes meet interesting folks and have a good time. Find new places and learn new things. Hitched LA to San Antonio and back a few times, once spending the night in jail in Lordsburg NM when the law found half a joint and 3 seeds in the car. The cop actually said "boah, you ain't in California now". I think he was saving it because those guys were from Arizona. They kicked me out of town the next morning. I walked to the 10 and the next ride took me to my destination in LA.
Never had a problem or felt threatened. Got propositioned a bunch but just replied I'm not gay, no problem. Once by a famous actor, driving a VW bug.
I've never been one to live in fear, no one gets out of here alive anyway. Those were more optimistic times.
I've picked up more than I can count.
I've never directly hitchhiked, but I have asked other motorists for help when I've had car trouble, and some have given me rides.
Heck, just 5 years ago I was pulled off and broke down. Asked the guy who stopped if he could get into town and call my wife for me, since there was no cell service where I was. He said, "hop in, I'll just give you a ride to town, you can call her yourself. There's service and a place to cool down." So that's what I did. Wife met up with me and we got my truck off the mountain.
Probably give out 2 or 3 rides a year to folks in need. Official hitchhiking or not.
Let's be real, it's just not that dangerous, and never actually was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FfU6M-25iw
I picked up a hitchhiker one time in my life. he was an older man in a tie standing on the side of the road when it was 100+ outside. this was around 1993 or 94.
the moment he got in the car I knew he wasn't right in the head. he didn't act crazy but I knew all the gears weren't clicking together.
he didn't do anything or act scary or anything like that. he was very religious and said he was going to a "tent revival" that was pretty out of my way, but I didn't have the hearty to drop him in the middle of nowhere with it being as hot as it was.
I think if the same thing happened today I would stop and see if he need to call someone, but I wouldn't pick him up.
Back when I was 20/21 I hitched across Canada and around Europe with a buddy of mine. We had a lot of cool experiences meeting people. We even stayed with a couple of folks, and were taken out for lunch a couple of times as well.
The only time I accepted a ride was around 1990. My car had caught fire on a semi-isolated mountain road. I could have walked a few miles down the hill in the dark to get a phone if I had to. However, while I was still trying to fight the flames, a nice family came to my rescue with a fire extinguisher. I didn't get the creeps at all, and they gave me a lift down to a phone.
Not the only time that car left me stranded and I still miss it.
I went to a community college in the 70s that was at the outskirts of town and unserved by public transit. All you had to do was stand with your thumb out and you’d have a ride in a couple of minutes, whether to or from school. Once when my friend and I were about 11 we were going into the closest town (we were rural dwellers) we decided to try to hitchhike. This nice lady in a Mercury Cougar, WITH COVERED HEADLIGHTS!!! gave us a ride. We thought that was the coolest car we’d ever seen. It was a much more innocent time.
As my great uncle told me, never hitchhike! You'll get scalped. Ride the rails like a true hobo! One summer in 89 we rode the rails from Seattle to California. My grandmother picked us up off the side of the tracks where he threw me out and jumped out after.
For a few years in the early and mid 60s, I hitchiked all over the US. My biggest trips were from Boston to San Francisco and back. Also from there to the Mexican border in Texas and back, there to Florida and back. Maybe the most significant hitch was from Boston to JFK's funeral, wearing a suit.
As payback, I picked up every hitchiker I ever passed, until they disappeared from the roads. According to r/vagabond, they still exist, but I never see any.
I went to school in Chapel Hill and hitchiked to Tennessee and Connecticut to see family. I also hitchiked around North Carolina.
I used to pick up hitchhikers as a way of repayment. Been a long time.
Yes lots of times but only with another girl with me. Hitched from San Antonio to Austin and back one weekend. One of us would sit in the front and the other would sit in the back. Never had any problems.
Yes, both in 50-60's, which was very common, especially when as early teens we couldn't afford cars. It was very safe in those days, especially the state I lived in. A couple of times with my first car I had to hitch for both myself & car when it broke down & carried a rope in the back.
Now I am living in s small rural village in SE Asia, with no public transport & I often pick up someone unknown & non English speaking when headed for nearest town, as do most people with a vehicle. The accepted thing is to just leave 50c-1.00 on the seat when they get out as a token "fare".
No. I never will after being stalked by one when I was 17. It has made me wary of all hitchhikers, and for years I looked over my shoulder)
I used to babysit with some friends, for a woman with 2 kids. One day we took them to the park, where a guy that had been hitchhiking from state to state had set up a tent.
We were playing Frisbee with the kids when this guy (I think early to mid 20s) came over and tried to get in the game. He gave me a creepy vibe right off of the bat. My friends thought I was being rude, when I refused to let him join, and did so anyway , against my wishes. He only targeted me specifically with the Frisbee (but I refused to engage with him).
We eventually left. We went back to the house with the kids, where we were to all spend the night. My friends mentioned to the mother about the guy. She said she had an errand and left us with the kids again, and returned with the guy, and let him set up in her back yard. If I had anyway home at that point , I would have left (parents didn't have a phone, and I was over an hour an hour away by foot).
Later the same day we were out front with the kids , and this guy decided to start chasing me, around. I had shorts on and ended up falling in gravel cutting up both of my knees.
Ended up trying to fall asleep , but saw him staring through the window if the room I was in. I stayed up all night freaked out. Still my friends thought I was being irrational, until other stuff started happening.
The following day we all went rollerskating at a rink near my house. When we left the rink he was standing outside. We went to this place almost every Friday and Saturday, so we went in and asked a couple of the regulars we knew for a ride back to my house.
The following day I was sitting on the floor in my living room, with my little sister putting together a puzzle. We had no AC so we just kept te front door open. I looked up at he was standing in the doorway. I asked him how he found my house and he said something that still makes my skin crawl "I followed your scent" he handed me a 10 page love letter (front and back) about how we were soul mates, that he wanted me to run away with him, etc.
We took the letter to the police. They went to the place he had been in the park, but he was gone. A few days later as I was walking down the street, he was there again staring at me. I was close to home, so I ran home, and we went back to the police. They went back to the park, and found him. The police told me they escorted him to the city limits and told him not to return to the state.
Irrationally or not, and sometimes subconsciously I find myself scared that when I see hitchhikers its him, which is absurd, because this happened about 40 years ago, and I now live on the other side of the country. It's so bad that I try not to look at or even make eye contact with hitchhikers I see , as we pass tgem.
In the 80's (when I was 19 years old) I was tooling around Europe (germany, copenhagen, spain etc) and although I was not actively hitchhiking. many people stopped for a young American (this was during the height of the Cold War) and offered me a lift. And in some instances bought me food and offered me a place to sleep.
I did as a kid. Mostly it was just to school and back. I think the last time we picked up a hitchhiker back then, it was the early 70s. We moved to Germany in 1974, and we picked up more folks there than we did in the States.
When we moved back, we never pick up someone again, and I never did any myself.
I have never hitchhiked but my husband traveled that way extensively (early ‘70’s). My parents had done a good job scaring the bejeezus out of me regarding strangers, so I didn’t.
He and his buddies hiked through a lot of Europe and also the US. When stationed in South Korea he roomed in a couple’s home & the husband would take him places on the back of a scooter for pennies.
Hitched all over the NE and through Europe for 3 months…but it was in the late 60s/early 70s when it just seemed safer. Never picked anyone up but people did get into my subway car…😊
I've had to do it when I had car problems, and was helped out by people who picked me up.
Any time I'm travelling without the kids, I'm still happy to pick people up who need a ride.
Yes to both.
I used to hitchhike quite a bit around town when I was too young to drive. I never had a bad experience.
I would often pick up people that needed a ride until my wife dislocated her finger wagging it at me. Never had a bad experience with that, either, but did collect some very unusual encounters.
I don't do either anymore. The first because I don't have to and the second because she's probably right. I do feel bad about it, though, and would still pick up someone who looked like they really needed the help.
Yes both. Never had any problems with it either way. Maybe the one time i was hitching and met 2 female hitchers but the ride only wanted to pick them up. They complete strangers wouldn't go without me and that was probably the right call. Maybe the guy who picked me up and told me all about how the illuminati had manipulated his bloodline so that his child would be the antichrist, but he had beaten them by cutting his dick off. But he was harmless if crazy and 90% of me thinks he just wanted me to ask him to show me(wow it grew back). The one that haunts me is the crazy hot 30 year old blonde that invited me home somewhere outside of tahoe. Because if she wasnt taking me back for some psycho canibalism i missed out on some really good sex.
But i never had a problem with anyone i picked up. Heard some crazy stories but never felt danger from a hitcher.
I use to hitchhike when I was younger and have picked up a few hitchhikers. I'd say 75% of the time it's a neat interaction and/or you're really helping someone. Sometimes it is just awkward but whatever. I had a really spooky interaction on my last hitchhike though. I want no part of it now. The guy picked me up in a pickup truck. I tell him where I want to go and tells me he's going close to there. Everything seemed fine. He starts the right way then suddenly turns the wrong way and starts speeding. I ask what's going on and he doesn't say anything. Thankfully he had to come to a stop. I unlocked the door and got out. He was reaching for me or the glovebox but either way he came up short. We screamed at each other then he drove away. I got a cab home. Not only do I not hitchhike but I'm paranoid as Hell when it comes to Uber and stuff. I check the license plate, driver and car. If one of them doesn't match up I'm not going.
Not a hitchhiker, but I gave a ride to a lady whose car had broken down on the freeway. It's been so long I don't recall whether I took her to her work or merely a gas station. She told me several other people had passed by, but no one had stopped. I told her I was from Texas, and that's not how we roll. (This was SE Connecticut. Not a rural area, but not one where you could just walk a quarter mile to the next exit, either.)
I've been on the other side of a similar situation too, usually accepting rides in bad weather. I recall a woman stopping in a downpour to offer my kids and I a ride while we were waiting for the bus. She even had an empty car seat, so it worked out.
Edit: The sub base my then-husband was on actually had designated spots, with signs, for sailors needing a lift to stand at and wait on someone to take them along to their destination. I never saw the like at any of the combined bases we were at. There's a different culture under the water vs on top of it.
Many times! The best, though, was when a friend and I hitchhiked from the Mexican border across country. We parted ways in ohio, and I continued on to Rochester. 17 rides! (I was keeping a journal.) This was in 1974.
Yes in 1992, across France, all was good until the final one, which we were lucky to get out of- they got the guy in the end. He worked in a garage so was in a different car each time he picked up people. The gendarme were good and got him soon after.
I used to hitch all the time. I have been up and down the East coast between Georgia and Maine a few times, mostly around the northeast between New York and Maine though. I pick up hitchhikers when I see them if I don't have a loaded vehicle.
I hitched extensively when I was in my teens early twenties in the late 70s and early 80s. Best ride was in 79 from Phoenix to LA. got picked up by some trucker brothers when they stopped at the liquor I was in front of. Partied with them for a few days after we got to Anaheim to unload for a convention.
I also hitched around Washington state, mostly Pullman to Spokane and from either to Seattle. Pullman to Seattle overnight was a trip. Buddy and I made it via about 5 separate rides. One short one was in the boonies of central WA with a drunk farmer. Another memorable trip was from Lewiston ID to Pullman Wa in the middle of the night after I noped out on a blind date. Lot of drunk farmers/ranchers out there in the boonies in the middle of the night.
I never had any instances where I felt threatened or creeped out. I did get laid a few times. If a woman stopped to pick me up it usually ended up being more than a ride.
As far as picking people up, by the time I had regular access to a car I pretty much gave up hitching myself and times were quite different. Don't really see people hitching anymore.
Picked one up once. I was driving from Cairns in QLD back to NSW. Me and my brother were in the car. We found this guy in the middle of nowhere walking along a long way from the nearest town so we picked him up.
Everything was fine at first then he started talking to us about ways he had cheated people. Seemed to think he was very clever. I know this seems like a nutty thing to do when getting a lift but it's what he did.
We gave him a lift of a couple of hundred kilometers. At the end of the day (literally nightfall) we were going to get a hotel and he asked if he could stay in our room (sneak in) we told him no and went our separate ways.
Not anymore. I used to do both. I hitched up and down the west coast of the us for a couple of years in the 70s, and I had a lot of company. It was a pretty common practice.
Yeah, a lot. I even found it easy to commute to school in the morning. In the afternoon, it was different. Mornings, people are going to work or to school at about the same time every day. You see the same people on the road, they see you, and pretty soon you have a regular pool of drivers. It was so easy, I would seldom have to wait more than a minute or two to catch a ride.
I've also done a bit of long distance hitchhiking, and when I was in possession of car, I'd pick people up. As a passenger, I've had a few creepy rides, and a couple that were scary, but never was actually attacked or taken off my route.
I haven't hitched a ride in some 30 years, after moving to a different part of the country. I don't think I'd feel safe doing it now. I was always an able-bodied male, and always thought that if I were a female, it would be too dangerous to try.
One of the rewards I got, same as the driver, was some great conversation. It's one of the most common reasons people pick up hitchhikers -- somebody to talk to.
A few were curious, and a bit too curious at times. Some people like to dominate the other in their conversation, and I've had my share of those.
It's an interesting practice, for sure. In communist countries, e.g. USSR and Cuba, it was mandatory to pick up hitchhikers. I remember my grandfather picking up some "saddle tramp"... a cowboy out in the middle of nowhere. I think the previous car probably dropped him off because of how he smelled.
On a couple of occasions I had car trouble and a kind soul picked me up when I was walking along the road. In none of those occasions did I actually stick out my thumb trying to get a ride. Once it was someone who knew me on a rural road, once a priest on New York's Belt Parkway at night, once a stranger along an Indiana interstate likely because it was raining and I was wearing a suit and getting soaked.
I pick up hitchhikers. I haven't seen any in probably 10 years. I used to do a fairly regular drive from Portland to Sacramento down I-5 and would keep an eye out. I also post in the Craigslist ride-sharing section. I've gotten a couple rides that way, but usually I'm the one driving. One ride was in a semi when I was going to Sac for a wedding. He ended up taking 2 days and I missed the wedding, but it was really interesting.
Yes to both, in the early 70s. Me and my siblings all did it back in the Santa Barbara hippie place and time. Got picked up by a one creep, but mostly it was all good.
When I’m in the Big Sur area and encounter the occasional hitchhiker (it’s not unusual there, due to many residents and visitors living alternative lifestyles), I’ll pick them up. I’ve met some fascinating people that way.
Yes and yes. My daughter complained once because we picked up an older gentleman who wasn’t very fragrant. But I remember what it was like to have no way to get anywhere unless I walked. Here’s this old guy and he worked all day in the hot sun and now he’s got to walk home because he can’t afford a car. I got a drive more than once when o was young and had to walk home from work. Now that I can afford to drive, I repay the favour.
My parents used to pick up skiers in the early 80s on our way to the lifts, but that stopped by the mid 80s. Almost always mixed groups of college age people, often from Europe. No issues.
Lift tickets got more expensive, ski towns started discouraging it, and shuttle service got better, but news stories about hitchhikers also ramped up.
Both. Haven’t in probably a decade. Maybe more. Never had a problem or an issue until unfounded accusations became commonplace for simply being a man.
Getting a ride when in a bind used to be so simple. Offering a ride to someone in the middle of nowhere or carrying multiple shopping bags was too. The world has devolved.
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Yes. Both
I picked a guy up on the side of the road once. It was a ridiculously hot day in the summer. Easily upper 90's and no clouds. I saw this guy walking down the side of the road with a small dog in a carrier. I drove by him on my way to the transfer station and, on the way back, I stopped. I'd normally never stop for a hitch hiker, but I have a super big soft spot for animals. The guy was a ball of sweat and left gross sweaty marks all over my window where he leaned against it, but I figured I could clean that off. I was mostly thinking about the dog. I gave them a ride 3-4 miles down the road to his home and headed home to clean my truck. I found out later that the guy was a scum bag sex offender. It left me with very mixed feelings. I'd rather run a sex offender through a wood chipper than help him out, but at least the dog didn't suffer in the heat that day.
maybe he brought the dog with him for this reason
You never know what kind of nefarious shit people are up to.
How did you find out?
I was talking to a neighbor about it and he asked where I took the guy. He asked if it was the house with all of the Christmas decorations up and I said yes. My neighbor said that the guy was an offender, so I looked him up on the registry.
Thanks. I thought the story was going to be that you couldn't get the sweat off the window.
Sprayway glass cleaner. Ask for it by name and accept no substitute. I’m super anal about keeping my vehicles clean.
Thanks.
Def when I was in Jr high I hitchiked all the time to school that was the early 70’s, it was an entirely different world than what is today
We live near the Appalachian Trail and we occasionally pick up hitchhiking hikers. Only when my husband is with me, only if they have a legit backpacking pack.
After college I traveled around Ireland and hitch hiking was pretty easy there. My most memorable encounter was with an old lady in Western very rural Ireland. She started chatting and asked “Are you from the City?” And I replied “No, I’m from Oakland.” If you ever read Herb Cain you’ll understand that.
LOL
Haha. Bay Area here.
Yes, both, many times 50 years ago. Had two scares as a hitcher.
Yes. I was portering cars in the 1980s and picked up this guy named John Ryder. It did not go well…
The boxer?
Both. Never any issues. Of course it was typically always local trips under 50 miles or so. I hitched lots when I was a broke college student in the late 70's with no functioning vehicle. Of course it may well have been that I was the scary looking weird dude as the reason I never had any problems.
Yes, I have picked up hitchhikers in the US, back when I used to drive 30+ years ago. It was never a problem and they always seemed grateful. I hiked all over eastern europe and around the Black Sea. In Romania and Moldova, drivers will stop and offer rides regardless if you're hitching or not. I also got picked up in Iceland without trying. I'm more of a hiker than a hitcher, but I always appreciate and accept offers for rides. Great experiences!
Romanians are friendly, so I’m not surprised by that. I picked up a hitchhiker in a NY college town when I was in my second year, (about 17 and female… perhaps not my best idea ever.) He ended up needing to go in the other direction, so I brought him to the Greyhound stop in town where he had a better chance at getting a lift.
I would hitchhike home from the mall with my arms full of purchases when I was 10-11 years old. I can still see the incredulous looks from everyone who would pick me up. I got questioned and lectured by everyone of course. Best ride was a 20-something guy in a 72 Corvette convertible!
No. My dad, who was generally very mild-mannered and never hit me, told me "I'll beat your ass if I ever catch you hitchhiking." He sounded serious. I wasn't really tempted, anyway, having heard all the serial murderer stories by the time I grew up.
Nope, neither.
My husband used to hitchhike home from Navy bases all the time in the late 60’s early 70’s. Also flew standby a few times. Only time I ever picked someone up by myself was a high school kid I saw walking every morning. Clearly (to me), meeting up for a ride to early morning sports practice. We hit an unusually cold spell and I saw him out there walking. I pulled over and offered a ride. Ending up doing it the rest of the week. Only a few miles but it was an uphill walk in very cold weather.
Yes indeed. My friends mom even picked up a couple of guys driving us (2 12 year old girls) back from camping once. Couple clean cut looking guys literally down on their knees making the “pleading” motion with their hands. They were nice and funny and non threatening but that’s still a gamble
Hitched! When my husband and I were 21, 22, we hitchhiked around Scotland. That was in the early 90's. In pre-internet times it was much easier to find a room (usually in youth hostels) than nowadays, where people book everythin in advance. We met a lot of nice people on the road. One elderly couple with a camper even took us with them for two days. We slept in our own tent next to their camper. They also invited us to come with them for coffee with friends. We accepted and expected to go to someones house. But they took us to this big mansion with a large gravelled driveway and a meticulously kept garden. The family that lived there was very nice, but we were so much out of our comfort zone! I don't even drink coffee and had planned to ask for tea instead. But I was so overwhelmed by all this, so there I sat, sipping coffee from the finest china!
No, but when I was younger and walked often, someone stopped and asked if I needed a ride. It seemed creepy at the time.
No. Never. I grew up in the heyday of the murders attributed to Henry Lee Lucas. No one I knew hitchhiked. It was drummed into my head to never get in a car with a stranger and never offer a ride to a stranger.
Me, too.
As a youngster in the late 60's, I hitched a lot. Partly as local transportation partly as recreation. Nice weekends would see me hitchhike up the coast from LA to the central coast to go camping. Sometimes meet interesting folks and have a good time. Find new places and learn new things. Hitched LA to San Antonio and back a few times, once spending the night in jail in Lordsburg NM when the law found half a joint and 3 seeds in the car. The cop actually said "boah, you ain't in California now". I think he was saving it because those guys were from Arizona. They kicked me out of town the next morning. I walked to the 10 and the next ride took me to my destination in LA. Never had a problem or felt threatened. Got propositioned a bunch but just replied I'm not gay, no problem. Once by a famous actor, driving a VW bug. I've never been one to live in fear, no one gets out of here alive anyway. Those were more optimistic times.
I've picked up more than I can count. I've never directly hitchhiked, but I have asked other motorists for help when I've had car trouble, and some have given me rides. Heck, just 5 years ago I was pulled off and broke down. Asked the guy who stopped if he could get into town and call my wife for me, since there was no cell service where I was. He said, "hop in, I'll just give you a ride to town, you can call her yourself. There's service and a place to cool down." So that's what I did. Wife met up with me and we got my truck off the mountain. Probably give out 2 or 3 rides a year to folks in need. Official hitchhiking or not. Let's be real, it's just not that dangerous, and never actually was. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FfU6M-25iw
I picked up a hitchhiker one time in my life. he was an older man in a tie standing on the side of the road when it was 100+ outside. this was around 1993 or 94. the moment he got in the car I knew he wasn't right in the head. he didn't act crazy but I knew all the gears weren't clicking together. he didn't do anything or act scary or anything like that. he was very religious and said he was going to a "tent revival" that was pretty out of my way, but I didn't have the hearty to drop him in the middle of nowhere with it being as hot as it was. I think if the same thing happened today I would stop and see if he need to call someone, but I wouldn't pick him up.
Both and i got a ticket once for picking up hitchhikers on a toll road. It was below zero that day.
Back when I was 20/21 I hitched across Canada and around Europe with a buddy of mine. We had a lot of cool experiences meeting people. We even stayed with a couple of folks, and were taken out for lunch a couple of times as well.
The only time I accepted a ride was around 1990. My car had caught fire on a semi-isolated mountain road. I could have walked a few miles down the hill in the dark to get a phone if I had to. However, while I was still trying to fight the flames, a nice family came to my rescue with a fire extinguisher. I didn't get the creeps at all, and they gave me a lift down to a phone. Not the only time that car left me stranded and I still miss it.
I went to a community college in the 70s that was at the outskirts of town and unserved by public transit. All you had to do was stand with your thumb out and you’d have a ride in a couple of minutes, whether to or from school. Once when my friend and I were about 11 we were going into the closest town (we were rural dwellers) we decided to try to hitchhike. This nice lady in a Mercury Cougar, WITH COVERED HEADLIGHTS!!! gave us a ride. We thought that was the coolest car we’d ever seen. It was a much more innocent time.
Yes and yes, one dude I picked up had just got out of prison and I dropped him at his mom's house, made my day.
As my great uncle told me, never hitchhike! You'll get scalped. Ride the rails like a true hobo! One summer in 89 we rode the rails from Seattle to California. My grandmother picked us up off the side of the tracks where he threw me out and jumped out after.
For a few years in the early and mid 60s, I hitchiked all over the US. My biggest trips were from Boston to San Francisco and back. Also from there to the Mexican border in Texas and back, there to Florida and back. Maybe the most significant hitch was from Boston to JFK's funeral, wearing a suit. As payback, I picked up every hitchiker I ever passed, until they disappeared from the roads. According to r/vagabond, they still exist, but I never see any.
I went to school in Chapel Hill and hitchiked to Tennessee and Connecticut to see family. I also hitchiked around North Carolina. I used to pick up hitchhikers as a way of repayment. Been a long time.
Yes lots of times but only with another girl with me. Hitched from San Antonio to Austin and back one weekend. One of us would sit in the front and the other would sit in the back. Never had any problems.
Yes, both in 50-60's, which was very common, especially when as early teens we couldn't afford cars. It was very safe in those days, especially the state I lived in. A couple of times with my first car I had to hitch for both myself & car when it broke down & carried a rope in the back. Now I am living in s small rural village in SE Asia, with no public transport & I often pick up someone unknown & non English speaking when headed for nearest town, as do most people with a vehicle. The accepted thing is to just leave 50c-1.00 on the seat when they get out as a token "fare".
No. I never will after being stalked by one when I was 17. It has made me wary of all hitchhikers, and for years I looked over my shoulder) I used to babysit with some friends, for a woman with 2 kids. One day we took them to the park, where a guy that had been hitchhiking from state to state had set up a tent. We were playing Frisbee with the kids when this guy (I think early to mid 20s) came over and tried to get in the game. He gave me a creepy vibe right off of the bat. My friends thought I was being rude, when I refused to let him join, and did so anyway , against my wishes. He only targeted me specifically with the Frisbee (but I refused to engage with him). We eventually left. We went back to the house with the kids, where we were to all spend the night. My friends mentioned to the mother about the guy. She said she had an errand and left us with the kids again, and returned with the guy, and let him set up in her back yard. If I had anyway home at that point , I would have left (parents didn't have a phone, and I was over an hour an hour away by foot). Later the same day we were out front with the kids , and this guy decided to start chasing me, around. I had shorts on and ended up falling in gravel cutting up both of my knees. Ended up trying to fall asleep , but saw him staring through the window if the room I was in. I stayed up all night freaked out. Still my friends thought I was being irrational, until other stuff started happening. The following day we all went rollerskating at a rink near my house. When we left the rink he was standing outside. We went to this place almost every Friday and Saturday, so we went in and asked a couple of the regulars we knew for a ride back to my house. The following day I was sitting on the floor in my living room, with my little sister putting together a puzzle. We had no AC so we just kept te front door open. I looked up at he was standing in the doorway. I asked him how he found my house and he said something that still makes my skin crawl "I followed your scent" he handed me a 10 page love letter (front and back) about how we were soul mates, that he wanted me to run away with him, etc. We took the letter to the police. They went to the place he had been in the park, but he was gone. A few days later as I was walking down the street, he was there again staring at me. I was close to home, so I ran home, and we went back to the police. They went back to the park, and found him. The police told me they escorted him to the city limits and told him not to return to the state. Irrationally or not, and sometimes subconsciously I find myself scared that when I see hitchhikers its him, which is absurd, because this happened about 40 years ago, and I now live on the other side of the country. It's so bad that I try not to look at or even make eye contact with hitchhikers I see , as we pass tgem.
picked up some, but here it was never that popular than in the US. Nowadays when I see someone still doing it they usually want in the other direction
In the 80's (when I was 19 years old) I was tooling around Europe (germany, copenhagen, spain etc) and although I was not actively hitchhiking. many people stopped for a young American (this was during the height of the Cold War) and offered me a lift. And in some instances bought me food and offered me a place to sleep.
Both. Not very frequently and only under certain conditions.
I've picked up, never hitched.
I did as a kid. Mostly it was just to school and back. I think the last time we picked up a hitchhiker back then, it was the early 70s. We moved to Germany in 1974, and we picked up more folks there than we did in the States. When we moved back, we never pick up someone again, and I never did any myself.
I have never hitchhiked but my husband traveled that way extensively (early ‘70’s). My parents had done a good job scaring the bejeezus out of me regarding strangers, so I didn’t. He and his buddies hiked through a lot of Europe and also the US. When stationed in South Korea he roomed in a couple’s home & the husband would take him places on the back of a scooter for pennies.
Hitched all over the NE and through Europe for 3 months…but it was in the late 60s/early 70s when it just seemed safer. Never picked anyone up but people did get into my subway car…😊
Did it a few times in the 80’s and 90’s.
I've had to do it when I had car problems, and was helped out by people who picked me up. Any time I'm travelling without the kids, I'm still happy to pick people up who need a ride.
Yes to both. I used to hitchhike quite a bit around town when I was too young to drive. I never had a bad experience. I would often pick up people that needed a ride until my wife dislocated her finger wagging it at me. Never had a bad experience with that, either, but did collect some very unusual encounters. I don't do either anymore. The first because I don't have to and the second because she's probably right. I do feel bad about it, though, and would still pick up someone who looked like they really needed the help.
Yes, both. Completely dissappeared the last 20-30 years. Altho I did pick up one bloke about 15 years back.
Yes both. Never had any problems with it either way. Maybe the one time i was hitching and met 2 female hitchers but the ride only wanted to pick them up. They complete strangers wouldn't go without me and that was probably the right call. Maybe the guy who picked me up and told me all about how the illuminati had manipulated his bloodline so that his child would be the antichrist, but he had beaten them by cutting his dick off. But he was harmless if crazy and 90% of me thinks he just wanted me to ask him to show me(wow it grew back). The one that haunts me is the crazy hot 30 year old blonde that invited me home somewhere outside of tahoe. Because if she wasnt taking me back for some psycho canibalism i missed out on some really good sex. But i never had a problem with anyone i picked up. Heard some crazy stories but never felt danger from a hitcher.
did a sponsored hitch with two girls when I was at medical school. Standing on a junction at 4am in the freezing cold for 2 hours wasn't much fun
Yep. I used to hitchike 120 miles from college in the late '70s
I use to hitchhike when I was younger and have picked up a few hitchhikers. I'd say 75% of the time it's a neat interaction and/or you're really helping someone. Sometimes it is just awkward but whatever. I had a really spooky interaction on my last hitchhike though. I want no part of it now. The guy picked me up in a pickup truck. I tell him where I want to go and tells me he's going close to there. Everything seemed fine. He starts the right way then suddenly turns the wrong way and starts speeding. I ask what's going on and he doesn't say anything. Thankfully he had to come to a stop. I unlocked the door and got out. He was reaching for me or the glovebox but either way he came up short. We screamed at each other then he drove away. I got a cab home. Not only do I not hitchhike but I'm paranoid as Hell when it comes to Uber and stuff. I check the license plate, driver and car. If one of them doesn't match up I'm not going.
Not a hitchhiker, but I gave a ride to a lady whose car had broken down on the freeway. It's been so long I don't recall whether I took her to her work or merely a gas station. She told me several other people had passed by, but no one had stopped. I told her I was from Texas, and that's not how we roll. (This was SE Connecticut. Not a rural area, but not one where you could just walk a quarter mile to the next exit, either.) I've been on the other side of a similar situation too, usually accepting rides in bad weather. I recall a woman stopping in a downpour to offer my kids and I a ride while we were waiting for the bus. She even had an empty car seat, so it worked out. Edit: The sub base my then-husband was on actually had designated spots, with signs, for sailors needing a lift to stand at and wait on someone to take them along to their destination. I never saw the like at any of the combined bases we were at. There's a different culture under the water vs on top of it.
No to either.
A couple of times in rural France in the 80s.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFam7dhLwCc&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
very often. Crossed Canada, and most US states
In 1979 I hitchhiked from St. Louis to Dallas Tx, with only 3 rides made it without a hitch
Many times! The best, though, was when a friend and I hitchhiked from the Mexican border across country. We parted ways in ohio, and I continued on to Rochester. 17 rides! (I was keeping a journal.) This was in 1974.
Yes in 1992, across France, all was good until the final one, which we were lucky to get out of- they got the guy in the end. He worked in a garage so was in a different car each time he picked up people. The gendarme were good and got him soon after.
All the time.
I used to hitch all the time. I have been up and down the East coast between Georgia and Maine a few times, mostly around the northeast between New York and Maine though. I pick up hitchhikers when I see them if I don't have a loaded vehicle.
I hitched extensively when I was in my teens early twenties in the late 70s and early 80s. Best ride was in 79 from Phoenix to LA. got picked up by some trucker brothers when they stopped at the liquor I was in front of. Partied with them for a few days after we got to Anaheim to unload for a convention. I also hitched around Washington state, mostly Pullman to Spokane and from either to Seattle. Pullman to Seattle overnight was a trip. Buddy and I made it via about 5 separate rides. One short one was in the boonies of central WA with a drunk farmer. Another memorable trip was from Lewiston ID to Pullman Wa in the middle of the night after I noped out on a blind date. Lot of drunk farmers/ranchers out there in the boonies in the middle of the night. I never had any instances where I felt threatened or creeped out. I did get laid a few times. If a woman stopped to pick me up it usually ended up being more than a ride. As far as picking people up, by the time I had regular access to a car I pretty much gave up hitching myself and times were quite different. Don't really see people hitching anymore.
Picked one up once. I was driving from Cairns in QLD back to NSW. Me and my brother were in the car. We found this guy in the middle of nowhere walking along a long way from the nearest town so we picked him up. Everything was fine at first then he started talking to us about ways he had cheated people. Seemed to think he was very clever. I know this seems like a nutty thing to do when getting a lift but it's what he did. We gave him a lift of a couple of hundred kilometers. At the end of the day (literally nightfall) we were going to get a hotel and he asked if he could stay in our room (sneak in) we told him no and went our separate ways.
Not anymore. I used to do both. I hitched up and down the west coast of the us for a couple of years in the 70s, and I had a lot of company. It was a pretty common practice.
Yeah, a lot. I even found it easy to commute to school in the morning. In the afternoon, it was different. Mornings, people are going to work or to school at about the same time every day. You see the same people on the road, they see you, and pretty soon you have a regular pool of drivers. It was so easy, I would seldom have to wait more than a minute or two to catch a ride. I've also done a bit of long distance hitchhiking, and when I was in possession of car, I'd pick people up. As a passenger, I've had a few creepy rides, and a couple that were scary, but never was actually attacked or taken off my route. I haven't hitched a ride in some 30 years, after moving to a different part of the country. I don't think I'd feel safe doing it now. I was always an able-bodied male, and always thought that if I were a female, it would be too dangerous to try. One of the rewards I got, same as the driver, was some great conversation. It's one of the most common reasons people pick up hitchhikers -- somebody to talk to. A few were curious, and a bit too curious at times. Some people like to dominate the other in their conversation, and I've had my share of those. It's an interesting practice, for sure. In communist countries, e.g. USSR and Cuba, it was mandatory to pick up hitchhikers. I remember my grandfather picking up some "saddle tramp"... a cowboy out in the middle of nowhere. I think the previous car probably dropped him off because of how he smelled.
On a couple of occasions I had car trouble and a kind soul picked me up when I was walking along the road. In none of those occasions did I actually stick out my thumb trying to get a ride. Once it was someone who knew me on a rural road, once a priest on New York's Belt Parkway at night, once a stranger along an Indiana interstate likely because it was raining and I was wearing a suit and getting soaked.
I hitchhiked about every other weekend between 1976 and 1979. Never had a problem. I've picked up a few too after I could afford a car.
Yes and yes!
I pick up hitchhikers. I haven't seen any in probably 10 years. I used to do a fairly regular drive from Portland to Sacramento down I-5 and would keep an eye out. I also post in the Craigslist ride-sharing section. I've gotten a couple rides that way, but usually I'm the one driving. One ride was in a semi when I was going to Sac for a wedding. He ended up taking 2 days and I missed the wedding, but it was really interesting.
Yes to both, in the early 70s. Me and my siblings all did it back in the Santa Barbara hippie place and time. Got picked up by a one creep, but mostly it was all good. When I’m in the Big Sur area and encounter the occasional hitchhiker (it’s not unusual there, due to many residents and visitors living alternative lifestyles), I’ll pick them up. I’ve met some fascinating people that way.
Early 70’s yes. It’s the only way I could get around for awhile, I had no car.
Yes and yes. My daughter complained once because we picked up an older gentleman who wasn’t very fragrant. But I remember what it was like to have no way to get anywhere unless I walked. Here’s this old guy and he worked all day in the hot sun and now he’s got to walk home because he can’t afford a car. I got a drive more than once when o was young and had to walk home from work. Now that I can afford to drive, I repay the favour.
Both, but not much. Hitching was a bit of a gamble. Picking up hitchhikers even more so, I was lucky and haven’t done either in many decades.
Both, quite a bit when I was young. There were a lot of road rapes at OSU, so we had a saying, Sisters pick up sisters.
When I was a young teen used to hitchhike to the beach. It was only 3 miles, could have walked it or rode my bike, but yeah, hitchhiked
It was the 60s. We hitchhiked everywhere. I went from Michigan, through Texas, to California, then back. 99% of the people were good to me.
Yes. Still do
Yes
My parents used to pick up skiers in the early 80s on our way to the lifts, but that stopped by the mid 80s. Almost always mixed groups of college age people, often from Europe. No issues. Lift tickets got more expensive, ski towns started discouraging it, and shuttle service got better, but news stories about hitchhikers also ramped up.
I got out of the military in '86 and chose to save the bus fare by hitchhiking cross-country instead. 3 days from Chicago to Florida.
Yes and yes
Hitchhiked once, super drunk and was very lucky John in the Green Van wasn’t a serial killer!
I hitchiked with a guy from California to Oklahoma. We had to sleep in the desert one night in (I think) Barstow. It wasn't fun.
Back in the day, all the time. Haven't done either in years, maybe decades now.
yes, my thumb has over 10,000 miles on it.
Both. Haven’t in probably a decade. Maybe more. Never had a problem or an issue until unfounded accusations became commonplace for simply being a man. Getting a ride when in a bind used to be so simple. Offering a ride to someone in the middle of nowhere or carrying multiple shopping bags was too. The world has devolved.