| The pros and cons of hitchhiking? Pro: cheap. | | | | that same stretch of highway, a few years |
| Con: dangerous. It's convenient, but | | | | before, the police found a hitchhiker cooking |
| unpredictable. No car repair hassles, but the | | | | a driver's heart over a campfire.Ten years |
| hassle of standing in the rain, waiting hours | | | | later I caught an item on the news: They were |
| for a ride. I hitchiked 20,000 miles when I | | | | releasing the canibal hitchhiker, now that he |
| was young, sleeping under bridges and | | | | was sane. You can see why drivers may be |
| fighting off sexual predators from Canada to | | | | hesitant to pick up hitchhikers. The lesson? |
| Mexico. I loved it, but I wouldn't consider | | | | Try not to look like a Psycho killer when you |
| hitchhiking as a primary mode of travel ever | | | | hitchhike.One circumstance it may be useful |
| again.There are still times when I put out my | | | | to hitchhike, even if you never have, is when |
| thumb. The most recent was in the mountains | | | | you need to return to your car after |
| of Ecuador. My wife and I were visiting Las | | | | backpacking. Trails often come out of the |
| Cajas National Park, hiking along ancient | | | | wilderness in a different location than where |
| Incan rock walls. We missed the bus back to | | | | they start. Since there probably won't be |
| Cuenca. There may have been another one | | | | taxis there, hitchhiking could be your only |
| coming, but we didn't want to wait until dark | | | | way back to your car.This is relatively safe |
| to find out. Out went the thumb.To hitchhike | | | | and easy, in these circumstances. National |
| is "Ir a dedo" in Ecuador; to "go by finger." | | | | Parks like Yellowstone are almost the only |
| The third vehicle to pass, stopped for us. It | | | | places we've even seen hitchhikers lately, |
| was a meat delivery truck, and we were in | | | | and drivers are comfortable picking up people |
| Cuenca in an hour. When the driver refused to | | | | that are obviously backpackers.Hitchhiking |
| take any money, we left him with a large | | | | SafelyFollow some basic safety guidelines. Be |
| avacado.If you ever consider hitchhiking in | | | | prepared for many possible circumstances. |
| other countries, ask the locals about it. In | | | | Have rainwear, in case you can't get out of |
| Ecuador, for example, I've been told you | | | | the rain. Have food and water, since you |
| can't get a ride in the southern part of the | | | | never know how long you'll wait for a ride. |
| country. Also, in some areas it's customary | | | | Bring warm clothing if cold weather is |
| to at least offer something for the | | | | possible. Also, always have a highway map |
| ride.Hitchiking In The United StatesThe pros | | | | with you.Use intuition and common sense when |
| and cons of hitchhiking are obvious, and the | | | | hitchhiking, and don't be afraid to say no to |
| balance is on the side of the "cons." It's | | | | a ride. Maybe I shouldn't have taken a ride |
| difficult to get a ride now. However, it's | | | | with that cocaine-snorting guy in Idaho when |
| still legal in most places in the U.S., | | | | I was sixteen. Then again, maybe my intuition |
| except on freeways. The point on the entrance | | | | wasn't so bad. He turned out to be a decent |
| ramp where you cross the legal line is | | | | guy, and brought me hundreds of miles closer |
| decided by the police officer that tickets | | | | to home.Steve Gillman hit the road at |
| you.At sixteen, I was stuck for hours on a | | | | sixteen, and traveled the U.S. and Mexico |
| Montana highway. A nice old lady picked me up | | | | alone at 17. Now 40, he travels with his wife |
| and explained why I couldn't get a ride. On | | | | Ana, whom he met in Ecuador. |