Hitchhiking

Hitchhiking near Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1936, photograph by Walker Evans

Hitchhiking in New Zealand in 2006

Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, hitching, or autostop) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other vehicle. A ride is usually, but not always, free.

Itinerants have also used hitchhiking as a primary mode of travel for the better part of the last century, and continue to do so today.^[1][2]

Signaling method

A typical hitchhiker's gesture

The hitchhikers' methods of signaling to drivers differ around the world. Many hitchhikers use various hand signals.

If the hitchhiker wishes to indicate that he needs a ride, he may simply make a physical gesture or display a written sign. In North America, United Kingdom and most of Europe, the gesture involves extending the arm toward the road and sticking the thumb of the outstretched hand upward with the hand closed.

For example, in the US and UK, they point their thumb up. In some African countries, the hand is held still with the palm facing upwards. In other parts of the world, it is more common to use a gesture where the index finger is pointed at the road.

Legal status

Two of the signs used in the United States

Hitchhiking is a historically common (autonomous) practice worldwide and hence there are very few places in the world where laws exist to restrict it. However, a minority of countries have laws that restrict hitchhiking at certain locations.^[3] In the United States, for example, some local governments have laws outlawing hitchhiking, on the basis of drivers' and hitchhikers' safety. In 1946, New Jersey arrested and imprisoned a hitchhiker, leading to intervention by the American Civil Liberties Union.^[4] In Canada, several highways have restrictions on hitchhiking, particularly in British Columbia and the 400-series highways in Ontario. In all countries in Europe, it is legal to hitchhike, and in some places even encouraged. However, worldwide, even where hitchhiking is permitted, laws forbid hitchhiking where pedestrians are banned, such as the Autobahn (Germany), Autostrade (Italy), motorways (United Kingdom and continental Europe), or interstate highways (United States), although hitchhikers often obtain rides at entrances and truck stops where it is legal at least throughout Europe.^[5][6]

Decline

In 2011, Freakonomics Radio reviewed sparse data about hitchhiking and attributed the decline since the 1970s, at least in North America, to a number of factors including lower air travel costs due to deregulation, the presence of more money in the economy to pay for travel, more numerous and more reliable cars, and a lack of trust/fear of strangers.^[7]

Graeme Chesters and David Smith discuss reasons for hitchhiking's decline in Britain, and possible means of reviving it in safer and more organised forms, in one of the few academic discussions of hitchhiking, "The Neglected Art of Hitch-hiking: Risk, Trust and Sustainability".^[8]

In recent years, hitchhikers themselves have started seeing efforts to strengthen the hitchhiking community. One example is the annual Hitchgathering, an event organized by the hitchhikers, for the hitchhikers. There now are websites like hitchwiki and hitchbase, which are platforms for hitchhikers to share tips and provide a way of looking up good hitchhiking spots around the world.

Safety

Wikivoyage has some tips for safe hitchhiking.

Very little data is available regarding the safety of hitchhiking.^[9] Compiling good safety data requires counting hitchhikers, counting rides, and counting problems: a difficult task.^[10]

Fear of hitchhiking is thought to have been spurred by movies such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and a few real stories of imperiled passengers, notably in the case of the kidnapping of Colleen Stan in California.^[7] Two studies on the topic include a 1974 California Highway Patrol study and a 1989 German federal police study.^[9] The California study found that hitchhikers were not disproportionately likely to be victims of crime.^[11] The German study concluded that the actual risk is much lower than the publicly perceived risk, and the authors did not advise against hitchhiking in general.^[12] They found that in some cases there were verbal disputes and inappropriate comments, but physical attacks were very rare.^[13]

Around the world

Orthodox Jews tremping in Jerusalem

Cuba

In Cuba, picking up hitchhikers is mandatory for government vehicles, if passenger space is available. Hitchhiking is encouraged, as there are few cars, and designated hitchhiking spots are used. Waiting riders are picked up on a first come, first go basis.^[14]

Israel

In Israel, hitchhiking is commonplace at designated locations called trempiyadas (טרמפיאדה in Hebrew, derived from the German trampen). Travelers soliciting rides, called trempists, wait at trempiyadas, typically junctions of highways or main roads outside of a city.

Nepal

In Nepal, hitchhiking is very common in rural areas. Many do not own cars so hitchhiking is a common practice especially in and around villages.

Netherlands

Hitchhiking (called liften) is legal in the Netherlands. This sign indicates a good place to get a lift.

In the Netherlands, hitchhiking is legal and there are official signs where one may wait for a ride. These designated hitchhiking locations are called liftershalte or liftplaats in Dutch, and they are particularly common in university towns.^[15][16]

Poland

Hitchhiking in Poland has a long history and is still popular. It was legalised and formalised in 1957 so hitchhikers could buy booklets including coupons from travel agencies.^[17] These coupons were given to drivers who took hitchhikers. By the end of each season drivers who collected the highest number of coupons could exchange them for prizes, and others took part in a lottery. This so-called "Akcja Autostop" was popular till the end of the 1970s, but the sale of the booklet was discontinued in 1995.^[18]

Ireland

Hitchhiking in Ireland is an easy way of travelling across the country. Drivers like backpackers and they are very welcoming. They tend to pick them up quite a lot, so a hitchhiker does not have to wait long for a lift. Even if drivers do not pick them up, they are cheerful and they show their enthusiasm by gestures such as thumbs up or friendly waves. It is a convenient way of travelling, as public transport services may not be available, especially in the countryside. Hitchhiking in Ireland is legal, unless it takes place on motorways. However, a backpacker will most likely still get a lift if there is enough space for the car to park. Local police (Gardai) usually lets backpackers get away with a verbal warning.^[19]

Unfortunately, Ireland does not see many backpackers due to poor weather conditions.

United States

Hitchhiking became a common method of traveling during the Great Depression.

A "slug line" of passengers waiting for rides in the US

However, warnings of the potential dangers of picking up hitchhikers were publicized to drivers, who were advised that some hitchhikers would rob the driver who picked them up and, in some cases, sexually assault or murder them. Other warnings were publicized to the hitchhikers themselves, alerting them to the same types of crimes being carried out by drivers. Still, hitchhiking was part of the American psyche and many people continued to stick out their thumbs, even in states where the practice had been outlawed.^[20]

Today, hitchhiking is legal in 44 of the 50 states, provided that the hitchhiker is not standing in the roadway or otherwise hindering the normal flow of traffic. Even in states where hitchhiking is illegal, hitchhikers are rarely ticketed. For example, the Wyoming Highway Patrol approached 524 hitchhikers in 2010, but only eight of them were cited (hitchhiking was subsequently legalized in Wyoming in 2013).^[21]

In several urban areas, a variation of hitchhiking called Slugging occurs, motivated by HOV lanes.

In popular culture

Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable attempt to hitchhike in It Happened One Night.

Picking up a hitchhiker leads to murder in The Hitch-Hiker.

Film

Literature

• 1939 – The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, opens with a hitched ride.
• 1957 – Jack Kerouac immortalized hitchhiking in his book, On the Road.
• 1971 – Ken Welsh's "how to" book on hitchhiking around Europe, titled Hitch-hiker's Guide to Europe, is rumored to have inspired the title of Douglas Adams' 1978 classic book.
• 1973 – Kurt Vonnegut's perpetual protagonist, Kilgore Trout, hitchhikes halfway across the country in Breakfast of Champions (also known as Goodbye Blue Monday).
• 1976 – Sissy Hankshaw, the protagonist of Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins, becomes legendary as a hitchhiker in part because of her unusually large thumbs.
• 1977 – "The Hitch-Hiker", by Roald Dahl
• 1978 – In his cult classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (first broadcast on radio in 1978), Douglas Adams postulated on interstellar hitchhiking.
• 1984 – Science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein described interdimensional hitchhiking in his book Job: A Comedy of Justice.
• 1996 – Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
• 2001 – Round Ireland with a Fridge by British comedian Tony Hawks: hitchhiking around Ireland with a refrigerator, as a result of a drunken bet.
• 2003 – Evasion by CrimethInc.
• 2003 – Off The Map by Hibikina Chickena and Kika Kat
• 2005 – No Such Thing As A Free Ride? is a comprehensive anthology of hitchhiking stories and viewpoints, serialized in The Times and named The Observer's Travel Book of the Week. Edited by Tom Sykes and Simon Sykes, it featured contributions from Mike Leigh, Sir Alan Parker, Sir Max Hastings, Tony Hawks and Eric Burdon, amongst others. In 2008, No Such Thing As A Free Ride? North American Edition was published by Goose Lane of Canada and featured JP Donleavy, Margaret Avison, Doug Stanhope, Jeff Lewis and Will Durst, amongst others.
• 2006 – Riding With Strangers: A Hitchhiker's Journey by Elijah Wald
• 2007 – The Hitcher by Chris Coekin: A photographic book, part fact part fiction based upon Coekin's adventures hitching around the UK with a camera.
• 2009 – Iranian Rappers & Persian Porn: A Hitchhiker's Adventures in the New Iran details some of British author Jamie Maslin's exploits on the road.
• 2009 – Le Monde en stop by Ludovic Hubler
• 2011 – The Short, Short Hitchhiker by Stanley Gurcze, edited by Richard Menzies.^[22]
• 2013 – The Last American Hitch-Hiker: Tales of Wander by Mark Dean Kneeskern.
• 2013 – The Adventures of Space and Hobo by Ken Birks
• 2015 – The Long Hitch Home: Tasmania to London on a thumb and a prayer chronicles Jamie Maslin's journey hitchhiking over land and sea from Tasmania to London.

Music

Television

• 1960 – "Hitch-Hike", an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents based on a short story by Ed Lacy
• 1960 – "The Hitch-Hiker", an episode of The Twilight Zone
• 1981 – The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy TV series
• 1984 – Diff'rent Strokes, a two-part very special episode, "The Hitchhikers"
• 1999 – SpongeBob SquarePants – "Pizza Delivery"
• 2000 – "The Hitch-hiker", an episode of Tales of the Unexpected
• 2003 – Cold Case episode 1.10, "Hitchhiker", addresses similar murders of hitchhikers in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey
• 2004 – The L Word episode "Losing It"
• 2006 – The Masters of Horror episode "Pick Me Up"
• 2007 – Peking Express, a Dutch/Flemish reality game show that follows a series of couples as they hitchhike to or from Beijing (in seasons 1–3) and South America (in seasons 4 and 5)

Notable hitchhikers

Two WPA workers hitchhiking in California, circa 1939

• Joe Bennett – New Zealand newspaper columnist and author; hitchhiked around the world for 10 years^[23]
• Patrick Falterman – American itinerant, canoeist, and adventurer
• Ilmar Island (Saar) – the last and only hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for hitching between Key West, Florida and Fairbanks, Alaska (5 days, 20 hours and 52 minutes); the category only appeared once.^[24]
• André Brugiroux – from France; hitchhiked all around the world for 18 years, from 1955 to 1973
• Alan Carter – last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John O'Groats to Land's End round-trip (39 hours 28 minutes)
• David Choe – painter, muralist, graffiti artist and graphic novelist
• Martin Clark and Graham Beynon – last hitchhikers recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the Land's End to John O'Groats trip (17 hours 8 minutes)
• W. H. Davies – Welsh poet and tramp, who hitchhiked America during the early 20th century
• hitchBOT – Canadian hitchhiking robot^[25]
• Ludovic Hubler – French hitchhiker who toured the world entirely by hitchhiking from 1 January 2003 to 1 January 2008; wrote a book called Le Monde en stop, which was awarded the best travel book of the year in 2009 in France
• Steve Jobs – American technology entrepreneur, the co-founder of Apple Inc.; mentioned hitchhiking in his Stanford commencement speech in 2005
• Jack Kerouac – Beat Generation author, hitchhiked in America and wrote many books about his experience
• Chris McCandless – subject of the book Into the Wild; hitchhiked throughout the western region of North America in the early 1990s
• Jim Morrison – musician of The Doors; depicted hitchhiking in his movie HWY: An American Pastoral
• Robert Prins – last hitchhiker recorded in the Guinness Book of Records for the 24-hour hitchhiking record (2,318.4 km)
• Stephan Schlei – from Ratingen, Germany; hitchhiked more than 621,371 mi (1,000,000 km); the Guinness Book of Records, before all hitchhiking records were removed, once said that he was the World's No. 1 Hitchhiker^[26]
• Devon Smith – listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for most cumulative miles hitchhiked (1973 to 1985), over 290,988 mi (468,300 km); held the record for hitchhiking all 48 contiguous US states in 33 days during 1957^[27]
• Andrzej Stasiuk – writer, journalist and literary critic^[28]
• John Waters – filmmaker, writer, actor and artist; author of Carsick: John Waters Hitchhikes Across America^[29]
• Nedd Willard – writer, artist and journalist
• Ammar Zejnilagić

Fictional characters

• Ford Prefect – a space-hitchhiking travel writer in The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
• Hitchhiker – a hitchhiking lunatic killer played by actor Edwin Neal in the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre film (1974)
• The Hitcher – a green cockney man who was featured in The Mighty Boosh

See also

• Carpool
• Flexible carpooling – hitchhiking formalized via designated meeting points
• Freighthopping
• Hitchwiki
• Real-time ridesharing – hitchhiking facilitated by a smartphone application
• Slugging – hitchhiking motivated by HOV lanes in several urban areas

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Nwanna, Dr. Gladson I. (2004). Americans Traveling Abroad: What You Should Know Before You Go, Frontier Publishers, Inc., ISBN 1-890605-10-7.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hitchhiking.

• The dictionary definition of hitchhike at Wiktionary
• Tips for hitchhiking travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Hitchhiking around the world travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Hitchhiking phrasebook travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Hitchhiking at DMOZ