Have you tried hitchhiking? When I was younger, I used to travel by hitchhiking. It is a very interesting way to travel. You meet all kinds of people on the road. In the beginning, I thought it would be very difficult to find anyone who would give me a ride. Later, after I have tried it, I found that it was not too difficult after all. What I usually do is to walk a short way outside the town limits, on the highway going to my next destination. This way, there are more chances of cars going where I want to go. Have you tried hitchhiking? Please share your experiences. Thank you.
I also used to hitchhike a lot,which my mum absolutely hated. I live in the capital city, and my home town is about twelve hours away by car. If the fancy took me to go home, it didn't matter what time it was, I'd just up and go hiking. I never ran into any trouble, but I shudder to think what could've happened to me as you do hear of many horror stories. I now fully understand where my mum was coming from, and would definitely not do it now that I'm older and wiser Although Botswana is relatively safer than most countries, nowadays It's probably still not advisable.
I haven't tried hitchhiking and have no plans of trying it in the future. While it may be interesting, I find it too risky and too dangerous. I would not feel comfortable going on a trip with a complete stranger. You completely doesn't have any idea what this person is capable of doing. So, I'd rather stay on the safe side, afterall, it is better to be safe than sorry.
I have never hitchhiked and don't think I will ever do it in this lifetime. Too many movies I've seen have laid out clear examples of the risks that can come with provoking strangers behind the wheel and asking them for a lift. I would rather depend on my own two legs to get me where I want to go than resort to that. To the people that do hitchhike in this day and age, just be careful because you just don't know what type of person you'll come across.
I also haven't never ever experienced Hitchhiked traveling yet. And honestly not interested as well. Traveling is my passion and i really wanna do it in such adventures and safer way. Life is fun we should have fun and enjoy our life but we shouldn't make our life a funny thing at all. I totally agreed with you TPhoenix! The people who are doing hitchhiked travels i am sure they are aware of what they are doing. They must be careful because world is really big and have different sort of peoples in it....
Yes, I agree that there is no guarantee that the stranger who gave you a ride is not actually a cannibal. However, as far as accidents go, travelling in any form entails a degree of risk. So you take a plane. What are the chances of a mid-air hijacking? So you take a train. What are the chances of a bomb under the tracks? From my personal experience, I found that the people who gave me rides were really nice people. Look at it from the other person's perspective as well. How does he know that you are not a cannibal, pretending to be hitchhiking but are actually looking for the next meal?
As a woman, I never like hitchhiking on my own. But I had to occasionally do it out of necessity when I was younger. These days, I always have a back up plan wherever I go, which means I make sure that I have enough money on me if there is some kind of emergency and I need to stay in a motel overnight. I had a bad experience once where I managed to escape just in time before something bad was going to happen to me. I went straight to the police and reported the incident. It turned out that the man was wanted by the police for sexual offences.
Oh that's so sad that you really had a bad incident though we always should learn from such situations. Yap Dora M! You are absolutely right if we are going for such adventure tour, we must be ready for all perceptions and must have extra money. Once my cousin went on for a hitchhiking tour from his home town to far away and was stuck with some bad peoples. Then he just makes them fo0lsand caught them by police. You should always be prepared and alert for all sorts of situations but that is too possible you wouldn't fall in such conditions or safely could reach at your destination
No, I have never hitchhiked. It is just too dangerous. I imagine that it maybe safe in relatively small communities. I live in a large urban area and there is no way I would put myself in that type of situation.
I've always lived in a big city(I lived in New York my whole life, and I recently moved to New Jersey) so it was never something that I had to do. It seems like it might be a bit dangerous. You never know if the person that picks you up is going to be some kind of psycho or something. Maybe, I've seen one too many horror films, but it's seems like putting your life in the hands of a stranger only makes sense in a handful of situations. Clearly, I don't think this is one of them.
Back when I was a boy hitch-hiking was something we did for fun all the time. Stop the first car you saw, and hop in. Get off somewhere and once you are done exploring [that's what we usually did] stop another car and get back home. Nowadays though I can't even think about hitch-hiking. Maybe it's my age . . . or the obvious: hitch-hiking has never been more dangerous as it is now. Too many psychos on the loose.
I think there were probably just as many psychos back when you were a boy. It's just that you didn't hear about them and you were too young to care anyway. Ah, to be young again and carefree.
That could be true and I believe that even now it would be relatively safe to hitch-hike IF you are armed. All the news about people being murdered, others going missing never to be seen again, etc, etc, have made most people paranoid. Every stranger they meet is suspected of being a serial killer.
As an ethnic woman who mostly lived in US urban areas, it's actually common for guys around the neighborhood to slow their cars and ask you if you need a ride. Growing up around lots of black & Hispanic men, contrary to media depictions, these men DO NOT want to risk going to jail over anyone. So if they offer you a ride, it's highly unlikely they are trying to kidnap, rape or murder you. They don't have time to draw unwanted attention to themselves when they are constantly targeted by law enforcement in their area anyway. When they ask if you (a female) need a ride, they usually just want to have an excuse to be alone with you, sweet talk you and get your phone number or strike up some kind of physical relationship. They are by nature just flirty, bold men. Knowing this made it much easier for me to accept rides from strangers because I knew he was just trying his luck at getting some action. I would accept the ride, have an awesome conversation with the guy and would usually make up some excuse about being married or not having a phone and jump out at my destination. No harm done. The creepiest occasions for me is when older white men in pick-ups circle around a few times and ask me if I need a ride late at night. Oh My goodness! Those men really scare me a lot! Maybe the movies have brainwashed me to think a white man is more likely to have duct tape and rope waiting for me in the trunk? I never accept rides from those guys. I think they assume any woman out late at night are either prostitutes, strippers, crack-heads or easy! I can't speak for female drivers because I've never been offered a ride by one who was a stranger. And recently, I drove to a Walmart in a really nice, affluent neighborhood about 20 minutes from my own town. I somehow locked myself out of the car. Purse, phone, everything was in my car and I couldn't get to it. It was like 10pm. I tried to call my husband from customer service, but he wouldn't answer his phone. I was literally stranded. I knew I need to hitch a ride back to town. Everywhere I looked I saw a sea of white faces and the men looked ultra scary. The women looked unapproachable. I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to seem like a psycho ethnic woman begging strangers for a ride. HAHA. I felt they would be more afraid of me than I was of them. People are quick to call police for anything these days. Fortunately, I saw a big black guy leaving the store and walking to the lot. I ran up to him, and asked if I could use his phone because I was locked out of my car and needed to find a ride back to town. He told me he lived very close to my town and could give me a lift! Thank heavens! He took me home, I grabbed the spare keys and the guy gave me a ride BACK to Walmart so I could get into my car again. Turns out he was a really nice man with a great personality. I figured I was likely to get help from an ethnic man because A: I'm a woman, and men tend to be more helpful to me than women who always seem skeptical of strangers, and B: Ethnic men are generally NOT going to do things to draw negative attention to themselves unprompted (like kidnap or rape a strange woman on a whim). My hitchhiking stories aren't so scary but I am rather selective about who I accept rides from. Also, now that I drive my own vehicle, I often find myself tempted to offer rides to people on the road who seem like they could use one. I'd rather they accept a ride from me, a sane person, than a ride from a potentially dangerous nut. Like Victor Leigh stated previously, the people who are kind enough to offer the rides usually turn out to be nice folks. But it's a crazy world so we all have to do our part to stay safe.
If you are armed and you hitchhike, you are going to start a whole new ballgame. If people hear that hitchhikers are armed, nobody may want to pick up any hitchhikers any more. Besides, if you can afford to carry a firearm, chances are you do not need to hitchhike. Basically hitchhiking is for people who want to save what little money they have.
I do it but only in the small area I'm in where almost everyone knows everybody else and even if not they are easily identifiable as being one of the residents. I wouldn't do it outside though just because I don't feel comfortable doing so. Even if it isn't as risky as I think it just doesn't sit well with me, but I would agree that probably much of the worry is just from the loud minority of awful news and movie plots.
