Do Share Your Hitchhiker Stories

Hitchhiking is legal in Switzerland except on the highways and major roads. I have never been a hitchhiker. I cannot remember we ever encountered hitchhikers, they tend to stop the cars on the small secondary roads.

No, I have not try hitchhiking. For me, it sounds dangerous.

In 1954 I hitchhiked from California to Florida after getting out of the Marine Corps!! Met so many fantastic people and am still friends with 2 of them!!! I didn't have a single problem getting a ride and many people wanted to help me out! Have never forgotten that trip. It was a different time!

I had to hitchhike once when my car broke down .I left my phone at home She was a kind lady. She lent me her phone to make an urgent call and she dropped me home. I never know this lady but she trusted me and I always be eternally grateful. I hope she is still alive and doing well.

Years ago it was much safer to pick up hitchhikers..I wouldn't dream of it now. My husband picked up a older couple in the mountains one time and it was a strange situation. He still wonders if they were angels.

I don't hitchhike. I don't have the habit of hitchhiking in China

I remember seeing them as a kid. Don't drive, so I never picked one up, and while my brother and I were on "road trips" with our parents, they never did, either.

I would have to be EXTREMELY desperate to hitchhike. It's so dangerous, especially for a woman. I don't pick up hitchhikers, but I have given a few people a ride who were clearly in need of help - a woman and a little boy whose car had broken down and were trying to walk with suitcases, a girl whose boyfriend had put her out on the road after a fight, and a man who had run out of gas and was walking to the gas station in the bitter cold.

Its very popular in South Africa. Did it a lot there

Last 12 years when e-hailing has not been introduced, I had to hitchhike a student (stranger) who happened to have a car and took a ride to an examination room.

I am in neither situation because I don't drive here in Saudi and I am afraid to hitchhike.

I picked one guy up... At a time there was a serial killer in my city, lol. I wouldn't call him a hitch-hiker, just someone who saw me leave the party store. I did hitch-hike the first time I went to Australia. In early 2013, I was told of a job opportunity, and wanted to save money, and since I had never hitchhiked before, I thought why not? So I got a couple of lifts from Newcastle from a couple of blokes to a train station. There, I bought the cheapest destination just so I had a valid ticket. I would pretend to be asleep, and that I missed my stop. I was more interested in the people who would stop and pick up a stranger. Each driver was alone, Australian, middle-aged, and were interested in my journey as well. Before long, my alarm went off. I took a quick shower, got everything ready, we put up the tents. I had notified them of my new plans, and that I received text messages while my phone was off. Paul said he would just ask just to split the gas of what I would have paid, and for the tent space. I thanked them and wished them luck. After they left, I thought I would wait for the caravan park to open, and perhaps buy a night, since I was so tired, and still had at least ten hours before I would arrive in Wangaratta, Northern Victoria. I tried to spend the next couple hours lying down on the picnic table, writing, eating, and then I took another shower right before they opened. Finally they opened and I asked for the availability and other information. The cheapest place was about sixty for one night. Too much, so I went to the nearby gas station and when I approached the clerk, I asked him, "Which way is south." He pointed south, so I was going to begin my trip, hitchhiking, something I had never done. Wish me luck! When I got into the parking lot, I asked a fella where South was. He saw me carrying backpacks, and identified my accent. He said he could give me a lift about ten kilometers south. "Thank you so much" I said. I forgot about how tired I was after I was joyed with the generosity of this man. I was a stranger, and yeah, I could have robbed him or worse, but the trust is what makes us better people. He told me he'd done a lot of hitchhiking when he was my age. He had a smile that said, "I remember like it was yesterday" and how nice being younger was. Youth is great, and he dealt with the past already, unlike his life right now as a man in his early sixties. My uncle said it was such bull how people called those the "golden years." For those who make it there, the body has already worn down, even the mind, and it goes downhill from there. You can't work to support yourself at an old age, and my generation might not even have social security. Maybe that'll be our next revolution. We've spent a lot of money supporting the baby boomers, rightfully so, but we should get what we paid into. That's not entitlement. What if I would have talked to that Aussie man about all that junk? I don't think he'd understand. The Australian way was literally "No worries mate." Besides having health care your entire life, every person got all the help you could ask from the government, and not worrying about getting shot. He wouldn't be able to fathom what people go through in Flint or any other city in America. To be on the positive side, there are a few cities that are more dangerous, with lower standards of living. I also don't like at Flint as dangerous anyway. I've never had any incidents of violence or theft. The statistics show that four out of five crimes are committed by people you know. As he was almost about to let me out he said, "I don't wanna give you ideas on how to break the law, but I reckon you could jump on a train and no one give ya any trouble." I told him thank you, and that I appreciated the ride. "Cheers!" I said, as we said waived goodbye. He told me earlier to keep going straight on the highway to get to the train station. So I started walking. It was hard carrying two very heavy bags on my shoulders, and using my left hand carrying a smaller bag. When I stuck my thumb up, it was pretty painful carrying all that weight as well. I kept walking, took a few minute breaks every so often. After an hour, I finally got some Aussie guy in his fifties to pick me up. He was a real nice guy too. We exchanged stories real quick. He asked where I was trying to get to. I said Melbourne, and said it was possible to hitch all the way there. I said I might try to steal a ride on the train station, and he said he could give me a ride to the nearest one. Perfect. He excused himself after he had to make a phone call. It was job related; this guy built stuff and tore it down too. And then, we were at the station. I thanked him kindly again, he wished me good luck. Even though it was only a twenty minute encounter, I'll remember this guy for life. His trust for strangers rubbed more off me, and I became a better person instantly thanks to him. As I was walking towards the train station, I went to take a look at the map. I saw the train line that would end in Sydney. I had an idea to get the cheapest $2 ticket to the very next stop. This would enable me to get on the train, and I would pretend to be asleep (I did want to rest my eyes anyway), and if the conductor found out I missed my stop, so what. But there was no need... I got to Sydney with no worries, for two dollars!