Hitch Hikers........

When I was younger I would have picked up a hitch hiker without a second though now though I would be very wary, even though I hate to see anyone struggling. I haven't ever hitch hiked - too spoilt I guess! My brother skipped school once years ago, went to a little village miles away and missed the bus home so he decided he had better hitch hike to get home on time. He felt very relieved as he heard a car slow down to pick him up until he turned round and saw Pop in the driving seat! ha ha ha xxx

I have hitch hiked in my younger years. In fact I was had to hitch hike all the way from Knoxville Tennesee to Connecticut with an ex-boyfriend of mine because we rode down there with some friends of ours to see the world's fair and we got in a disagreement with the so called friends and ended up hitch hiking back. It wasn't too bad tho some guy picked us up in Washington D.c. and drove us all the way to NYC where we caught a bus to Ct. And he had a brand new Lincoln Continental! So nice ride! When I was younger also I use to pick up hitch hikers but today I would Not do that These things happened (in my younger days almost 37 years ago.

I was driving to Tamworth from Sydney once and stopped to pick up a guy. He had a suitcase. We exchanged names and where we were going and why and we got along really well, I was about 26 at the time and he was in his early 30's and cute. He was going on to Gunnedah or Narrabri, I forget now, and I picked him up at Scone. He was an engineer who had been working building roads and bridges in Africa and he was on his way to stay with his parents for a while. We swapped phone numbers and I didn't call him but a few months later he rang and said he was in Sydney and would I like to meet somewhere for a drink. He said he wasn't sure how he'd get there as he didn't have wheels but he'd try. We were to meet in one of the big hotels in Sydney where I used to hang and he didn't show. He rang to say he'd got held up and couldn't make it and apologised but I didn't hear from him again as he was heading back to Africa. My parents told me when I got to their place to be aware that there was an escaped criminal on the loose and not to pick up any strangers. I chose not to tell them about my travelling companion. LOL.

I have hitched hiked a couple of times but don't usually do this because it might be dangerous. I was staying at a campsite on an island in Croatia. I thought that it was only a 1km walk to the national park. But it turned out to be 15km! So I walked part of the way and then hitch hiked there. A kind local lady stopped to give me a ride. Coming back I hitched a ride with four Hungarian people. I was so grateful to these people. Another time I had flown to French Polynesia in the early hours of the morning. I sat in cafe for the rest of the night talking to some other travelers. We got a boat to the island we were going to but missed the bus that would have taken us to our accommodation. So I hitch hiked with two English backpackers. We got a ride in the back of a truck. Again being quite stuck in the first place I was very grateful. In 1993 and 1994 I did an around the world trip. When I was in Australia there were stories of a backpacker murderer. This firmly put me off hitch hiking. I was offered many lifts but said no them.

I used to think that hitch hiking was very dangerous until easter this year when i did it myself. I hitch hiked from my home in england through france and spain to morocco - all for charity (sponsored). It was a great experience, and it definitely calmed any fear Id have in the future about hitch hiking again or even picking up hitch hikers (once I can drive taht is). Only the nicest people picked us up (me and a male friend - as recommended), and we met some of the most genuinely nice people - it's really heart warming to see people doing something that is definitely straight from the heart and with no ulterior motives.