+ How to: travel for free 1; travel for free 2; travel for free 3
Safety / Race / Gender
+ for info on safety and all aspects of hitchhiking: hitchwiki.org
+ Race and the Great American Adventure
+ Should women travel alone? Should they hitchhike?
+ The woman traveling solo question (article)
+ 4-minute video about Pippa Bacca, the Italian hitchhiker with outstanding and beautiful love for humanity and our potential. She did some wonderful projects of pure love. She met her unfortunate end when hitchhiking with a friend… someone pulled over to pick them up; her friend got a bad vibe and refused the ride; Pippa decided to get in regardless and meet her friend later; the man raped and murdered her. A case like this is rare but important to understand. (It is brave, beautiful, and practical to err on the side of trusting people; at the same time it’s good to keep in mind that love is not ONLY and ALWAYS present in EVERY person in EVERY situation, where you are trusting and loving yourself.)
“I sensed the need of this woman to marry the whole world. To marry the wickedness, the violence. It was an act of pure folly, but a grand and beautiful folly. Which I think is that of a saint.”
— Alda Merini, poet
+ multi-angle, balanced presentation – by the super-experienced solo female hitchhiker Amylin (a *must-watch* for all, female or male)
+ another solo female, discussing herself & some of her favorite solo female travelers throughout history
More thoughts on safety from Thomas
I have picked up every hitchhiker I’ve seen…
*except one – after all, it’s NOT smart to offer extreme trust to EVERYone… I do think it’s healthy to offer great trust to others, as a general default… But it’s ALSO healthy to NOT do things you personally aren’t comfortable with; and to follow your gut… alongside your head, and heart…
and please do NOT pick up hitchhikers… if it makes you uncomfortable… or, if you may not have a good sense about navigating the RARE, but POSSIBLE, dangerous encounter… or, if you simply don’t feel like it!
There are MANY other ways to help people! And someone always picks up the hitchhiker anyway… eventually 🙂
If you DO want to pick up hitchhikers, read up basic etiquette and safety first;
…and if you want to hitchhike yourself, read up on safety from that perspective;
…and check out other good travel resources here and elsewhere.
Hitchhiking
+ Hitchhiking in the Axis of Evil: By Thumb in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan
+ podcast (by Freakonomics) on hitching and its U.S. demise
+ Hitchhiking’s time has come again (NYTimes article)
Walking
+ Peace Pilgrim – the incredible woman who walked 28 years with no possessions
+ List of (some) people who have walked across the US
+ Walking the Land as a Spiritual Quest (NYTimes article)