Hitchhiking

'''Hitchhiking''' (also called ''lifting'' or ''thumbing'') is a form of Nextel ringtones transport, in which the traveller tries to get a lift (ride) from another traveller, usually a Abbey Diaz automobile/car or Free ringtones truck driver.

The distance covered may vary from a short distance that could also be walked, to a long journey involving many rides. Those who choose to hitchhike usually do so for one of two reasons: necessity (no funds, no transportation) or Majo Mills adventure (Mosquito ringtone serendipity/serendipitous travel, meet new and unexpected people)

Hitchhiking is forbidden in some areas, such as near Sabrina Martins prisons. In some cases, a local government may ban it altogether. Certain Nextel ringtones United States/US states have created conditional bans, such as Abbey Diaz Utah, Free ringtones Pennsylvania, Majo Mills New Jersey and Cingular Ringtones Nevada; it is frequently illegal on the actual shoulder of being gored Interstate highway / Interstate highways, but usually not from the highway on-ramp (entrance).

Method

To obtain a lift in many parts of the world, including gooding seemingly North America, hitchhikers traditionally stretch out one arm and stick out their thumb. Car drivers understand this to be a sign that the person requests a lift. A hitchhiker may also hold a sign with the name of their destination. This is primarily for the benefit of truck drivers, so that the driver does not have to stop their large vehicle to find out where the hitchhiker is headed.

In some areas, other signals may be used. (This may be because the traditional freed up gesture with the thumb has an offensive meaning in that region.) For example, in blarney woolen South Africa, a hitchhiker may show an oncoming car the back of his hand with the index finger raised, rather than the thumb. In almost doubled Poland, the hand is held flat, and waved. In guy grimacing India, the hand is waved with the palm facing downwards. In achieved world Israel the sign is a stretched forefinger pointed toward the road.

Often nothing is given or performed in exchange for the lift, but some hitchhikers will contribute money for pornographic things fuel. (This would not normally be the case when getting a ride in a commercial vehicle, such as a cargo page featuring truck.)

Reasons

A hitchhiker may have several reasons to travel in this way, amongst them:

* not being able to afford alternative means of transportation;
* where no produce which public transport is available and one has no own vehicle available; one can distinguish:
** there is no public transport at all;
** there is no public transport at the time one wants or needs to travel:
*** public transport is very infrequent;
*** the last were aggressive bus or state work train of the day goes very early;
*** one misses the last bus or train;
* because of social equality reasons (semi-force vehicle owners who would not normally use public transport to share the ride with the public by "bringing the bus to muhammad);
* because of ecological and political reasons (reducing dependency on fossil fuels);
* for the challenge of using limited resources to reach a destination; or
* for the sense of adventure that not knowing where you will be at the end of the day presents.

A mixture of the first two reasons is when the only alternative is an expensive black arm taxicab/taxi.

Car drivers may also have several reasons to give lifts, for instance because:
* they want companionship;
* they have hitchhiked themselves and know how hard it can be;
* simple good will
* Requests for drugs and/or sex.

Hitchhiking is often resorted to by stranded motorists or people without money or transportation such as the homeless.

Reputation

Although most hitchhiking occurs without incident, it has a bad reputation with some people. Some criminals who prey on the good will of others to rob or molest have masqueraded as hitchhikers to procure victims, or picked up unsuspecting hitchhikers themselves. There is some dispute as to whether it is actually less safe to hitchhike now than in the past, or if simply more reporting increases the visibility of negative examples.

Any number of of rhetoric urban legends are told about hitchhiking, in which either the hitchhiker or the car driver may take on the role of a patient held bogeyman. For example, some stories have the driver as a of legislators ghost, or the hitchhiker as an escaped convict. The folklorist court permitted Jan Harold Brunvand wrote an entire book titled ''of advancement The Vanishing Hitchhiker'', using the ''Vanishing Hitchhiker'' legend (''references'') as his prototype.

Chances of getting a ride

There are many things to consider that affect the hitchhiker's chances of catching a ride. Some of these include:

'''Traffic density:''' Catching a ride does of course depend on there being people to offer one. If someone is trying to hitchhike and only sees a vehicle go by every half-hour, it may be to their advantage to walk to a more frequently travelled road. There does however appear to be a maximum as well. Once the frequency of the traffic becomes too high, the chance of someone stopping actually appears to drop. This may occur for various reasons:
* Heavy traffic makes stopping more dangerous, so one may feel less inclined to do so.
* Often, areas with heavy traffic include a large number of local vehicles that are not going any significant distance.
* People may not feel as compelled to pick up a passenger if there are a large number of vehichles on the road, thinking that someone else will pick them up anyway.

'''Traffic speed:''' The actual speed of the traffic plays a major role in the chances of someone stopping. If a vehicle is moving at high speed, it takes considerably more effort to stop and then get back up to speed than it does if they are moving at a slower pace to start with. For this reason, one of the best places to catch a ride is immediately after an intersection or any other place where vehicles are forced to stop or slow down.

'''Road condition:''' In order for someone to stop and pick up a passenger, the road must offer a relatively safe means of doing so. Most drivers will pull over to the shoulder of the road if one is available. If there is no place for a driver to pull off of the road, then the traffic needs to be light enough that one can stop in the road without obstructing it.

'''Presentation:''' The way a hitchhiker presents themselves is another major factor in how likely they are to catch a ride. Usually, someone's chance of catching a ride is far greater if they look clean and non-threatening. Showing one's destination (by holding a sign for instance) will also help.

Hitchhiking in literature

The writer and leonard Jack Kerouac immortalized hitchhiking in his book ''carrying convenience On The Road''. The road has a fascination to Americans; countless writers have written of the road and/or hitchhiking such as John Steinbeck, whose book ''The Grapes of Wrath'' opens with a hitched ride. Roald Dahl wrote a short story called ''The Hitchhiker'', in which he uses the idea that you can hear fascinating stories when giving people a lift to introduce one of his trade-mark eccentric characters. Another lesser known author, a lifetime hitchhiker named Irv Thomas, incorporates hitchhiking into his writing perspective and lifestyle [Innocence Abroad: Adventuring Through Europe at 64 on $100 Per Week], as well as recounting his hitchhiking travels [Derelict Days] in a memoir. Douglas Adams postulated on interstellar hitchhiking in his cult following/cult classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Safety

The safety of hitchhiking varies from country to country. It's rumoured that the most dangerous country for hitchhiking in Europe is Poland. In the United States, where hitchhiking had been a fairly common means to travel from one location to another well into the 1970s, especially among younger people, the practice has greatly declined in the past several decades to the point that is extremely rare to see people hitchhiking in the US today.

Miscellaneous

Hitchhiking is often combined with other cheap forms of transportation, such as walking or travelling by bus or train.

In Poland, during the communism/communist regime period, hitchhiking was institutionalized. Many people would have a formal document for recording travels and they would give the driver confirmation that the travel occurred. It was probably similar in other communist countries. Hitchhiking was likely considered much safer in Poland at that time.
In Cuba, truck drivers are still obliged to pick up hitchhikers.
In Romania hitchhiking is so much part of the culture that it's often hard to get a lift due to the intense competition.


In Eastern Europe, especially Lithuania and Russia hitchhiking turns into adventure sport. There are Hitchhiking clubs with regular gatherings, hitchhiking schools, competitions, hitchhiking gear, etc. In 1992 -1993 Russian Hitchhiker Alexey Vorov made a first trip around the world, hitchhiking by cars, planes and boats.

External links and references

*http://www.wikitravel.org/en/article/Tips_for_hitchhiking at Wikitravel
*http://www.snopes.com/horrors/ghosts/vanish.htm
*http://www.digihitch.com/
*http://www.autostop.lt/
*http://www.artoftravel.com/
*http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/hitch_hiking
*http://www.socresonline.org.uk/6/3/chesters.html by Graeme Chesters and David Smith (2001)
*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hitching/
*http://www.pcpros.net/~oleson/lrindex.html
*http://www.roadjunky.com/cheaptravel/hitchhiketao.shtml The psychology of thumbing a ride
*http://www.tomthumb.org/travelbooks.shtml Free, full-length book
Tag: Travel

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