Hitchhiking trips:

Moab → I-70 and Hwy 24

Ellie turned around to pick me up and she was amazing! She drove 30 miles out of her way to drop me in a good spot, ensuring I'd only have to wait for one ride (rather than two). She was just returning to Colorado after doing humanitarian work on the Mexican/Texas border. We talked about border-related activism, spirituality, approaching fear, and utopic world visions. A lovely ride.

Arches National Park Entrance Station → Moab

I waited for hours in the cold rain- several cars stopped for me, but all were heading to Moab (south) rather than my direction, north. The spot was less than ideal, and I stayed for too long. Eventually, I decided to get a ride down to Moab and try from there- Leftie gave me a ride the few miles into town, and I warmed up a bit before walking back out to the highway,

I-70 and Hwy 24 → Fruita, UT

I had been dropped off in the middle of the desert, no facilities for 40+ miles in any given direction. The sun was on the verge of setting. Six cars passed me in 50 minutes- the seventh stopped. Joan and Mike were from Minnesota and were edging toward the end of their road trip. Nice people, I gave them recommendations for what to do in the area, and we discussed history and travel.

Moab → Arches National Park Entrance Station

A young Frenchwoman from the hostel I was staying in kindly offered me a ride. We chatted about hitchhiking alone.

Arches National Park Entrance Station → Double Arch

An older French couple picked me up after I had been waiting not even 30 seconds. They ended up driving me down the scenic drive, and we hiked together to a few different arches and viewpoints- I spoke rudimentary French, and they spoke broken English, and we enjoyed each others company.

Double Arch → Visitor Center

A man who works for USGS picked me up. We talked about hiking and geology.

A sheriff had us walk a few miles out of town before we could hitchhike. A monsoon was threatening when a Swiss woman picked us up. She was psyched about the red rocks. She had just quit her job of 20+ years back home and was on an adventure, excited about the unknown.

Capitol Reef National Park → Torrey

A woman on a road trip from California picked us up. She worked as a doctor and had just competed in an Ultimate Frisbee competition

Torrey → Singletree Campground

A mother and her daughter were going camping. The mother told her daughter “See? Look at the interesting and nice people you can pick up who are hitchhiking?”

Singletree Campground → Boulder

A middle-aged couple from Oklahoma picked us up. We hopped in the back of their pick-up (Emily's first time riding in the back of a truck!). They were super friendly- offered us sandwiches and checked in to make sure we were doing all right during the ride.

Ride to a better spot

A man named David Holiday and his 10 year old son picked us up. He told us he had just hitchhiked from central Mexico a few months before and thought we were brave.

Boulder → Escalante

Amber, the owner of a local cafe, and her daughter picked us up. A really cool woman!

Tow truck

Got picked up by an nice indian guy tow truck driver till Petaluma. We listened some good reggae music and talked about music festivals.

Petaluma -> Santa Rosa

In 20 minutes I got picked up in Petaluma to go to Santa Rosa by Carlos who is working in a grocery shop. We talked a lot about life in America and California very interesting conversation. This guy is making his own cider!!!

Hippy powaa

Picked up by 2 hippies. Very good music in the car. Nice conversation about traveling. The guy spent 1 year traveling in a school bus on the west coast of the US with other hippies. They drove me to Ukiah.

Too picky :/

The gas station from Laytonville is a perfect spot. Hippy town, lots of people propose you a ride but most of them aren't going far. I was expecting to find a direct ride to Eureka or Arcata. But no one was going more far than half way to Garberville. By misunderstanding I refused a ride to Fortuna which is almost in Eureka. But when I asked to the girl where is Fortuna, she… (read on in Trip)

Changing final destination

My objective was to go to Portland, thinking to cut the trip in 3. For the first day I was hoping to reach at least Eureka or Arcata. I arrived late in Garberville. I could see from the start that there was not much traffic through the town at that time and also that a lot of people were hanging out, probably here to trim and try to find jobs in the local farms… So not… (read on in Trip)

Local guy

Definitely more people are ready to pick hitchhikers on the northern part of California! Refused 3 rides from people going just to the next town. A guy even stopped when I was sitting on the grown having a break eating, not even actively hitchhiking (and no sign). Finally got picked up to go till Laytonville. Californian nice guy, coming from a very big family (9 brothers and… (read on in Trip)

Capitol Reef National Park → Boulder, UT

I waited about 10 minutes before a single woman named Sam picked me up. She's a backpacking guide with cool stories and interesting perspectives. Used to do wildland fire. Originally was just going to drive me to Torrey but ended up taking me all the way to Boulder. A really rad woman who might end up hitchhiking herself someday soon!

Hitchhiked from a trailhead home after a beautiful 10 mile hike. A Mormon woman named Cindy picked me up in a minivan, I sat between three of her kids. She has family history in the area and shared anecdotes about her recent ancestors' lives.

Chandler → Coolidge

A kind Akimel O'odham family picked us up on the edge of the Gila River reservation. Mother, father, and one year old daughter. They went out of their way to drive us to a good spot.

Florence → Catalina

Interesting character feom Oracle picked us up in Florence and drove us to Catalina, out of his way. We discussed prison abolition.

Coolidge → Florence

A middle aged white man in a yellow jeep picked us up. He had hiked 700 miles of the PCT years prior and remembered what it was like to wait for rides.

Catalina → Tucson

A single woman picked us up and drove us into Tucson. She had never picked up anyone before, and had never encounteres female hitchhikers.

I don't want to visit your farm

A man in his 50s picked me up, we talked for a while, he showed me pictures of his pregnant girlfriend and his farm nearby. Everything seemed alright, until he started making hints to sexual topics: that his mother-in-law secretly wanted his D and that he knew she was waiting for him to give it to her, but that he was looking for someone younger, that I should come visit his… (read on in Trip)

The boss says it's fine

I asked a group of young men at a petrol station if they had some space left in their van, which I estimated to be quite improbable, given the fact that there were six of them. They didn't seem to understand and told me to wait for "the boss". "The boss", as they proceeded to call him, turned out to be the head of the refugee orphanage they were returning to after having spent… (read on in Trip)

A kind woman who was on her way to work cleaning houses. She shared about her time hiking the AT during her youth, and lamented about having no energy for herself anymore.

A yoga teacher picked me up on the way to a bridal shop to help her daughter choose a wedding dress.

A man offered to drive me out of town to the AT trailhead.

This man and his dog Katie picked me up. They drove me straight to my WWOOF host's doorstep.

White Mountains

Two female hikers dropped me off near their trailhead.

St. Johnsbury → Danville

This woman and her dog Frodo drove me into town. She stopped despite the "Do not stop for hitchhikers" signs that unfortunately dotted the highway.

White Mountains, NH → St. Johnsbury, VT

A man named Patrick turned around to pick me up. He even changed his route so he could leave me in an advantageous spot. A really nice guy, we talked about cycling cross country, living in Germany, and building community with others.

Danville → Burlington

After an hour + wait I was starting to feel discouraged and a rain storm was rolling in. Three women driving home from vacation in Maine came to my rescue! They were old friends. We drove through a killer storm and they dropped me exactly where I needed to be.

Sunderland →Route 10

Ally was the first car to pass by and she stopped right away. Said she couldn't leave me in the rain.

Route 10 →Northfield

Nancy was driving in the opposite direction, turned around and changed her plans to help me on my way. She walked the coastline of Wales a few years prior and remembered what it was like to be in the rain.

Northfield, MA →Keene, NH

A man named Jeff picked me up. He was very kind. An evangelical Christian who disagrees with the mainstream Christian narratives, and tries to model his life after the more radical teachings of Jesus.

Keene →Henniker

A young guy named Lee picked me up. He attends grad school at UC Irvine and was in the area to visit his parents. We discussed our mutual dislike of Orange County, the best weekend trips in the Southwest, and our experiences travelling the country. He altered his route a bit to put me in a good spot.

Henniker → Concord

John Hare drove me to Concord. A retired college librarian, he was excited to share the local history of the area.

A woman named Lisa was eating a meal at a local co-op and saw me hitchhiking outside. She came up to me and offered to drive me to my destination. Turns out she hitched solo all over the country during the 60's and 70's. We had some beautiful conversations about finding community, holistic medicine, and being present.

Asheville, North Carolina → Colonial Heights, Tennesse

A cool couple with a dog from Asheville stopped for us after a 40 minute wait. We chatted about politics and travel and they went out of their way to drop us in a good location. Wonderful people!

Colonial Heights, Tennessee → Wytheville, Virginia

A man named Ben picked us up. He was in Tennessee for his daughter's track meet, headed back to Ohio.

Wytheville, Virginia → Radstock, Virginia

A woman and her young son, we rode in the back of her red pickup. She said she'd pray to Jesus for our safety and wished us luck.

Radstock, Virginia → Highway near Roanoke, Virginia

Two Cuban men picked us up. They spoke only Spanish, and I spoke Italian with them… Somehow we understood each other!

Highway near Roanoke → Downtown Roanoke, Virginia

A super sweet woman with a dog picked us up before we even put out our thumbs. Drove us right where we needed to be.

Holly Springs → Canton

Another woman drove us to the next town. Talked about fly fishing and owning her own land.

Canton → Jasper

A couple just going for a drive offered to drive us a ways. It was their 5 year old son's birthday.

Jasper → Blue Ridge

A German woman who lives in Blue Ridge picked us up.

Blue Ridge → Mineral Bluff

Two women from Tennessee picked us up. Their accents were very distinct! Referred to us as "you'ins" instead of "y'all." Warned us that there is a lot of drug addiction in the area.

Mineral Bluff → Culberton

Two older conservative women stopped for us. "Are you girls crazy???" They had never picked up hitchhikers before, but felt they had to stop for us.

Culberton → Murphy

Lee, originally from San Antonio, drove us to Murphy on his way to Walmart.

Murphy → Andrews

This man saw us before he went into Walmart and thought "I'll give them a ride if they're still out there when I'm done." We were still out there, so he offered to drive us to the next town over. Ex-army, married with 2 kids. Said he wished more people who claim Christianity actually followed Christ's teachings.

Andrews → Asheville

Brian was awesome! He lives in Asheville and offered us his couch, and gave us many recommendations for what to do in the city. We discussed veganism, feminism, racism, activism, and nonviolent communication.

Woodstock → Holly Springs

After standing at the on ramp for 30 minutes, 2 police showed up. The Concerned Citizens of Woodstock had reported 2 teenager girls were trying to hitchhike (we are 24 and 26 years old lol.) The police were cordial with us and wished us luck. After another 30 minutes, a woman named Kathy drove us a few exits up. She works as a cleaner, and said if she wasn't heading to work… (read on in Trip)

This lovely woman from Idaho with her dog Luna. We talked about farming and hiking.

A bounty hunter named Kay Rae Rae. She told me I was CRAZY for hitchhiking without a knife. She offered to give me a bicycle to ride instead. Warned me about rednecks.

Nice local lady with a pug named Bug drove us into town.

This woman stopped for us because she thought we were PCT hikers. She works for Save the Children and had some interesting stories. She drove us out of the park.

A sweet couple from Mississippi stopped for us, we rode in the back of their pickup all the way to our farm. We were super touched, because they pulled over a few times to make sure we were warm, giving us blankets and extra sweaters to put on. Really good people.

A woman named Kaitlin, she thought I was a PCT hiker. Drove me to her trailhead.

A group of college kids going hiking. Drive out of their way to get me to a decent spot.

A gay man who grew up in Klamath Falls. We talked about his life and rural Oregon and listened to show tunes.