Heat and Boredom on the Route 33 Trail

On June 24 I set out from Canal for Athens with my 30-lb pack in a trial-run to see how I could handle hitchhiking, at even a 75 mile distance. The next day I wrote out my journey:

I walked up Busey and across Allen towards 33 - about two miles. Just past Basil, I held up my “33 East” (with "Athens" on the flipside) sign and put my thumb out as I passed through the brush off the street. It took a few seconds to realize that the second vehicle I thumbed down pulled over. Miraculous! Just like that! I was real nervous about it and it worked in about 60 seconds. “Need a ride?” he called back. I jogged up to the passenger window and asked where he was heading – Logan. “Sounds good.”

The guy drove a big, clean pickup truck. He was talking business on his cell for the first couple minutes as we headed out on the road. His name was Doug. He asked about why I was out there. I told him I was heading down to Athens to see a friend, that I just graduated, and I told him all about my plans for the summer cross-country trek. I said I just wanted to show that it can be done, that a lot of people think it’s not as safe as it used to be and I can’t figure out why, except that less people do it. “Well, there’re more weirdos out there now – more drugs that make people desperate.” He said a buddy of his once got nearly beaten to death and his credit card was taken (with 10 bucks on it). But the guy made a habit of memorizing plate numbers and turned the guy in. I told him I was planning on taking a picture of license plates before getting in – he said that was a good idea. Doug used to hitch back in the day. He asked what my parents think about it. “They don’t like it.” “Well, when you’re a parent you’ll understand.” I’ve been hearing that a lot lately. Doug told me the next guy that picks me up will probably be in a truck. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?” “Well, people that drive trucks tend to have less fear.” He let me out at the next rest stop. “Stay out of trouble,” he told me, “or at least don’t get caught!” Great guy.

From there I sat in the shade at the beginning of the parking lot. I stood up with my sign to thumb down cars as they came by. A happy-go-lucky townie about my age pulls up to me in a van. “Hey there, buddy! I could give ya a lift, but I’m only headin’ to Logan.” “Aw, thanks, dude, but I’m trying to get a little further.” He ended up being a good guy to talk to for a few minutes.

I soon found out, though, that rest stops are not an ideal place to find a ride. I figured it’d be a good place to catch people going my direction, and I’d be able to chit-chat for a moment beforehand. But most cars are full of families that don’t want some weirdo in the back seat with their kids. Best case scenario, they’d consider me an inconvenience – makes sense.

I saw various breeds of cop cars throughout the day. For some reason none stopped for a chat. Works for me.

Eventually this awkward-looking guy offers me a ride to Logan. Having been there for an hour, I figured I’d have better luck there, and a fresh location for experience. So I took the ride. The guy seemed pretty uncomfortable about the whole deal. I don’t think he wanted to offer, but felt like it’d be a nice gesture – good for him! I noticed a picture of his daughter dangling from the rear-view mirror. Family man. I imagine he wondered what I was doing out there, but didn’t ask. He did ask me to take my sign off my lap so he didn’t get in trouble for picking up a hitchhiker or something. Well, he took me into Logan and let me off at the Walmart.

From there I navigated myself through the roadside fields back to the 33 East entrance. This is good, I thought – lotsa traffic, good far visibility, and a good spot of pavement for cars to pull over. I woulda gone to the entrance ramp itself, but there was a “No Pedestrians” sign posted. So I went up by the guard rail, maybe 100 feet(?) from the entrance, on the side where drivers have to slow down to turn right.

But no one stopped. For two hours I stood there in the baking sun. It was exhausting, boring, and frustrating. The only responses I got were bewildered looks and the occasional mockery. Five hours and fifty miles into my journey (with 27 to go), I threw in the towel. I called for Matt to come up from Athens and get me. It was time for utter defeat, or at least I decided it was. I’m sure persistence would’ve eventually paid off, but my will proved weak this time.

I’m not ready for the Big One. Maybe someday I will be, but for the time-being it doesn’t look like I can handle it. Maybe I need more practice. Maybe I need to pursue something else and abandon this dream. I don’t know.

My original plan was to leave in late June (like right now). At this point I’m not so sure. I need more time to figure things out – how and if I’m going to do this.

Faith, Trust, and Humanity

I’m twenty-six years old. At my age, many of my friends are married, have a kid or two, a full-time job, mortgage – all that jazz. For whatever reason, that hasn’t been in the cards for me. I would like it to be – it would give my life meaning to have someone to share it with, to have tiny versions of myself to raise in my image. Maybe someday. But for now, I just have myself. And because I have no children, I’m treated like one. Because I haven’t a wife or serious girlfriend, I have nowhere to direct my devotion. So for now, I have to find my own kind of meaning. I’ll just have to sit here and nod my head to those who want me to stay safe. I’m prepared to listen, but I’m not about to be lectured. I want to be the one lecturing. I want to say, “Don’t be afraid of life.” I could tell you, “Don’t get in a car – you’ll crash and die, don’t go to the bar – you’ll be raped, don’t go fishing – you’ll drown, don’t go to college – it’s a waste of money, don’t fall in love – your heart will break…” But I think you all know better, right?

To address James’ question: I’m sure people go missing in these scenarios from time to time. I’m going to take my chances just like any other day. I see society continually stretching farther beyond its natural order (technology, chemistry, medication, gadgets, government), which ultimately is distancing us from our humanity. We’re losing touch with ourselves by degrees. There’s a definite “wheel out of kilter” here, if you’ve taken the time to see it.

Still, although there's no way to reverse that process, I think we need to learn to get back to some of the basics - especially with a possible depression bearing down. We can’t keep up the frills while the economy’s going under. But we can’t do everything. We can’t abandon every crutch we’ve adapted. That’s why I’m not going to drop off the grid without a map or phone or watch – I’m not going to be Christopher McCandless from “Into the Wild.” He missed his mark – he abandoned humanity. I aim to embrace it.

I don’t expect some people to accept this. I hope that they get it, but I can’t count on it. This is for me – I’ve wanted to do something like this all my life, and I’ve denied it to appease others. I can’t keep it up forever. So if I go out there and don’t return, everyone opposed to this from the beginning can feel free to lose faith in the probabilities of trust with humankind. I’ve spent a lot of time without faith in humanity myself – I hated pretty much everyone for various issues of immorality. But that’s no way to live. It’s a waste.

Still not convinced? If so, that’s fine. I’m just asking for a little trust here. I’m twenty-six years old and I haven’t accomplished anything. Life has been a complete joke that I’ve coasted through just so I wouldn’t have to be hassled about what I’m “doing with my life.” This isn’t a desperate reach for meaning – it’s a conscious, honest quest for life. I feel more optimistic about this than anything I’ve ever wanted to do for myself. These last few weeks, as my plans have begun to materialize, I’ve been at the top of the world. So you can worry, you can pray, you can lose sleep – just please, try to live by quality, not quantity.

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

To all those curious, confused, or terrified...

AN EXPLANATION
I understand that a lot of family and friends are worried that if I hitchhike across the country, I will turn up on the news, found rotting in the desert somewhere. Then again, we could all be die or be murdered or raped in almost every circumstance. This is just one thing that gets a lot of media attention.

In James MacLaren’s book The Hitchhiker’s Handbook, he argues that the evidence of danger is overestimated:

From Jeffrey Perso’s “The Lost Highway”:
‘MacLaren takes the line that, counter to popular perception and media myth, hitchhiking is relatively safe. “If you look at a statistical abstract,” he says, “the risk- assessment factors for hitchhiking are so vanishingly remote that information on hitchhiking is almost impossible to get, but statistics are there for falling off a roof.”
‘… “What's different from 1965," MacLaren says, “is that there are not as many hitchhikers out there with you, and that is directly related to the increased number of assholes on television who have sufficiently terrified everyone into believing that you have to hide in the house. The media has done a wonderful job of frightening the populace.” ’ (http://www.metroactive.com/papers/cruz/05.01.97/hitchhike-9718.html)

Next I would like to point out the masses of current hitchhikers. See Digihitch (http://www.digihitch.com/). This is a very useful website designed as a hitchhiking network. There are thousands of members here, with stories and advice about hitching. Also go here (http://www.hitch-hiking.org/faq.htm) for a variety of questions and answers.

For those not convinced, try to find some statistics, or even the prevalence of actual cases of hitchhiker murders. Ask around to see if anyone you know has ever actually hitchhiked – you might be surprised at how common and safe they report it to be. Let me know what you find.


OKAY, BUT WHY?
What I’m getting at is that fear is increasingly forcing us into distrust. I set out to live the opposite. Though it may seem idealistic, I believe it is necessary. I want to put myself in a situation that I have to rely on trust and live without luxuries. It may or may not be dangerous, but I think it’s worth it. I just don’t think I could go through the rest of my life regretting not doing something like this. In the years to come my life could dramatically change, but this experience can stay with me forever, if I only decide to do it.

I know I can’t explain to a lot of you why I feel so compelled to take this potentially “dangerous” trip. Please just keep in mind that there is something guiding me that I feel is necessary. This is just something I have to do before I’m settled down and living a life where this is no longer possible. The clichéd thing to say is that I’m going out to find myself. I wouldn’t say that I’m lost and this is going to lead to a huge revelation, but it could definitely give me a chance to put some thoughts into perspective.

I’m setting out in search of the human spirit – I believe something’s out there, and I am going to search, not necessarily find. I want to learn all I can along the way about travel and humanity. I'm definitely going to write about this, and take a lot of pictures, but I don't want to feel bound to achieving a certain goal, if that makes sense.

It may be impossible to explain my reasoning if you don’t get it right away. The fact that I have to explain why implies vast differences in philosophy that boggle my mind as much as yours. Listen to my playlist, especially Eddie Vedder’s “Society.” Read or watch Into the Wild (keep in mind that I’m not going to his extremes), or pick up some Kerouac. Read the endless profiles and stories on CouchSurfing (www.couchsurfing.org), or Digihitch (www.digihitch.com).


METHOD
Although I believe it cheapens the experience, new technology makes it much easier to get by on the road (see links below). I am planning on having a mobile with Internet access (to find places to stay, rides to share, other helpful information), as well as a way of consistently keeping my family and friends up-to-date on my travels.

I’m going to set up connections through a website called CouchSurfing, which easily and safely puts travelers in touch with places to stay or people to meet. I’m putting a lot of research into this – networking on websites (see below), talking to hitchhikers, picking up hitchhikers (all very nice and interesting people), reading up on the laws (http://www.digihitch.com/usa428.html), setting up contacts, talking to hikers/travelers about supplies and survival, gathering supplies, etc.

WARNING: I may be “off the grid” in various regions – no cell phone service, conserving energy – maybe a few days or a week – not sure yet. Try not to be too concerned – I’m preparing for self-sufficiency if need be.

I’m going to look for rides on non-Interstate routes, Interstate ramps, gas stations, and rest stops. If I can’t find a host I’ll have to find a place to camp out. I’m only going to travel during the day. I expect to put in about 150-200 miles each traveling day. This should account for about three hours of actual time in a vehicle daily – leaving the rest for finding rides, etc. I am therefore looking for hosts for roughly every 150 miles, to minimize the risk of prolonged isolation.


TENTATIVE ROUTE:
Columbus – Indianapolis – Champaigne, IL – St Louis – Kansas City – Omaha / Lincoln / Grand Island OR Topeka / Salina – Denver – Grand Junction – Salt Lake City – Jackson, WY (Yellowstone) – Salt Lake City – Reno – San Francisco – LA – San Diego – Back home!

* Also, if anyone knows someone living on this route that might be willing to put me up for a night or two, let me know!


SUPPLIES
Rucksack, small Tent, Sleeping bag, Daypack – knapsack?, Towel, Zip-lock bags / trash bags for waterproofing, Bungee cords, crank flashlight/radio, Pocket knife, Mace, First Aid Kit (heat blanket; various ointments, painkillers, bandages, etc), Bug spray, Sunscreen, Compass, Whistle, Water bottle, Water purification tablets, Cooking pot, Magnesium sticks, Vitamins, Road food (granola, rice, peanut butter, etc), Utensils, New map, List of contacts, other important info, Notebook, pens, Paperboard (signs), paper, Sharpies / bold felt pen, scotch tape, duct tape, Books, Toilet paper / paper towel, Disposable razors / shaving cream(?), Toothbrush, toothpaste, body spray, comb(?), biodegradable camp soap, Debit Card, Wallet – ID, cash, Rubik’s Cube, Steve – my imaginary travel buddy, New phone – Internet / wall and car charger, Ipod(?) + charger, Camera + charger + extra memory(?), Tape recorder + AAA batteries + extra memory, Portable charger, Sunglasses, Hat (straw(?) and wool), Walking shoes, Rain jacket , Gloves, Socks!, Jacket, Cargo shorts, Rope (Charles Bronson always uses it, right?)


LINKS
Digihitch - a very useful website designed for hitchhiking networking. There are thousands of members here, with stories and advice about hitching. http://www.digihitch.com/

CouchSurfing – networking travelers looking for/offering a place to stay/show around town. www.couchsurfing.org
My page: http://www.couchsurfing.org/people/saylorellis/

E-Ride Share – this website is networking for finding rides and offering rides throughout the country. http://www.erideshare.com/

Megabus – Cheap bus rides through Columbus, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City. http://megabus.com/us/index.php

Hitchhiking – This site is mostly for Europe, but the concepts are similar. http://www.hitch-hiking.org/

Hitchhiking laws. http://www.digihitch.com/usa428.html

Songs that keep me sane