# Hitchhiking Infection



## LeeevinKansas (Jun 23, 2011)

So ever since the first day i set foot on the open road, hitchhiking has consumed me. I mean seriously. Realizing just how badly i want to leave, and realizing what not going is doing to me, it comes off as a massive .....possession, obsession, extreme wanderlust, i feel claustrophobic in the city, now im not talking about this from an emotional perspective, but from a scientific perspective.

Hitchhiking, riding trains etc, changes people. When i see hitchhikers passing through town, and the rare hobos passing through. i dont see them as just another person. I mean have you ever taken the time to talk to people like that? They old and hardened half the time and theyve been riding trains for 30 years, or been on the road for half as long, etc. Stories abound in their heads. Theyve been to and fro so many times the road is their home. Now im not saying everyone but you come across the "wierd" , "crazy" ones sometimes.... and people go ugh! but i see them as very experienced travelers, and shit when the world comes to hell as ive been told before by some fellow in OK city, going to amarillo, been on the road 5 years, never quite caught his name, but he said, "son, when the world goes to hell its gonna be us the ones who's gonna be survivin it, and roughin it. cuz we know how to do it the easy way. and them cityfucks dont." Ill never forget that guy. I remember he was first strange to me. It was my first hitchhiking trip. But now when I think of him, and I see his face, I wonder just who he was. See all this im talking about, these lonely travelers, we all have our stories. and when you take it all at face value, and fuckin combine it all together, the people, the changes that take place in ones mind over the years, the lifestyle........ its almost a type of .........i dont know what the word is im looking for. a schizophrenia is what i would call it for some. the way we avoid people. there are many people, out there, traveling, who withdraw from society and seclude themselves.

Ok I know I know theres not alot, but theres a few handfuls AT LEAST, of individuals that live off the beaten tracks some not even on the fucking roads. Some off in fields and deserts and forests and shit. sometimes we do both. i know theres people out there like that and its these people especially, who would qualify as individuals withdrawn from society to a point that later in life when they grow ol dand grey they might be either chill as hell or not, but still somewhat schizophrenic.... not schizophrenia extreme, but in a way, bc living these lifestyles is very different then what most people do, especially when you do it for 30+ years.

Now ive only done it for 3. But shit.... its feels like 10.

Im jsut curious as to what other peoples ideas are on this type of idealogy about hitchhiking and riding trains and shit like that, from a somewhat scientific/ abstract point of view.

does that make sense?


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## bryanpaul (Jun 23, 2011)

"does that make sense?"........umm...uhhh.... ...but yeah, some old guy told me once " man, you gotta get off these rails while you still can, go get a job, find a wife...." so yeah bein on the road has definitely changed me in that it's so hard to get enthused about goin to college, savin money for a place, getting a license, all the stuff i really oughta be gettin on doing....but i got that feeling of just wanting to get back out there all the time...grass is always greener i guess........


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## drunken marauder (Jul 8, 2011)

Ya know Bryan I've been "living the dream" for a year the condo association just decided to take out the white picket fence cause of to much vandalism. hahahahahahahaaaa... But I cant do it, all I think about is going. For some reason I am just not content with a beautiful woman laying in a comfy bed. Im always dreaming about the half crazed haggard alcoholic chic. Sleeping in the bushes, the rush of opening a new squat or getting a 20 kick down and a bucket of chicken... The dream of die young and leave a pretty corpse.. But at teh same time the mystery is gone. I remember the anger of being stuck in a town, or the rage of all your shit being stolen, oding in an alley and wondering if your family would ever know. Or would they be left to wonder.. As far as being schizo I am schizo so its normal but I can hear the road calling but I hear a lot of shit calling hahahahahahaaa. Like your mom!!!!!!!!!


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## dawgrunner (Aug 23, 2011)

The whole process is a dream! Think about it for a minute! We start hitch hiking or riding a train or whatever. You get a wild hair and you've found a woman. Married with child. Child is grown, your divorced and standing on the side of the road where you first started. It doesn't have to be in that order of you starting traveling however the method, or getting married with child. It could be reversed.
So with that said one year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years on and of the road all adds up to being your a survivor and you have the experience to keep going. Even if your alone! I repeat, even if your alone!!
My method of travel has be two different ways. Bicycle long distance or hitch hiking. Now days its hitch hiking. I'm about ready to walk off the road and off the grid for months at a time. You'll see, when you've seen so much shit that you thought you have seen everything already. Maybe we don't need to see everything just the right things. Each of us will decide what is the right thing.I've been on and off since 1968. I refuse to believe that I will ever stop unless I'm laying there with a toe tag.
Traveling alone thru every season, not a fair weather traveler. Soaked in the freezing sleet with the wind blowing and nowhere to stash your body to get out of it. Feeling the warm sun with half frozen toes, face and hands. Looking into the faces of the people walking past you seeing the look of your being invisible to them. hoping that a half pint of wild turkey will keep you warm until you can find a coin operated laundry to dive into. Or a rest room with warm air blowers that you lay down on the floor an put your feet up into the warm air and get the feeling back.
Walking past the pig and saying good morning to them and they ask for ID. Knowing in the back of your mind the pig will hold you and say "where were you at 3 am this morning"?
It will go on and on the experiences. We all have some similar or exact.
What "we" as the experienced travelers have to try and remember is, compassion for your fellow human. Some might be a twisted and sick person or a deviant attempting on trying to hurt you or another. So what!! you will survive because you watch and listen and remember. It's happened before, and will happen again.
How many of the travelers out there are still afraid of the dark?? be honest! They need a beast with them to watch or another human to be with them.
Walking alone, lonely into the darkness knowing that the next day will be the same every day 5 years from now!
Jean Andre Vallery


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