one night around a roaring pine knot fire a group of us decided that any place in north america is totally safe to hitchike...
except indianapolis.
you name it, its around there, tweakers, zombies with killer tomatos, bad cops, grey aliens, men in black, stealth leprechauns, starfleet academy hooligans, just everything that can be imagined.
so anywhere in this country, hell, this whole continent, you would be good to go for hitching out except where you are.
[the preceding was humor]
seriously, do what you want, what you want. make your decision, gather up some decent gear and head out.