First post

[Taylor5590]

hey, guys, my name is Taylor and I've lurked on this site a little the past few months. About 8 years ago now one of my friends and myself did a cross country hitchhike/live out of a van trip that was probably the best thing I've ever done for myself! We ended up staying in Colorado for about a year! Anyways, since that trip I really haven't really much long term traveling (more then a few day long road trips) and myself and a different friend have been getting an itch to pack up and do something bigger in the next 2 months or so. That being said, he's been my life long friend and since the age of thirteen we've had a strange obsession with train hopping but have never actually done it. I'm currently posted up in northwestern Connecticut and he's in upstate New York. Any kind of comments, advice, etc. is greatly appreciated! Thanks again and I'm glad to have finally made an account ! P.S I know train hopping for the first time by yourself is not recommended without the company of someone who has experience and we don't intend to do it without someone else...

 

[Tude]

Well hey - glad yer officially an STP member - welcome aboard. And good luck and be safe in your upcoming travels

 

[Koala]

Hey, welcome!

Would love to see photos and hear about your cross country trip from a few years back and keep us updated on your future travels for sure!

There's tons of awesome resources and stories to read up on train hopping here and you can probably connect with someone here who could show you the ropes

 

[Taylor5590]

That's awesome! Thanks for the info. As far as pics though I'll have to dig and see what can find. I never had any digital copies of any, there weren't a ton to begin with but I had some gems and I staged them somewhere. I'll have to do some digging but hopefully a few will pop up!
Yeah the trip was awesome, we did something to seriously mess up the radiator on our can. My buddy was a mechanic and tried to explain the problem to me but I'm not mechanically inclined therefore retained none of it! All I know is we had to pull over to piss in the radiator every now and again. The van didn't always want to work so naturally we did a fair amount of hitching to see new places. We ended up in every state except for Alaska and Hawaii so I thought that was pretty cool anyways.

 

[Koala]

Haha sure sounds like it was a fun time!!

What were your favorite parts of the US?

 

[Taylor5590]

I gotta say Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Idaho in no particular order. As far as east coast U.S goes I gotta say Rhode Island but I'm from there so I guess I have some bias hahaha! How about you? Do you have a favorite? Any spots you recommend checking out?

 

[Koala]

Haha yeah I'm out near you! In Upstate NY near Albany.

Oh rad. I would love to check out the Dakotas and Montana soon, I dream of making it up there.

Since I go to school in Florida I've really been falling in love with the south, Alabama and Georgia and northern Florida are just so beautiful. And I'd love to spend more time in Kentucky and Tennessee

 

[Taylor5590]

There are totally parts of the south I love but others I don't. I guess I have a bit of a love hate relationship with it? Mainly the humidity and some of the people tend to annoy me! Haha. My dad lives in Georgia and sometimes I'll visit him and there are parts I like and others I don't! But I'm totally cool with all the scenery down there!... How do you like upstate? My best friend lives kind of in the upstate area? I've spent a lot of time all over NY state.