Stuck in Ohio, splitting this summer

[Yonder]

Hey all, I'm new to the forum, but have read over soo much of it before signing up. Mainly stories and videos and gear discussions. I've lived in Columbus oh. most of my life, I'm 22 and haven't really adventured out much. I know this is the best time in life to do it so I want to leave soon. I don't have much experience but am a quick learner. My plan is hitching, hopping out of cinci and heading for Florida. My dad lives there and have never been. The main destination though is Farmington new Mexico, I have a grand father there everyone thought was dead, not to mention I've never met anyone on my dads side "bunch of drunk native Americans" basically im gonna find my roots and find out about the stories my dad used to tell growing up in the desert. Anyways that's my plan. I have a lot of respect and envy for the lifestyle some folks live on here and need to get rid of this do nothing in Columbus life I've been living. Any advice about heading south from the Midwest, cool places along the way etc is all appreciated along with stories or whatever. Thanks!

 

[jay513]

I'm in cinci too when ya leavin?

 

[Yonder]

Im trying to go between mid August and mid September. I heard queens gate is easy to hop out south so I plan on riding down there to ride out. Have you ridden before

 

[jay513]

Yea, I hopped out of queensgate back in April. But I'm still new to it, I have a lot to learn

 

[slackHaddock]

im also in columbus oh. do i know you? i live on campus and sometimes skateboard. i know how to ride csx trains. i could give ya some info....

 

[Yonder]

im also in columbus oh. do i know you? i live on campus and sometimes skateboard. i know how to ride csx trains. i could give ya some info....

You might, I've worked on campus the last 5 years. I'm up in Clintonville right now, but yeah Ive heard getting out of the two Columbus yards are tough. Any info is deff appreciated

 

[jay513]

Any info would be helpfull an much appreciated, to me at least.

 

[Charlie]

Sounds like a fun trip you have planned, if you need tips on hitching out of urban/downtown areas, I got tips for that.

 

[slackHaddock]

i grew up on the parsons ave csx RR as my father was the yardmaster for 20 years there. I wouldnt recommend hopping out of columbus, like you said cincinnati is a little easier.

 

[Yonder]

i grew up on the parsons ave csx RR as my father was the yardmaster for 20 years there. I wouldnt recommend hopping out of columbus, like you said cincinnati is a little easier.

That's pretty cool, I know my dad hopped before he had me. We actually rode a box car when I was real little but didn't go far. The rr that runs parallel with 71 and indianola is about 100 yards from where I live. If I ever wanted to go north I'd litterally walk down the street, trains side here all the time and all the yards are near parsons and Hilliard

 

[slackHaddock]

yeah the hilliard one is more of a junkyard if I remember correctly.. Id use a rideshare on craigslist, have my pack all ready to go, and go to a town that i know how to hop out of if I were traveling alone. nowadays I have a girlfriend, we're getting ready to head out to fort collins Colorado at the end of the month and try to find a place. she wants to get out REAL bad. it's hard to try and show a lady how I travel though... not very "couples" friendly

 

[Yonder]

yeah the hilliard one is more of a junkyard if I remember correctly.. Id use a rideshare on craigslist, have my pack all ready to go, and go to a town that i know how to hop out of if I were traveling alone. nowadays I have a girlfriend, we're getting ready to head out to fort collins Colorado at the end of the month and try to find a place. she wants to get out REAL bad. it's hard to try and show a lady how I travel though... not very "couples" friendly

I have friends that go there a lot. Good luck to you guys

 

[Charlie]

If you want to hitch out of a Columbus to Cincinnati , you can walk (or take transit) to the edge of Columbus, towards Cincinnati. Be next to the freeway you plan to hitch on, find a gas station next to exit/entrance ramps on the Cincinnati bound side of the freeway. If you think about it, all the people stopping at this gas station will be heading towards Cincinnati, to Cincinnati, or through Cincinnati. So at that gas station, politely ask drivers if they're heading to Cincinnati, if they say yes, ask for a ride. I've found this is the only easy way to hitch on interstates, it usually takes just a few minutes to get a ride, allows you to meet the driver and the driver to meet you, and it even works at night. This makes Urban hitchhiking a breeze and can be used in any city as it is usually extremely difficult/dangerous/illegal to hitch on entrance ramps.

You could try asking for a ride on the opposite side of a city, at one end of a city are not heading to the other side of the city, they're usually driving into the city for whatever reason, it's easiest to get a ride from the side of a city nearest your destination.

 

[Yonder]

Thanks for the advice, hitching seems a lot more dangerous, so yeah I have a friend that says pilot stations are the best places just to chill. She said people would ask what she was doing and wouldn't even have to ask them for money they'd throw change and drive her, probably because she was a girl though.

 

[slackHaddock]

yeah hitching as a female has gotta be easy... but the creeper danger side of that is also a risk

 

[Charlie]

Hmmm... when I said difficult/dangerous/illegal, I was referring to standing on the side of a freeway entrance, not hitchhiking. I find hitchhiking to be pretty safe. I'm sure there's just as many dangerous exceptions as there is in anything else. I see people get raped in their own houses or in parks or get shot for no reason, so I kinda think the dangers of running into one of those crazies is just as likely hitchhiking as when you're sitting on your front porch, some areas are more prevalent than others which is why I spend more time in back country.

 

[slackHaddock]

Hmmm... when I said difficult/dangerous/illegal, I was referring to standing on the side of a freeway entrance, not hitchhiking. I find hitchhiking to be pretty safe. I'm sure there's just as many dangerous exceptions as there is in anything else. I see people get raped in their own houses or in parks or get shot for no reason, so I kinda think the dangers of running into one of those crazies is just as likely hitchhiking as when you're sitting on your front porch, some areas are more prevalent than others which is why I spend more time in back country.

Agreed!