Waiting time for rides

[cracked]

For those of you who are experienced hitchhikers, how long does it generally take for you to get rides?

Every now and then I try to hitch out of here. It's kind of discouraging waiting for hours on end at the I-70 onramp with no results. Wondering if it's something about how I dress or some kind of repellent aura. Or maybe I just need to wait a long-ass time? Meh.

Post edited by: cracked, at: 2006/09/22 12:45

 

[Beyond The Sun]

I don't have a ton of hitching experience but I can give some advice based on what I've done. It all depends. Where you stand can play a big part in whether or not someone's going to pick you up. You have to make sure you're visible for a good amount of time so they can make the decision to pull over, and you have to make sure they've got enough room to pull over.
Be persistant. Make eye contact and try and smile.
But as far as length of time waiting, it all depends. The longest I've had to wait for a ride was in Ontario and we ended up having to spend the night in the middle of nowhere cause no one would pick us up. The next morning we got a ride back to Montreal in less than five minutes. The shortest I've had to wait for a ride was about 30 seconds. It all depends, just keep trying.

 

[dirty_feet]

Beyond the Sun - PERFECT. Yep - it all depends. ALways try to smile and I'm such a dork I dance and sing on the side of the road if I've been waiting too long. I've waited 10 hours for a ride and I've waited not even ten minutes. It all depends but you WILL get there - eventually. <---- being the key word. I've never minded hitching as a way to get around. I prefer trains when I'm tramping it around but I don't mind hitching if I have to. A good friend of mine was stuck in TN for like 4 days one time and couldn't get a ride. Bad area - hitched and walked forever and got so fed up he made a part of his sign flip up that read "FUCK YOU" backwards - like the word AMBULANCE? - ahah - so people that didn't pick him up knew how he felt. After 4 days I would have too. Good times.

 

[circle_b]

(matt, your site sucks, it ate my first draft here. )

this is all stuff that works for me to get places, so take that with a grain of salt, cause "me" is a young white girl, so your mileage will vary.

*i have a friendly looking dog .. folks have picked me up time and again saying "oh, your dog just looked so cute and sad by the road there, i couldn't help myself, i have three dogs ... " i don't always travel with him, but he's more than contributed his share when i have.

*try to find some kind of balance between looking like a jehovah's witness and an axemurdering methhead crustie bum. most rides don't come from punk bands in tour buses, most are from pretty normal, prejudiced people. i usually rock the itinerant farmworker look - this seems respectable enough to get picked up in the midwest by even the most dour pentacostal woman, and dirty enough to get picked up by the freaks.

*try to look like you're actually having fun standing out on the side of the road breathing carbon monoxide. seriously. this is hard, though, when you're cold/hot/hungry/tired/staring into the sun for hours and have a migraine ..
of course, one time i got picked up out of pity when i was so miserable i was bawling my eyes out by the highway. maybe that won't work so well if you're a dude ..

*signs. make a sign for a town no more than 100 miles in the direction you're going. i get wayyyyy better results going places if i'm flying a sign for somewhere not too far, plus sometimes you get picked up by the person going 500 miles in your direction .. also, make your sign readable, and for crying out loud, spell the town name right.

*spend a minute to find a good spot to hitch - where people are going your direction, where there's enough time/space for people to actually see you and stop and pick you up. don't be afraid to ask around.

and there's always .. truckers. in desperation, check out the local truck stop or gas station on the end of town. talk to truckers there, see where they're going - and more importantly, if their carrier is anal about allowing hitchhikers. oftentimes i've been directed to people going my way, and even gotten the hideously creepy long-haul rides a few times. in my experience as a woman, every single trucker ride ends with the trucker at very least demanding sex in trade for the ride (do i just always get the lame ones?), but you might have better luck there.
i've pestered people at gas stations even, but the attendant will usually give you the boot pretty quickly, so try to be discreet if you do that.

anyway, i don't hitch much anymore, and i don't know why i wrote this all (and rewrote it even), but maybe it'll help. i-70 is totally doable. best of luck in your endeavours, and

-max

 

[snitchesgetstitches]

I hitched up north in Minnesota, supposedley one of the most consistently nice and easy states to hitch in bu tI waited three hours for my first ride. In Montana a friend and I never got picked up, someone even called the cops and told them that we were making obscene gestures and jumping in front of traffic...of course that's ridiculous though. But in Wisconsin I waited less then 10 minutes, though I was with a girl as well and I think she may have helpd with that a bit.
Try not to look bored, that I think is a big one, if you look like you're having a horrible time than people tend to not be as willing to pick you up. Like widerstand said looking fun/humorous people may think you're fun to have around.

 

[dirty_feet]

AHaha - yeah. I made a sign once that said "South - GIT-R-DONE!" Got me a ride in like 2 or three hours. I also had a friend that just simply said "Rapist with knife" - haaha - I liked that one.

 

[TBone]

Next time I hitch I will be making the giant cardboard thumb for sure. I know I'd pick someone up if they were flying that.

 

[cracked]

Thanks for the responses, folks!

I see that patience is a virtue.

Flying a humorous sign sounds like a great idea, and it is something I will definitely try out next time I attempt this.

 

[secilyliberty]

right now we're travelling three deep with three dogs. so when we started out, we were like, okay, we need to avoid hitching like the plague and just ride.
but what happens? we get pulled off our train in defiance ohio and the cops dropped us off at the county line, an intersection of 4 corn fields. we got a ride in several hours. we got stuck for days in north baltimore, deshler, and other small towns. it took us about a week to get to middleton ohio, 36 miles north of cincinati, and it took us over a day and a half to get outta there, and it rained the whole time.

basically, you can get stuck someone for a long ass fucking time. we flew the sign saying "anywhere south" and it took us forever.

just remember, you'll eventually get a ride and have a funny ass story to tell.

 

[Leah is Dead]

wait times were generally shorter on the west coast. i got stuck in nashville, tn for 2 days... i also timed a wait of 4.5 mins in arcata, ca. definately try to keep the clothes more mainstream especially in the midwest and south. be upbeat and know that its all a matter of time. i love to dance, sing and wave at everyone as they pass. sometimes your aura can make all the difference. some areas will appreciate a humorous sign, but in others it wont do you any good. feel it out, try making a funny one and a basic one. if one doesnt work after a few hours, try the other.

 

[cracked]

Okay, I think I have the hang of it. Thanks folks.

I've had a bunch of hitchiking stints in the region with great success. It seems that once I'm out of Baltimore, everything is really fucking easy. I almost ALWAYS get rides in like 15-20 minutes now... although that's probably a lucky streak that'll die out soon.

 

[trangus]

im always hitchin cuz i got a passion for it. maybe i just like to feed my rides full of anti imperial propaganda(usually works) but anyway, i always walk, unless ive had a long mothafuckin day. but i love to walk too, keeps me from gettin TOO fat. lord knows i eat WAY too much dumpster goodies.like scooby snacks.
yeah signs work, but im too lazy to fly for a ride. arcata??!! 4.5 mins!!! thats crazy, the shortest ive ever waited in arcata is like half a day. usually more like 3 days, but u know in arcata, its way too easy to get wasted there.
anyway, good luck hitchin and have a blast. i do
peace luv and lite

 

[dirty_feet]

Baltimore, MD?

 

[iamcrkt]

ottumwa is tha bomb, yo!!!

instead of a west sign you just go ahead and catch that there ic&e train to kansas city!!!

Post edited by: iamcrkt, at: 2006/12/29 10:14

 

[Mouse]

longest i've waited - 4 hours with no sucess in the end. hand to camp out and try a different spot the next day.

shortest i've waited - no time at all. got picked up before I even set foot on the highway ramp.

all in all it averages for me to end up taking 10 mins to an hour. Of course, i'm a girl and I've got a cute dog.

 

[cracked]

dirty_feet wrote:

Baltimore, MD?

No, I mean Baltimore, Ohio.

 

[Plague]

The longest i had to wait was about 3 days at a truck stop in a sububerd in denver

 

[Oaksey]

Once before I had really given hitchhiking much thought, my younger brother convinced me to go out with him in the dead of night and walk/hitch to town. His destination was capital city, and in a car that would take 15 minutes. But at night, after walking ten or eleven miles and sleeping behind the wall of the entrance to a neighborhood, he finally gave in and begged me to let us take the bus. It was only a couple dollars so we did it. Worst attempt at hitchhiking ever. It probably didnt help that it was nighttime and that our sign didn't specify a destination.

 

[kai]

i've waited for 3 days, taken a week to cross ontario,covered 3 provinces in a single ride. I've gotten picked up before I'd even stepped out of my last car before, had people see me with a pack on and offer me rides out of parking lots, do U-turns to come back and get me, the only technical thing I ever really put into consideration is making sure I have a good location ie. visible, room to pull over, preferably before the speed limit goes up to 100 km as I find people less willing to slow down when they are already at full speed. some places are generally just shitty to hitch at, at least in Canada don't take rides to Wawa (although i hear stories of people waiting only a couple minutes here, I hear more about people waiting days!), sometimes ontario is a black hole although I recently just got from parry sound to regina in 3 rides, it's varying. I try to do my best to not look like a psycho or a crack head, maybe if possible have a shower before you stand on the side of the road....all in all there's generally always a ride(i've been picked up on top of a mountain pass in the middle of night with no lights around in the pitch black before-i used a white plastic bag to signal cars until someone pulled over) and many people will tell you they have gotten picked up contrary to the tips I have to give. I guess it all depends on your good luck sometimes to. I've used funny signs also and had people tell me that the only reason they gave me a ride was cause they liked my sign...same thing goes for sign flying, people like it when you make them laugh...it shows good character I suppose. If all else fails you can try going to a gas station or truck stop and just asking people for a ride or sit in front of the store with a sign or something.

Just remember there's always a ride, i've never hitched in the states but I've hitched all over canada and have had tons of different experiences. I never bother to rush anymore if I'm not getting rides and I get sick of hitchhiking i just go and do whatever I want to to preoccupy myself and come back later cause sometimes it's just not time to get the ride yet.

Post edited by: kai, at: 2007/06/07 06:38