Day 1

The adventure has begun! I am now on my way to Alaska, via the coastal road as far as Portland, then inland to the Alaska Highway. I’ll be hitchhiking the entire distance, and couchsurfing as often as possible. Otherwise, I have a tent. I’ll make use of it as often as I need to.

A question that is sure to arise is, ‘why hitchhiking?’ There are many other ways to travel, some of which are very inexpensive. So why do something so unsure, so unsafe, and anyways, isn’t it illegal too? The short answer is, even with problems (which are generally exaggerated) hitchhiking has many, many benefits. But first, to address the concerns.

 Isn’t it Illegal?

I started this trip at the Golden Gate Bridge, where I met two other guys who were hitching to Arcata. They’d been on the far side of the bridge, where I’d planned to go, but a half hour after they started thumbing a California Highway Patrol (CHP) car parked nearby. The officer didn’t get out and say anything, but it scared them off and they walked back across the bridge to try and find a bus that would take them further up the road. They warned me against going to the other side. I did anyways. 30 minutes later I was on my way to Point Reyes with a beautiful Czech girl from San Jose, and her Swiss friend.

Why wasn’t I worried about the CHP? Simply put, hitchhiking is perfectly legal in California, and in most other states. There are restrictions, such as not being able to cross the ‘no pedestrians’ signs on the freeway, but if you follow them the police will only smile and wave.

But it’s still dangerous, right?


This is where it gets a bit tricky. Is it more dangerous than flying? Almost certainly, if only for the reason that mile per mile, you’re 265 times more likely to die in a car than in a plane. The same thing goes for taking a bus, train, or heavy rail, though not cycling. So yes, since hitchhiking involves standing near and riding in cars, it’s one of the most dangerous forms of transportation.

Src: Theanphibian, via wikipedia

But that’s not what you’re wondering, is it? It’s about crime, about crazed drivers picking up hitchhikers and doing terrible things to them. As some people often say, it’s just plain too dangerous now-a-days. But is it? Honestly, it’s hard to say. The most recent formal study in the US of the situation was done in 1974 by the California Highway Patrol. A long and interesting read, the conclusion was that, while not having data on the exact numbers of hitchhikers prevented them from saying exactly how dangerous it was, an intuitive look at the numbers shows hitchhikers to not be in significantly more danger than the rest of the California population. It also shows that single women were 7 times as likely to be victims of crimes as men, and 80% of those sex related. So please, go with a guy if you hitchhike.

‘But that was then, it’s so much more dangerous now!’ Yes, it is more dangerous nowadays, if you look at the number of reported crimes. It’s more dangerous to buy milk from the store, to park in a parking garage, and to walk your pet rabbit. Of course it’s going to be more dangerous to hitchhike. But proportionally more than it was before? I doubt it.

And now, why I hitchhike


There are many reasons, which I’ll go into other days. The most important one is this: you meet absolutely incredible people while hitching.

Sea Ranch Chapel! Dedicated on my day of birth, too.

After leaving the Czech and Swiss girls at Point Reyes, I hit the road with a sign saying ‘NORTH’ strapped to my backpack. Within a mile, I was picked up by a British/American family taking a relaxing drive up the coast. For the next four or so hours, we drove through incredible scenery. They’d traveled parts of this route before, and pointed out areas where they’d stopped for kayaking, and pointed out areas that would make for great spots in the future. Getting close to Sea Ranch, the mother spotted the Sea Ranch chapel, an architectural landmark that I’d studied in school. We turned around and spent some time looking at it. I explained geocaching, and we stopped for two of them, finding one.

As we neared their turnaround point, the father asked his 12yo daughter (who happens to be a diver who’s placed 1st in national competitions, knows a diver who will be representing the US in the next Olympics, and has a GPA that puts my UC Berkeley-graduating skills to shame ;) what she’d rather do: stay in town so they could find something fun to do, or drive another hour or so to Fort Bragg, which would get me closer to my destination but mean they’d have to turn around and head straight back. She chose the extra miles. See what I mean about how you meet awesome people?

Hitchhiking teaches a person a lot about gratitude, and about service. It’s hard not to be grateful when you’re constantly the recipient of the kindness of others. It makes you want to pay it forward, and to help others out in return. So when you’re given the chance to do something in return, it’s pretty easy to say yes. This ride, I was given a folded sheet of paper with detailed instructions: Open it after I get out of the car, then write down the name of every place I go while on this trip. At the end of the trip, return it. L-----, Challenge Accepted ;)

Trip Stats:
Total Distance Traveled: 173 miles
Total Time: ~7 hours
# of Rides: 2
Total Cost: ~$14.00