places to visit > something for the weekend - hookups and lifts
why did hitchhiking fizzle out?
stone:
I suppose what I really liked was the complete lack of planning and "organic" nature of it. I'll always stop to pick up a hitcher but it seems full on to commit to scheduling around providing a lift at a set time.
I once found out at 7pm that my mum had a heart attack when she was on holiday in Cornwall. I hitched from Leeds and got to Exeter hospital at 2am. Is there anyway that would be possible with a lift share app or public transport? My guess is that only a taxi or car hire could rival that (at great cost too).
I'm puzzled as to whether hitching really does pose more vulnerability than other human interactions. A psycho could mow down pedestrians or cyclists and bundle them into the back of a van, or pounce on a lone boulderer, rambler etc. Also any vulnerability was there just as much in say 1990 as today, so doesn't account for the ending of hitching does it?
SamT:
BRING BACK HITCHING..!!!
Had so many great (and a few not so great) experiences hitching as youth, down to Buoux etc I'm sure we've all had the same experiences.
I still hitch very occasionally, but its getting harder and harder. I thnk there's probably a good couple of generations now, that probably aren't even aware that it exists, that its even 'a thing'. (The ones that stare at you like you're some sort of alien space ship as they drive by).
Its usually easier in mountainous regions, so last time I hitched was with my Son in Slovenia, having done a big hike, and purposely ended up at the top of the pass, stuck our thumbs out and hitched back down to the car.. (far less down hill on my creaking knees ). Nice couple from Czech republic gave us a lift after a couple of minutes waiting. ;D
I still harbour a fantasy of starting a 'bring back hitching' campaign and youtube vlog of my hitching adventures. Reckon it could work really well, you know go viral, and fund my euro climbing travels.
The reason its died is as folks have said, more car (vanlife) ownership but also over-ridingly I think, is the 'stranger danger' aspect. Just too many unfounded holywood/itv/channel4 psycho thriller box sets on netflix, that I think we as a nation are overly obsessed with that its started to become deeply rooted in peoples minds. Just flick through iplayer/itvx/more4 and the choice is endless.. murder/abduction/rape/paedos/drugs/trafficking/prostitution .. choose your flavour of 'drama'. :(
Anyone I speak to about hitching these days, who isn't of a certain age/climbing background are just instantly veermontly against the idea of stopping to pick someone up.. "oooo no, I'd never,, well you never know do you"..
I enjoyed watching race around world (especially the Canada one) where contestants invariably ended up hitching and where consistantly blown away by how 'nice' folks were. "Oooo they were soooo nice, we've swapped emails and will definitly stay in touch" etc etc. (I'd have just hitched the whole way and had loads of budget spare to stay in nice hotels along the way :lol:).
jwi:
In France and Spain, the blablacar app works amaziningly well. You have to chip in towards your proportion of the cost of gas through the app (calculated by the app using distance and car type). Uses social scoring, which I hate, but as the drivers are not making money, I hate it a bit less.
I've used it a bit over the last ten years and it has been mostly great.
I always pick up hitch hikers if I have room for them in the car. I am still paying back karma from my youth. I once picked up a cliche Balkan gangster/low-life and a special-forces soldier in uniform on leave on the same trip. They had both missed the bus south.
SamT:
--- Quote from: Bonjoy on February 26, 2024, 08:57:21 am ---I had a couple of really unpleasant rides where it felt like I was in the hands of outright psychopaths and had to play along with obnoxious chat to escape. Glad I don't have to rely on it these days
--- End quote ---
I think you have to have time on your hands really... it can be a nightmare if you've 'got to be somewhere'.
I didn't really have any nightmare drivers.. one slightly creepy guy from hathersage to sheffield and a couple of builders in a van who we eventually decided might have been over the alcohol limit. mega lift though, in the end - scratchwood services at midnight, to J1 of the M18 (they were going to Hull) . Kipped in a car wash, first bus out of Bawtry to sheff and the first 272 to castleton and I was home before 9am.
SA Chris:
in 1989 I hitched to Turkey and back over 3 months as we couldn't afford Interrail (do people still do that even?), had some amazing experiences and some utterly miserable ones. By the time we got to Paris on the way home we had had enough and got the Hoverspeed / Bus all the way to Victoria.
I tried to do the same on a climbing trip in 1996 in Spain and realised it was no longer a thing, and mostly used public transport.
As others have said, stranger danger at first and in the paranoid post 911 world suddenly everyone is a terrorist. And there are great apps and websites that have killed the need.
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