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
I still hitch very occasionally, but its getting harder and harder.........When you say that it is getting harder and harder, did you experience very long waits or something?
......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:).
I can't think of any other common interactions where you put yourself in a position where you can be abducted with minimal effort and you don't get to assess who that person is before committing. It's a very small risk, but a risk nonetheless. Of course anyone could be attacked at random at any time in day to day life, but these are by an order of magnitude smaller and more diffuse risks, not to mention unavoidable unless you want to be a hermit. Hitching to most people these days is strictly optional.
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?
Sheffield uni do a charity hitchhike every year, think it was to Ljubljana last year.
I can't think of any other common interactions where you put yourself in a position where you can be abducted with minimal effort and you don't get to assess who that person is before committing. It's a very small risk, but a risk nonetheless. Of course anyone could be attacked at random at any time in day to day life, but these are by an order of magnitude smaller and more diffuse risks, not to mention unavoidable unless you want to be a hermit.
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?
Its a sad fact, but it is different for single females, and I never hold an ounce of grudge for a single female that drives past and doesn't stop to give a lift.I guess the golden rule of hitching is to never hold a grudge against anyone driving past. The remarkable thing is that some people do give lifts.
I'm not suggesting abductions of hitchers occur, just that they could be easily carried out in the circumstances. You are putting yourself in the hands of strangers and I understand why people don't want to do that if they have access to easier options.I can't think of any other common interactions where you put yourself in a position where you can be abducted with minimal effort and you don't get to assess who that person is before committing. It's a very small risk, but a risk nonetheless. Of course anyone could be attacked at random at any time in day to day life, but these are by an order of magnitude smaller and more diffuse risks, not to mention unavoidable unless you want to be a hermit.
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?
But there's the rub.. people just don't get abducted.. like ever.. its just a media notion.
If, in the increadibly increadibly rare occasions they do, its most likely to be someone they know, pre-meditated etc etc. "attacks, stabbings, muggings etc" are also statistically very rare, very likely to be peeps who know each other/drugs gangs related etc etc.
With hitching, you're a bit more in control than you imagine, a: you've surprised the driver by suddenly appearing with your thumb out. They've had to make a split decision on whether or not to stop, a decision they're only likely to make if they're the type of person who gives lifts to hitchers i.e. an ex hitcher themselves. b: they're busy driving, so hard have their hands on the wheel etc, and if they do happen to pull over into a secluded layby or something weird, you're going to have your wits about you anyhow, so will be prepared to run/defend yourself etc.
Its a sad fact, but it is different for single females, and I never hold an ounce of grudge for a single female that drives past and doesn't stop to give a lift.
in 1989 I hitched to Turkey and back over 3 months as we couldn't afford Interrail (do people still do that even?)
This is my favourite hitching story. Tragically it isn't mine :'(
https://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,5617.msg626663.html#msg626663
in 1989 I hitched to Turkey and back over 3 months as we couldn't afford Interrail (do people still do that even?)
Still very much a thing. Went interailing last year for our 25th wedding anniversary. Was ace, easy and cheap.
My hitching experiences as a kid include getting picked up by Lucy Creamer from Burbage Bridge to Hunter's Bar, I remember being a pretty starstruck 15 year old!I miss Interailing. My daughter discovered it’s still a thing and has plans for her first Uni summer break.
As for interrail, yes it can be pretty cheap (although frustratingly not as cheap as flying). I have used interrail tickets to travel to international conferences and even with mandatory seat reservations on most high-speed trains (varying form £3 to £40, the latter being on the Eurostar), works out at around £300-£350 for four days of travel depending on the destination. The good thing about the interail ticket is it gives you a bit of flexibility if things go a bit wrong, whihc buying ticketed journeys does not. Plus train travel is a wonderful way to move across a landscape. </theroux>
My hitching experiences as a kid include getting picked up by Lucy Creamer from Burbage Bridge to Hunter's Bar, I remember being a pretty starstruck 15 year old!
As for interrail, yes it can be pretty cheap (although frustratingly not as cheap as flying). I have used interrail tickets to travel to international conferences and even with mandatory seat reservations on most high-speed trains (varying form £3 to £40, the latter being on the Eurostar), works out at around £300-£350 for four days of travel depending on the destination. The good thing about the interail ticket is it gives you a bit of flexibility if things go a bit wrong, whihc buying ticketed journeys does not. Plus train travel is a wonderful way to move across a landscape. </theroux>
I hitchhiked few weeks when I was young, the strategy was to use my attractive female friend as a bait, and when she got us a ride with the line of "me and my friend", I came out hiding from the bushes, had one guy drove off when he saw me! Though usually got a ride within minutes.
My impression is that people who feel hitching is unseemly (perhaps because it doesn't fit into our world of commerce) make a big deal of the purported dangers.
No offence but I think that is nonsense. People think hitching is undignified consciously exaggerate the dangers in order to make people conform to a more decorous society? You're projecting your opinions about capitalism onto the discussion.
No one on this thread has yet considered the safety aspect in any meaningful way. Might be an idea...
GME has openly said that he nearly came to grief on one occasion but only didn't because he was bigger than the potential perpetrator. I am a small guy, I would back myself to put up some kind of resistance in a similar situation but realistically speaking most men are considerably stronger than me. Most women are faced with a serious strength and power imbalance in opposition to most men and it is hardly surprising that in the wake of incidents like the Sarah Everard one hitching is even less popular than it has been previously.
IMO, its way safer than waiting for a bus, alone at night in an urban environment, but somehow, everyone seems to think the opposite.
The only anecdote of a women hitching on this thread is sirlockoff's friend being used as bait to get drivers to pull over, one of whom bailed as soon as they saw they werent picking up a lone female! (no judgement sirlockoff, i know thats a common tactic, I just think it speaks to a truth about hitching).I totally agree with you that lone women almost certainly would be in danger when hitching. That's awful and unjust -same as it is even more awful and unjust that lone women can't safely walk across a city at night.
I'm not saying hitching couldn't be used a bit more and probably still be safe, I'm saying the discussion on this thread is a bit monocular because those posting about the topic thus far are all men. Fair enough if you think theres a wider cultural element, I don't personally see it but thats just me.
No one on this thread has yet considered the safety aspect in any meaningful way. Might be an idea...I'm unclear quite what that threat to GME amounted to. Was it just a proposition that was taken offence to (sorry GME if I'm misunderstanding/being stupid)?
GME has openly said that he nearly came to grief on one occasion but only didn't because he was bigger than the potential perpetrator.
People think hitching is undignified consciously exaggerate the dangers in order to make people conform to a more decorous society?
Yoof of today want it on a plate*.
Hitching is way too risky/inconvenient. I mean you could get stranded somewhere with no WiFi connection!
Another anecdote about lone women hitching: my aunt hitched alone from Bristol to India, through the middle east in the 1950s. I'm sure that wouldn't be recommended now.
All positive other than being picked up for sex by a middle aged fella in Avignon. He was initially a bit threatening but I was bigger than him though and i guess he decided it wasn't worth the risk so took me to where i wanted to go. Had a stand off as my bag was in the boot and i made him get out and get it before i would get out of the car.
I was propositioned on a couple of occasions (by perhaps somewhat odd middled aged guys). They were totally fine when I said no. It didn't seem threatening at all. If I'm honest, I was flattered.All positive other than being picked up for sex by a middle aged fella in Avignon. He was initially a bit threatening but I was bigger than him though and i guess he decided it wasn't worth the risk so took me to where i wanted to go. Had a stand off as my bag was in the boot and i made him get out and get it before i would get out of the car.
I was propositioned hitching back from the Alps and was offered the princely sum of 5 francs! That did not do much for my self-esteem, I can tell you. Anyway, he was totally fine when I said no and took me where he'd said he would (which was a good long distance that got me north of Paris).
You're projecting your opinions about capitalism onto the discussion.
By the '60s travelling overland to India under your own steam was a well-travelled route for the somewhat adventurous, usually taking in the chic metropolitan tourist destination of Kabul. Doesn't look like there is a feasible safe route today.QuoteAnother anecdote about lone women hitching: my aunt hitched alone from Bristol to India, through the middle east in the 1950s. I'm sure that wouldn't be recommended now.
Why not now if then?
I think the risks are just the same then as they are now. Arguably safer now, as someone said, re trackable mobile phones, gps, communications etc.
On our Euro-trip Nat and I used one of the canoe companies (smugly) to hitch to the start of the trips they do. However, being tight I'd spent the day before purchasing the cheapest inflatable boat I could find and some cheap plastic oars. We set off (eventually after blowing the boat up without a pump etc.) and promptly grounded and popped the bottom leaving us with just an inflatable ring. The gorge walls increased in height and we soon realised we'd committed to 27km or so. It was hot so Nat was wearing a bikini and some shorts and I think I was just in shorts. This changed when it got dark.
It was rated for one 7-9yr old
Could the answer to the thread question be: because car ownership increased massively from c19M in 1970 to c33M today? And maybe social attitudes have changed to make it a less practicable mode of transport.
That is all complicated though by the increase in households with several vehicles and whether adults living with their parents (as happens more now) have access to "household" cars etc. But anyway, it certainly doesn't account for much of the >99% drop off in hitching.Could the answer to the thread question be: because car ownership increased massively from c19M in 1970 to c33M today? And maybe social attitudes have changed to make it a less practicable mode of transport.
Basically the same amount that the population has increased by (55M in 1970 and 68M today). But that puts ownership up from 33% to 48%.
That still leaves the deeper question of why that aversion gets traction now when it didn't then.
it has become the norm to have a car or a friend with a car. If you don't have access to personal transport then you're not keeping up with the living standards of the average person, which feels shit when you're hard-wired to compare.Are people more hard wired now than in the 1980s/90s? I sort of thought of the 1980s as being the zenith of the "greed-is-good" mindset. My impression is that there are plenty of people nowadays with a sort of "freegan" tendency. There are repair-cafes and such like now eg https://www.harlandworks.co.uk/repair-cafe
Especially the bit about being shown the ropes.. there's a definate art to it.
If you don't have access to personal transport then you're not keeping up with the living standards of the average person, which feels shit when you're hard-wired to compare.
I've noticed some of your positions boil down to living in a world that doesn't exist.
hitchhiking depends on the implicit recognition that the hitchhiker can’t easily access other transport at that point through no major fault of their own... This is still somewhat plausible if you are looking for a lift up the Llanberis pass but much less so at the start of the M1.
However, hitching with my wife [to be] was entirely different, and we were almost always given a lift within a few cars.
Social norms changed - it isn't cool to hitch. If the youth were putting up hitchhiking adventures on social media showing hitching to be a normal part of their life then it could be different.
No, what's interesting to me is understanding what parts of human nature are 'hard-wired' and which are more amenable to change. Having the respect of your peers likely is hard-wired, but what we respect and how respect is earned is very flexible and constantly changing.
There will be an inflection point pretty soon where the scramble not to be associated with internal combustion engines becomes enormous - and you're already betting on it. On paper it is driven by understanding the science but on the ground the change will be driven by peer respect. But there's also increasingly a move away from personal car ownership - just because it isn't the majority in North Wales doesn't mean it isn't significant.
Secondly, the people you're talking about who eschew playing the consumption game are absolutely comparing themselves with others, just not the majority :lol:My impression was that hitching was always a minority activity in the UK (both hitching and giving lifts to hitchers). The phenomenon I was remarking on was it changing from being a 1% minority (aka loads of people hitching everywhere) to being whatever it is now (0.0001% or whatever, such that it has been several years between me seeing someone hitching).
personal anecdote, growing up with seeing some docuseries / films such as wolfs creek, the hitchhiker about hitchhiking, I definitely am very cautious about picking up anyone :sorry:
personal anecdote, growing up with seeing some docuseries / films such as wolfs creek, the hitchhiker about hitchhiking, I definitely am very cautious about picking up anyone :sorry:
Enjoying this thread.
Truth is having had a car since the day I turned 17 I've very rarely hitched. I always felt then, mid 90s, that i'd missed the halcyon days of hitching, similar to other scenes like living at stoney or attending a stag do that was featured in OTE.
I do pick people up though - this last boxing day driving from norwich to wickersley around dusk I picked up a girl outside kings lynn with a 'Newark' sign. As i hit the brakes and pulled in my teenager literally shouted 'YOU ARE FUCKING JOKING!', then sighed and rolled his eyes so hard one of his pimples popped.
Tiny single white female with a massive rucksack at dusk on boxing day; it could only be a euro crusty who smelled of rollies and cabbage. Turned out she was Lithuanian and actually going to Glasgow. Garrulous type, perhaps obviously, certainly wouldn't have occurred to her that hitching is hard/ out of fashion in any way. She'd been all over europe and the uk. I took her to Nottingham where she was getting a night coach or something.
I think Arthur is still annoyed about it but like a lot of things in his life; I was right.
"Haven't seen you in a while," said Dad, looking guilty. There was a silence. Dad knew full well why he hadn't seen him, he'd just been released from prison for attempted murder!