A beginner’s guide to hitchhiking tips and tricks

Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” may conjure wildly romantic ideas of bumming free rides but hitchhiking may be on its last legs in the Western world or so the word goes around. Crime dramas such as Criminal Minds and CSI have only stoked our collective anxiety even further. Apprehension though may not be unwarranted.

Paranoia especially among women has increased. Accounts of young single women hitching across America who were either sexually exploited or murdered have emerged sporadically on the World Wide Web and irregularly in the mainstream media. There might be much more than just a modicum of truth to it but faith in humanity need not entirely be abandoned.

Before we get into that, a word on how hitchhiking has declined even among men (not that they are wholly exempt from dangers). Cheap coach travel (sometimes for as little as a 1$), high speed highways with tolls that have no stopping areas, plummeting gas prices have all contributed to the wane of hitchhiking in the Western World. But out in South East and South Asia and also in many parts of Europe still, it can still be a viable form of transportation.

But even in the United States, we as two single women decided to give it a shot…or somewhat of a shot. Last year we rode on the slug line from Virginia to Washington D.C. While this does not qualify really as hitchhiking, it is close. Strangers are thrown into close proximity. Many living in Virginia but working in Washington D.C need additional passengers to be able to use the fast lane and the passengers they pick up want to cut on substantial travel costs. It is a win-win for both.

Not knowing ride share etiquette, a Virginia friend warned, “Do not talk unless you are spoken to. Many prefer riding in silence. It is very much unlike South East Asia,” which seemed fair enough but fortunately for us, our host was a garrulous FBI agent. Not only was he polite and friendly, he spoke eloquently of systemic and endemic racial bias in government systems that continue to prevail in government systems within the United States. In the end, we were grateful for both the ride and for the stimulating conversation.

But the thrill of hitchhiking was enhanced in countries not as developed simply because it is interesting to observe and break language, class, gender and national barriers. But you have to be aware of the hitchhiking tips and tricks. We hit upon the idea of using it as our only mode of transportation in Sabah, Malaysia starting in Limbang. Apart from D.C. this was our very first experience of hitching by ourselves.

What we didn’t contend with was the waiting. Sometimes we had to wait for over an hour by the side of the road, before anyone stopped. There were a couple of times we declined rides, especially if it was groups of unruly looking men. We relied heavily on intuition. Like anything or anywhere else we always had our heads about us. If something didn’t feel right, we never accepted a ride even if it meant waiting for an hour more.

But on the whole, the experience was fulfilling and emotionally rewarding. The one ride we most treasure is with a truck driver who transported industrial goods from Limbang to other parts of Borneo. He was middle aged close to his late fifties. After an hour of conversation in broken English, he felt comfortable enough to show us pictures of his young granddaughter that he carried on his dashboard.

He spoke of a time when he tried to get rides to visit his own relatives as his family when he was young was too poor to afford bus fares or wanted to save the money for other necessities. He spoke of the kindness of strangers and of it being a circle.

“I want to pass it on,” he said, “I have nothing to lose. Perhaps, the ones I give rides to will someday help others in need. I hope you will too when it is your turn,” he smiled.

Yes Sir, we sure will.