| Hitchhiking Posted by grahame at 05:53, 13th September 2025 |     |
The Observer
Hitchhiking is appealing to a new generation who crave not just a more analogue lifestyle, but real human connection
Some years ago, while driving south from the Scottish Highlands, I saw a woman standing in the rain by a roundabout with her thumb out. She was in her 70s, carrying a big bag, smiling at passing cars. I slammed on the brakes and gave her a ride. She had missed the last bus to Glasgow, she told me, and had been forced to hitchhike instead, a practice not unusual for her. We shared a winding journey together, one I recall being full of laughter and stories, of deep truths that somehow seemed safe to share. I was 21 at the time, a student at St Andrews, nearly finished with an undergraduate dissertation about the philosophy of happiness. (I was, in fact, on my way home from a solo surf trip meant to clear my head.) I remember thinking of the experience as completely improbable. Hitchhiking was something I had seen in films, read about in books. It had only ever been a relic from the past.
I hadn’t thought about this experience until recently, when I noticed that hitchhiking was undergoing a kind of nostalgic resurgence among friends of mine, most of them in their late 20s, as well as in the news and on social media, helped in part by television shows like Race Across the World. The BBC reported recently, “If social media is any indicator, the nearly half a million Instagram posts tagged #hitchhiking suggests the retro travel method is returning.”
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Some years ago, while driving south from the Scottish Highlands, I saw a woman standing in the rain by a roundabout with her thumb out. She was in her 70s, carrying a big bag, smiling at passing cars. I slammed on the brakes and gave her a ride. She had missed the last bus to Glasgow, she told me, and had been forced to hitchhike instead, a practice not unusual for her. We shared a winding journey together, one I recall being full of laughter and stories, of deep truths that somehow seemed safe to share. I was 21 at the time, a student at St Andrews, nearly finished with an undergraduate dissertation about the philosophy of happiness. (I was, in fact, on my way home from a solo surf trip meant to clear my head.) I remember thinking of the experience as completely improbable. Hitchhiking was something I had seen in films, read about in books. It had only ever been a relic from the past.
I hadn’t thought about this experience until recently, when I noticed that hitchhiking was undergoing a kind of nostalgic resurgence among friends of mine, most of them in their late 20s, as well as in the news and on social media, helped in part by television shows like Race Across the World. The BBC reported recently, “If social media is any indicator, the nearly half a million Instagram posts tagged #hitchhiking suggests the retro travel method is returning.”
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Did you ever hitchhike? Do you still do so? Might you do so in the future? Would you accept a lift from a stranger if offered, even if not looking for one?
Have you ever given a lift to someone soliciiting one? To someone who needed one but wasn't asking?
| Re: Hitchhiking Posted by Noggin at 11:24, 13th September 2025 | |
Used to do it a lot when I was a student in the early 90's, but it was relatively uncommon then and can't say I've noticed it much in recent years, apart from the odd crusty going to Glastonbury Festival.
Best lift I ever got was after going to visit a mate in Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands whilst I was a student at Cardiff. Monday morning and it was snowing heavily. My mate gave me a lift to the A9 where I went to look for my cardboard sign saying "Perth" in my rucksack, only to find I must have lost it. It was freezing so I pulled out the first one that came to hand - "Cardiff". I figured it would at least get me a laugh or some sympathy, so I tried it. Third car to come along stopped, wound his window down and with a deep Welsh voice said "You're in luck boyo. I'm going to Caerphilly". Lovely guy - bought me lunch and went out of his way to drop me outside my halls of residence.
| Re: Hitchhiking Posted by Oxonhutch at 13:22, 13th September 2025 | |
Hitchhiking as a student back in the late 70s just off the Oxford bypass heading north. Lorry stopped and I leapt in to the passenger seat to meet a surprised driver who said he had only stopped to let the bloke in front turn right! Took me all the way to Birmingham - thanks to you again Mr lorry driver.
Picked up two half drowned waifs in a thunderstorm and took them to just outside their house - very grateful they were.
| Re: Hitchhiking Posted by johnneyw at 17:40, 13th September 2025 | |
Coincidentally, it was only a short while back that it occurred to me that I'd not seen people hitch hiking for many years. The old familiar sight of people with cardboard destination cards or thumbs out on motorway slip roads had disappeared, I had assumed, due to changes in the law which prohibited such activity.
I can only recall hitchhiking the once, in the early 80s with a friend, from Bristol to South Devon, a good deal of the distance in a very beat up old Hanomag truck belonging to what would now be called a "new age" traveller. It was getting on in the evening when we were still five miles from our destination so we opted to take no chances and hopped on a bus getting us there in good time to have a jolly evening in the local pub(s).
| Re: Hitchhiking Posted by Noggin at 23:06, 13th September 2025 | |
The old familiar sight of people with cardboard destination cards or thumbs out on motorway slip roads had disappeared, I had assumed, due to changes in the law which prohibited such activity.
Even 30 years ago, a lot of professional drivers used to say that their insurance and company rules wouldn't let them carry passengers, though many would flout them if they were minded to. I suppose these days with in-cab video and the such-like, it's not worth the risk.
I remember that where to stand was an art - you had to be in just the right spot so a driver could see you, figure you looked harmless and have a safe space to pull in. Just a few yards too early or too late could make all the difference.
The other great wheeze was a mate's ticket across the channel. In the pre-1992 days when truck drivers had to show their customs paperwork. You could sometime collar a driver as they walked in and get them to give you a lift. Only did it a few times before all that was swept away, most drivers wouldn't risk it, but if you asked enough, there was invariably one who'd been on the road for a while and fancied a chat to tell you about their time in the SAS!
