The important thing to understand is this: hitchhiking is most rewarding, and makes the most sense, when it’s the purpose of your journey – not just a means of moving from one place to another. The one true reason to hitchhike is simply because it’s really, really fun.

You will meet people you would never ordinarily meet, and they will tell you stories you’d hear nowhere else. When you get picked up by a local, they’ll tell you more about the place you’re travelling through than you could ever hope to learn simply by staying there; they’ll tell you the best places to eat and to go out and have fun; they’ll tell you the safe places and the dangerous places; they’ll tell you the town gossip for decades past. When you get picked up by a tourist, they’ll take you to viewpoints, beaches, and sideshows that you’d never have been able to reach without owning a car yourself.

Some people will share their philosophy on life with you. Some will tell you their biggest fears and regrets. Some will tell you about the best things that have ever happened to them, and some will tell you the worst things that are happening to them right now. You are unceremoniously tossed out of your personal sphere of existence and exposed to what is real and honest and authentic: the incredible variety of human life as it exists on earth. It’s exhilarating.

Every person you meet has made the decision to help you, to be kind to you, to treat you as a friend – and you do the same to them in return. When you hitchhike, you take nothing. A driver does not lose anything by letting you in their car – in fact, they gain your company. Of course, there are some people who may try to give you money. Some may want to take you to dinner, and some may invite you to meet their families and sleep on the sofa. Sometimes you might even accept these offers – it doesn’t matter. Because if you are a good hitchhiker, everybody wins. Don’t hitchhike because you want to get somewhere. Hitchhike because it will remind you that everywhere there are good people, and because the experiences you will have while hitchhiking are experiences that you could not have any other way.