On Wednesday the 17th of March I was dropped left in
Asheville after deciding to take a step off the beaten path and hitchhike from
Western North Carolina back to DC. A decision that worried friends and one that
I decided not to pass on to my parents.
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| Hitching out of Santiago Chile. No Pictures from Hitching out of the South but feelings and thought patterns are the same everywhere. |
From Asheville, I found my way to Blue Ridge Parkway with
hopes of climbing the tallest mountain in North Carolina and began my 48 hours
of adventure. It was possibly the most real and intense two days of my life. I
have been lucky enough to travel to foreign countries and spent months exploring
the outdoors, but I have never been so alert, worried, excited, and fascinated
for that many straight hours as I was hitchhiking through the south.
Ashville -------> Asheville (20 miles)
Jobless Michael picked me up in his beaten up Toyota and we
headed northeast toward the Mt Michel. Michael had bundles of grass, fungi, and
a paper wasp nest on his dashboard. He was quiet and thoughtful as he explained
his earlier work in Hawaii with permaculture. The Parkway ended up being closed
and I decided not to walk the 15 miles to the high point only to get stuck
there. We turned around and Michael went out of his way and dropped me by
Interstate 40 leaving his goodwill shopping for later.
Asheville -----> Hickory (70 miles)
Only minutes after being dropped on the on-ramp to I-40 I
was picked up by a small truck with a very obese x-army character who was happy
to have me on board to keep him awake. Loony is the perfect word to describe
this chuckling individual. From the moment I got in he started talking about
all the free medication he was on, not to mention the oxygen was hooked up to.
The 50 year old had been taking 6 pills 4 times a day because they "amped
him up" and were free because he had served two years in the army partying
in Hawaii. His first wife left him because of the pills so he cut way down and
was only taking 4 pill 4 times a day. That is until his second wife left him
for the dog catcher and he had to go back to his usual dosage. "If the dog
catcher tells you he is your best friend don't believe him haaheehehe". This
story kept him giggling for minutes before he started in on how to get revenge
on someone that punched you for dating and then marrying their sister. He had
kind of a low giggle that was present after everything he said. The 70 miles to
Hickory went quickly happy to be alive and wondering how many characters like
this there may be in the world. Never got his name but the fact that he wished
he had another oxygen bottle so I could try it out made try and believe he was
a good guy all in all.
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| Hitching Northern Chile Semi |
Hickory -------> Connaway (5 miles)
The world thought it would show me both sides of the
spectrum so for the next five miles I rode in a nice rental car with a very
calculated, 50+ year old software trainer who was in the south for business and
thought he would live a little and pick up his first hitchhiker. Five miles
later he told me to be safe and left me at another on ramp. Good fellow.
Connaway -------> ? (15 miles)
A Latino picked me up and turned out to be a good guy, but
was confused over what I was doing and was initially kind of scary. The way he
looked at my stuff and the question he asked were not exactly settling. His low
rider truck was about and Latino as they get with broken mirrors, tinted windows,
Jesus stickers, and energy drinks and cigarette butts littered the bed of the
truck. He was headed to work and asking if I had a cell phone and if people
were waiting for me, both of which I falsely confirmed quickly? We stopped at a
gas station to fill up and he kindly asked if I was thirsty and offered to buy
me a drink.
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| Hitching Northern Chile |
?--------> I-77 (5 miles)
Shawn was a computer teacher for middle school and high
school. Average
I-77------> Winston-Salem (10 miles)
From rags to riches. Tom was in marketing for medical
equipment including MRI machines and other neuroscience research tools and
commuted an hour to work each day. As we started talking he got a phone call
and simply pushed a button on the steering wheel and started talking business.
Real business - what they had to do to make money, whatever it took. Stay ahead
of the game and not get fooled by anyone. When the call was finished and
commented on the cool phone system he started telling me all about the car. How
he could push a button, say a command like "music" and the
"artist" and the "The Who" and it would start playing after
only one push of a button. The future is now and we will be seeing a lot more
like it. We talked for a while and he finally asked what my plan was for
sleeping because it was getting dark and when I told him I had a tarp and a
sleeping bag and was going to find a place in the woods he told me I was insane
and offered me a place to stay. Making a judgment call, I accepted and it
turned out to be better than a 5 star hotel. Free dinner, free shots of Crown
Royal, big screen TV, huge bed to myself, first shower in 6 days, free
breakfast, and a ride to next on ramp the in the morning. It was a strange, but
memorable St. Patty day.
Winston-Salem -------> I-85 North (50 miles)
Making it 50 miles took 7 rides and added a handful of
friend to my list.
----> There was another Tom a librarian
----> Jade a pudgy blond on her way to class at community
college who took me to the completely wrong place and was completely unaware of
it.
----> Jim and x-hitcher who kept saying "Oh boy June
6th that’s when school was out and I suck my thumb out oh man!"
----> Anica an Asian nurse in a jeep late for work.
----> Ronny Mac a bass fisherman who with a sad look on
his face said "I aint traveled much outside NC my whole life really. I've
gone to Vegas and Atlantic City, but I ain't traveled much else really"
----> Kevin who was the first black person to pick me up.
Had tattoos and wore silly big glasses, but could tell he was a good guy from
the start.
----> Charlie Miller called himself "the oldest
teenager ever". Was in business and had done well for himself, but liked
the no obligation, single, do what I want life style.
I-85 --------> V.A border
And then there was David. Looked crazy and was, but like the
rest of them it was easy to tell he was a good guy. White trash, x-army, quick
to smile. Offered me a beer right away and after insisting I take it I enjoyed
the 24oz Fosters. I helped him with some errands and we got 20 bags of soil for
his neighbor, got his car registered, and another 12 pack and he bought me some
jerky and cheese that he made me put in my "ruck sac" for the road.
He tried to find me a place to stay for the night, but in the end what he left me with was the idea
of "once you know someone well you are going to find that same person in
another country. You'll be like I know this person and you have to stick with
that first instinct its always right."
V.A. boarder -------> DC
I asked Jeff as he was pulling out of a gas station if he
was going North and he took me all the way to DC. He was tame, calculated, and
bored me with everything he had done. It seems easy to get stuck in the
comfortable mind set and I hope it never happens to me.
This is was a brief explanation of a couple hundred-mile
trip that taught me more about life than many of my classes in college. I have
tried to explain the people, but without hearing their laughs, or seeing the
looks in their eyes there is no way to portray them accurately. Everyone should
try hitching before they die!
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