Chrissy Symmons ponders the issue.
My parents came to visit me this weekend and my dad shocked me when he revealed he has started regularly hitch-hiking.
Now, I have always been brought up to believe this is a dangerous sport, something people shouldn’t do, and I do worry about my father entering into a car with an axe-wielding maniac.
But he is a very intelligent man and assures me it is an interesting and green way to travel.
It’s amazing the distances he has managed to travel using this form of transportation. He has also clocked up a wealth of interesting stories about the many different people he has met along the way.
He has ridden in a variety of models, makes and ages of vehicles and believes the way he dresses influences who is willing to pick him up.
For example he said when he carries a broadsheet under his arm he is more likely to be picked up in a smart new car.
But if his boots are dirty the car is less flash.
In fact it sounds to me like hitchhiking could become an amusing way to travel.
I wonder how many cars can you ride in to get to one destination? What different outfits can you wear and which would be the most effective? How far could you get in one day just hitching a lift?
I guess to hitch-hike you must be quite a confident person and I wonder if you would be able to carry a stash of conversation topics up your sleeve in case the person you are travelling with was a bit shy.
And when I drive down the road and straight past a hitchhiker it makes me wonder…I can refuse to pick them up but if I stopped would they be allowed to refuse to get in.
I think I would be a bit put out if I had decided, out of the kindness of my heart, to stop and pick someone up just for them to look at me and decide I wouldn’t be a suitable travelling companion.
But, try as I might, I can not deter my dad from carrying on hitch-hiking as he believes it saves the environment and lowers his carbon foot print.
And I suppose in this day and age when everyone is cussed for being selfish and keeping themselves to themselves it is encouraging to discover that my dad has never been left stranded on any of his attempts to get a free ride home across many miles.
So although I am not encouraging everyone to get out there and stick their thumb out I have to admit my opinions and pre-conceived ideas on hitchhiking have been broadened.