Hitchhiking Across America

Whether you call it hitchhiking, thumbing, flagging, or just catching a lift, I’m sure you’ve all wanted to try it. If you haven’t, then you’ve at least thought about it. If you haven’t thought about it, then I’m sorry to say you have no sense of adventure. There are too few people out there willing to walk the road anymore, and I’ve decided to share our story in hopes of inspiring those that have always wanted to take a break and go on a journey but think it’s impossible in today’s America.


I’m starting this blog, first and foremost, to get our story out there. I want everyone who has every thought about taking a hitchhiking trip to know that their dreams shouldn’t lie dormant. That you can get rides and that you’ll meet some of the nicest people you’ll ever know. In addition, I want this to be a place avid travelers, backpackers, and hikers can come to for tips and also to give them, to read my personal product reviews, and to share their adventures as well.

Before my fiancé and I took off for the trip of a lifetime last May, we spent days scouring the internet looking for backpacking tips, train hopping stories, and hitchhiking advice. We found a few golden nuggets, but honestly, I’m not satisfied with what’s out there. Most of it is outdated, too much is on foreign countries, and too little is in depth. I will share with you our backpacking trip from start to finish, valuable tips on how to get rides and stay safe, and hopefully inspire you to experience it for yourself. It was hard some days, but I’ve never regretted a second of it, and we hope to have many more like it in the future to share as well.

I hope you find this blog entertaining as well as useful. Chuck and I have always talked about writing a book about our trip and how when we did it would be called, West, Please! So I asked him if a blog would be alright in the meantime and he agreed. Names will be changed to protect identities and certain illegal activities. I will frequently update our story in acceptable lengths over a period of time. I have months to cover after all. I will also keep an updated list of Chuck and Callie’s Hitching Tips as well as give product reviews, lists of great towns to visit, and tell you how not to hop on a freight train!