I dont have extensive hitchhiking experience—I missed that era when it was more common (b. 1998)—but all of those experiences have been out of necessity rather

I dont have extensive hitchhiking experience—I missed that era when it was more common (b. 1998)—but all of those experiences have been out of necessity rather than pleasure. Thumbing for rides has been an extremely useful tool to fall back on when I find myself in tough situations, but it’s hard to imagine relying on hitchhiking in the US for anything other than a last resort. That said, all of my experiences with drivers have been positive so far. It helps that I always have an easily comprehendible problem to relate to the drivers; I don’t have to explain why I am thumbing for a ride beyond that. The first time I dabbled was when my car broke down on a rural interstate highway around 2016. I was a newly-licensed driver, and at the time I didn’t have a cell phone. I thumbed for a short while on the shoulder, and a truck driver gave me a lift to the next town where I was able to sort things out. I was highly conscious of the whole spectacle, and yeah, given the combo of single teenage white girl and car in disrepair it did not take long for someone to stop. I was really fearful of predators, but I couldn’t see any way of resolving that situation that didn’t involve getting into the car of a stranger. I’ve since hitchhiked in other situations where I didn’t have car issues, but always out of necessity. I feel much safer when I’m not alone on the road, of course. I’d like to try hitchhiking for pleasure at some point, but it seems the US is just not the place to do that.