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Hitchhiking Tips and Strategies

For this correspondent question I ask long term traveler Loren Everly for some tips on hitchhiking. Loren has hitchhiked across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and I even had the pleasure to hitch across China with him in 2007. He is truly a pro of the art, and I must admit that I picked up [...]

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For this correspondent question I ask long term traveler Loren Everly for some tips on hitchhiking. Loren has hitchhiked across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and I even had the pleasure to hitch across China with him in 2007. He is truly a pro of the art, and I must admit that I picked up more than a few strategies from him during the days we spent on the road together hitching rides and sleeping in the bush across the Middle Kingdom.

Question about hitchhiking strategies

What is your standard operating procedure for hitchhiking? What are your strategies as to where to stand, how to signal a ride, and how to determine if it is safe to get into a vehicle or not? What have been some of the challenges you’ve faced while hitching, and how did you get through them? As a rather tall, well built man with a nicely shaven head, is there anything you do to keep from intimidating potential rides? Have you found that it is easier to hitch alone or with other people?

Loren’s tips and recommendations

I don’t really have a standard operating procedure for hitching. The most important things for me is to be patient, flexible and smiling. That I’m a big tall guy with a shaven head doesn’t help me get rides. But it may have scared away the predators. Although I don’t believe there are so many scary people out there as those who fear hitching think there are. I often wear a hat, which is good for the sun and doesn’t make me look so scary I think.

As for where to wait I’m of the philosophy that it’s best to find a good spot for someone to stop and stay there. Where you are very visible from a long way off and the traffic isn’t moving so fast. If it’s a country where you have to wait at petrol stations because it’s illegal to be on the road I wait there. This has the benefit of letting you ask people who are stopped there for a ride. But this is hard to do if you’re shy like me. So I prefer to wait on the road for people who really want to give a ride to stop.

hitchhiking in China

Loren hitchhiking in China

As for whether to get in the car I’ve not had the experience of a scary person. The only troubles I’ve had are with money. In countries where it’s not clear if you should pay and I don’t speak the language. This has only happened a couple times though.

The hardest part of hitchhiking is psychological for me. When you have to wait for a day or two without a single ride you feel pretty bad. That everyone must hate you. Since hundreds have passed you by and basically said no. But on the flip side on a good day when you don’t have to wait at all and many kilometers and good conversations are passed then you feel on top of the world.

Most of my hitching has been alone. But my best experiences have been with a female companion. One man or two men are scary to pick up. One girl attracts more scary people. But if you are a guy and a girl it’s perfect. The girl makes people feel more comfortable, and the guy keeps some of the creeps away.

Loren Everly has been moving through the world for over a decade, visiting 100+ countries in the process. He usually fields Teaching English Abroad questions for Vagabond Journey, but for this installment, I felt mining some of his knowledge on hitchhiking would be good change of pace. Read more about his travels at LorenEverly.org. Read an interview that I previously did with Loren at Hitchhiking Around the World. For more information about hitchhiking, visit the Vagabond Journey Hitchhiking index.

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Filed under: Hitchhiking, Travel Tips

About the Author:

I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 93 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. has written 3729 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.

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VBJ is currently in: Rome, Italy

2 comments… add one

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  • Rasmus - Denmark September 3, 2013, 3:40 pm

    I wish I had found these tips before setting out on my first hitch hiking competition… A competition we lost by a couple of hours. But it was still lots of fun, and the next competition is in the making.

    Its fantastic to meet all those people friendly enough to pick you up, meet fellow hitch hikers, but also mentally challanging when you get stuck at a bad stop and feels everybody rejecting you… Overall it is still a fantastic experience, and with the tips from this site I hope for less times stuck, and more rides 😀

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    • Wade Shepard September 3, 2013, 9:14 pm

      Thanks, this feedback is much appreciated. Yeah, I guess I have two main tips here: do something to make people notice you and make they want to meet you. Simply having a sign that says a destination on the other side of the planet is often enough, or having a good “I’m hitchhiking around the world” pitch to give people at gas stations and truck stops. I don’t know if it was mentioned in the above article, but only stand on the side of the road and hitch when you’ve expended other options. It’s far better to hang out at places that automobile travelers stop at and talk to them in person.

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