Hitchhiking Women: Courageous or Crazyness?

I just returned from a week in the Rocky Mountains and I noticed there were quite a few hitch hikers. The majority were men but there was one woman, outside of Jasper, Alberta, with two large suitcases, looking put together, clean, and glamourous with oversized, round, Lady Gaga-esque sunglasses. There is no doubt in my mind that she was picked up within a few minutes. I still wonder what made her choose hitch hiking? Maybe she was suddenly fed up with Jasper, or couldn’t find a job, or had a fight with a traveling companion… it could be anything. My vehicle had no room for an extra person, let alone her two big suitcases, but if I had space I would have stopped.

Would you ever pick up a hitchhiker? OR could you ever hitchhike? I haven’t done either.

photo courtesy of iheart-stolenimages.blogspot.com

I don’t think that I could hitchhike until I’ve picked up a hitchhiker. Mostly, so I could chat with my new travel companion and learn the ropes of hitchhiking.

But, in order to pick up a hitchhiker, the person would have to pass my personal checklist. It’s not very specific because it’s a quick decision to pull over and pick someone up before the chance is gone. I think the main qualifier would be a feeling not characteristic; Can I see a bit of myself in the hitchhiker? You know, ‘Oh this girl needs a break… it’s raining and she’s on an adventure,” kind of deal.

The only time I would pick up a man is if he was in a couple. That may be a bit sexist but I’m no Amazon woman that could easily fight off someone who wants to attack me. I know that the world is mostly full of good people but I also feel it could also be an unnecessary risk. I recognize my bias and send kudos to the solo women travelers who feel comfortable picking up men hitchhikers.

My imagination runs wild when I think about picking up hitchhikers. And the scenarios are pretty black and white.

Option White: I pick up someone like the author of Shantaram and hear epic traveling stories that take my imagination on a trip around the world. Then, we exchange emails because it’s obviously the start of a blossoming friendship.

Option Black: I pick up a couple that looks nice and but it turns out that they are actually incarnate of Mickey and Mallory from Natural Born Killers and they slice my throat, shove me out of my car into a ditch to die slowly, and use MY car as transportation for their killing rampage.

Option Grey: I pick up a fascinating character, let’s say like a punk-rock buddhist, who doesn’t mind diving right into real, engaging conversation. No small talk. But then, near the end, the hitchhiker holds me up at gunpoint says “I’m sorry but I have to take all your money, your car, and leave you on the side of the road. If you keep walking 10 kilometers, you’ll reach the nearest town and will be able to call for help. I will be in a new disguise and your car may or may not be found.”

I have a few guy friends who have hitchhiked and it’s a big part of their travel memories. It almost seems like a symbolic ‘right of passage’ as a independent, resourceful man who can roll with the punches and think on the fly. I think that women have an independent travel right of passage too but these days it’s mostly a less dangerous means of backpacking through South East Asia or Europe. Carefully planning routes, looking into the price of train/bus/ferry tickets, sleeping at various hostels, and so on.

There are lots of women hitch hikers out there. The two quoted articles below offer different perspectives. I’m featuring my favourite/thought-provoking quotes to hook you in:

In hitchhiking, I had to fully open myself to the vast and uncertain possibilities of the world. It was equally thrilling and terrifying. The exhilaration of this openness, the surge of adrenaline in my belly, struck me each morning as I carefully spelled out my next destination in bold, black letters. The elation of being on my way after a long wait, totally free and moving, always moving, never faded as I stepped from one car to the next. – Tales of a Female Hitchhiker by Toby Isreal

Who is to pave the way for female hitchhikers? Are there any demonstrated in history who are empowered and capable of protecting themselves from dangerous situations? This next piece by Vanessa Veselka asks these questions. It’s a long one, so skim if you must, but remember the comments at the end are fascinating too. After reading this article, I thought of Wild by Cheryl Strayed. She’s a badass mamajama who showed a lot of courage during her solo journey along the Pacific Coast Trail, and survived relatively unscathed, healthier, and stronger.

On the other hand, my gut feels that hitchhiking as a women would lean more towards the scary side. Are women hitch hikers putting themselves in harms way? I admit it’s a loaded question because ideally everyone, regardless of gender, should feel safe in the world but realistically this isn’t the case. Women are often confronted with depressing statistics of violence and abuse at the hands of men. When women participate in “risky” behaviour DO they become socially invisible? I hope not…

There is no doubt that the social invisibility of these women contributed to their predation. But what exactly was that invisibility made from? These women weren’t remembered, it seemed, because they hadn’t been seen in the first place. And they hadn’t been seen partly because there was no cultural narrative for them beyond rape and death. As such, women on the road were already raped, already dead. Whereas a man on the road might be seen as potentially dangerous, potentially adventurous, or potentially hapless, in all cases the discourse is one of potential. When a man steps onto the road, his journey begins. When a woman steps onto that same road, hers ends. – Green Screen: The Lack of Female Road Narratives and Why it Matters by Vanessa Veselka

This all leads me to ask:

Do you think women should embrace hitchhiking? Is the danger real or created through culture?

Convince me one way or the other because I’m on the fence.