“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Our fate is in our hands, for the most part.  A lot of our decisions and major life choices are the result of forces outside our control or the result of gentle pushing by the universe.

I am hitchhiking the country, NOT because of one grand explosion of an idea, but instead, as a result of many different opportunities and steps over the past 6 years.  Some of these were in my control and some were not.  

My first hitchhiking experience sort of hit me in the face, and left an impression that I will not forget.

It began when Jon hurt his knee.

6 years ago, I almost hiked a hundred miles on the Appalachian Trail with twelve students and two other counselors.  I was a brand new counselor at the outdoor therapeutic school, New Dominion School.  New Dominion was a school for “at-risk youth” in Central Virginia and every summer, the kids would plan and execute a two week hiking trip along the Appalachian Trail.  The goal was to ratchet up the self-esteem of the youngsters, by building courage, mental and physical strength, and encouraging teamwork, among the students and the counselors.  

Well, I say we almost hiked a hundred miles because Jon hurt his knee.  Jon was a student.  His injury was not bad enough to stop the trip, but just bad enough to slow us down.  We were inching along.  We had planned to be out for two weeks, but as the end of two weeks approached we were still far from our destination of Damascus, Virginia.

That is where I come in.  I was the new guy of the counselors.  I had only worked at the school for about a month, so I was the most dispensable.  So, it was my mission to hitchhike ahead to our van and drive it back to our group. 

The van was 40 miles north and east, according to the map.  I had never thought to hitchhike before and believed all the common myths, “People are crazy!” or “Don’t talk to strangers!” and “For God sakes, don’t hitchhike!! You’ll be murdered!!” But my supervisor, Nate, said I would be okay, that hitchhiking around the Trail was common.  Plus, I was excited to be off on my own for awhile.

Well, I caught my first ride quickly.  Three guys in an old truck, whom stopped once, along the wy, to check out an old car in a nearby field of grass.  When they pulled into the house, I was sure I was about to be killed.  I was ready to jump from the truck.  But, they were interested in restoring old cars and would stop if they saw any sitting along the side of the road.  After they finished, they dropped me off at a town, halfway to my destination.

As I walked out of the town, 20 miles from Damascus, a rickety, white paint van pulled over up ahead.

“Man, I have had a crappy day, man.”  The man said as I hop in.  

Paint cans rolled around in the back as we pulled off.  

He had been fighting with his girlfriend, whom lives in North Carolina.  That is where he was driving from.

“Plus, I have this poo bag,” he gestures to a small plastic bag near his stomach, colonscopy bag I believe it is called.  He had had a recent surgery from drinking too much alcohol.  

He went on to tell me about the 3 times he had hiked the Appalachian Trail.

Why had he hiked it so many times, I inquired?

“To party.”

He used to be in the Navy working on submarines.  It was a great life.  He would work for 3-4 weeks at sea and then have the same amount of time at home.  However, it forced a split with his wife at the time, so he gave it up.

As we pulled into Damascus, he knew exactly where my van was parked and he also gave me some pointers on the local restaurants.

The next day when I got back to my group on the trail, I had some great stories to tell.  

I would not hitchhike again for years, but the seed was planted!

If Jon had not hurt his knee, would I be hitchhiking the country?

Create Our World,

ben.

“Life is a process. We are a process.  The universe is a process.”  Anne Wilson Schaef

Do you have any hitchhiking stories?  Please share in the comments section, on Facebook, or send me an email at 2createourworld@gmail.com

Tags: adventure travel blog, Benjamin Jenks, create our world, hitchhiking, roadtrip around the USA
Categories: Hitchin Stories.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 5th, 2009 at 5:00 am and is filed under Hitchin Stories.. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.