I do remember thinking that the trade plate crowd were the enemy. I think it was the "ooh look at us we're so professional" attitude - and the fact the did tend to get picked up a lot quicker than us scruffy students did.
Surely anyone can knock up a convincing dummy plate and . . . . why didn't I think of that at the time. . . .
Living in the Alps, pretty much every day. Public transport is pretty non-existant outside of the ski season, so loads of people hitch around the valley. Have done myself a few times, mostly due to either car trouble or to go and get an uplift van back when the logistics manager (me) has really screwed things up.
Only time I remember hitching back in Scotland was after hiking the Aonach Eagach, to get back along the road.
I'll pick most people up if they don't look psycho-weird (fun weird is fine...), especially if I know there's no buses running.
I very memorably picked up a very drunk group of the local equivalent of the Y0ung Farmers. They were trying to hitch from Bourg Saint Maurice back to a party at the Foyer Rurale in Seez at about 1 in the morning. I was driving an empty minibus and I don't think the could believe I stopped. It was mostly because I'd been away racing and had a very, very long journey home and wasn't sure I could keep my eyes open for the last couple of km. Having raucous company helped!
Same as sc-xc early 90's hitching all over to follow bands on tour, then later get to climbing crags as a skint student.
Still see trade plate guys hitching on a regular basis around the motorway network
I hitched as my main form of transport throughout the late 80's and early 90's - my crowning glory was getting from Menton to Calais in just under 24 hrs - much of that just getting from one side of Paris to the other.
Best lift was up in the Pyrenees with Pedro, a really cool guy who invited us into his house, let us shower, clean our clothes, took us out to a good spot to get a lift onwards the next day - Pedro, you'll ever be San Pedro to me. He had a Nightclub up in what was a skiing town, very much out of season when we were cruising through, and a town house in San Sebastien - he told us of the time the World Cup was in Spain he'd essentially just left his door open for anyone to drop in during the entirety of the tournament, said it was an absolute mess when it was over with the biggest grin you've ever seen.
For years i'd pull in to pretty much every M'way Service Station i passed whenever i was driving, just to pay it all back, but there was never anyone there.
I always thought, as alluded to ^above, that modern comms had rendered the thumb obsolete.
Sometimes you’ve got to take a risk/do the right thing. Or is it them taking the risk
Not sure there is much risk, except for some ripe smells IME
+1 on hitching a lot as a student and just after. Regularly did Liverpool (The Rocket) to home north of Penrith.
It was also normal to get lifts or bus into Kirkcudbright or Castle Douglas and hitch home when we were there in the late '90's. If we drove it was not unusual to all but fill the car - people got to know each others cars and it was common to return to our car in Kirkcudbright and find either a person with it or even shopping in the boot! (Because no one locked cars or houses then...)
I hitched regularly as a student in the 80s. As a result, I've always picked up hitchers although I have picked up a few weirdos.
I like to think I pioneered motorcycle hitching. I once dropped a bike off for servicing in the Midlands & had to get back to Derby. I was gonna get a bus but I thought I'd try hitching. I figured motorcyclists are very observant and would easily spot a bloke in bike kit, holding a helmet with his thumb out. Sure enough, first biker who came along stopped & gave me a ride. He even took me right to my house! Used it several times over the years. Never failed.
Last hitcher I picked up was last summer in the Highlands. Big bloke with a big rucksack. I was driving an Ariel Atom but I carry a spare set of goggles for unexpected passengers. The guy seemed a bit sceptical at first but I think he enjoyed it (despite looking terrified).
I like to think I pioneered motorcycle hitching
Gave a hitchhiker a lift on the back of my bike once and received a lift off a biker once, at neither time did the hitcher have a helmet 🙂
These guys are, as Welshfarmer said, German guys. They're Zimmermänner on the Walz. You can tell by their trousers, I had a pair of shorts in a similar style with the double fly.
Traditionally, after their apprenticeship they bugger off for three years and a day before being allowed to return home. The idea being they aquire skills from other regions, expanding their repertoire. Only then could they go on to be master of their trade.
When arriving in a new town they'll seek out the mayor who'll sign and stamp their travel book. This will usually grant them a few free beers in the bar plus allowing them to work in the area. Any jobs they do get entered into their travel book.
Often they'll have a stick with them, but it has to be a curled or twisted stick. No idea why.
Picked up a few of these guys in Germany over the years. One from Munich to near Stuttgart. He f-in stank! Had to have the windows down all the way.
Hitched through Australia after realising how expensive public transport was.
Had many odd lifts. Only one bad experience with a trucker who wanted to do lines of speed whilst driving through the mountains near Canberra.
The group of aboriginal lads that picked me up was memorable.
Met some genuinely great people. I like the randomness of it all.
Done it a fair bit in the alps. Drive to the top of a hill/pass, ride down and then either stash the bike or a game of rock paper scissors to see who has to hitch back to the top.
Often given people a lift across the alps, back to Munich from Lago di Garda when I guiding and shuttling.
^ Such a beautiful tradition. Would have loved to do similar.
Gave a hitchhiker a lift on the back of my bike once and received a lift off a biker once, at neither time did the hitcher have a helmet
Ok I said I "liked to think" I'd invented it.
Now you've ruined it...😆
I ended up having to hitch earlier this year in Fuertaventura as only bus out of village that day left at 06.00.I am 52 and havent hitched in 20 years.Got picked up by a local spanish girl who happened to be going to airport so it was perfect. I have done loads all over the world really and only have positive memories.I have been fed,watered and given places to stay for the night on numerous occasions.I presume it may be a different experience if you are a lone female but i see quite a few of them in the alps hitching from Briancon back down towards Gap.I never picked them up just because i am a middle aged man,stupid really.
Trade plates: I was told a few times by drivers that they would never pick them up. They had their network and we had ours. Definitely The Other.
A switch to EV's could make hitchhiking easier. If you spend 20 mins or more charging, that's a better opportunity for someone to strike up a conversation etc...
i used to hitch with a lid a lot in the late seventies. got a lot of lifts, but never a BMW, or a HD
Guy on a panther 600 with an armchair for a sidecar being the most memorable
I saw an older woman hitch hiking in Stroud just this evening - she was headed in the opposite direction to me.
A switch to EV’s could make hitchhiking easier. If you spend 20 mins or more charging, that’s a better opportunity for someone to strike up a conversation etc
Of the hitch hikers I have picked up it has never been to a conversation anywhere, just a thumb stuck out
Used to see loads around Bristol in the run up to Glastonbury, not so much now.
Given loads of lifts to trade platers, nearly always polite and clean. We still see lots in Avonmouth, loads of Truck dealers and used car auctions.
Hitched lots in the Alpes, easy way to get about in Chamonix valley and back from a night club in a different village which I did lots when I worked in Serre Che. Usually rather worse for wear, probably not the best hitcher!
Where I worked 20 or so years ago the single crewed vans quite often picked up hitchers and usually waited until they were up to speed to tell them that they had been at work since 7am yesterday and they were to keep things lively.
Also turfed one of my staff out the cab and into the back of the flatbed so we could give a lift to some girls heading to Newquay.
I hitched on Saturday. Was walking in The Lakes and decided I really shouldn't have gone for a walk with knee pain. Took me 10 minutes to get a ride. Loads of grumpy men with plenty of space in their cars ignored me and then 3 young women stopped and gave me a lift. I was super grateful and starting to think that maybe I don't look as creepy as I thought! 🙂
A few years ago Mrs IRC and I were at a motorway services on the M6 somewhere around Manchester. Two students approached us to ask if we were going north. They were doing a competition to get from their univ to Strathclyde Univ without any cash. As it was only a mile out our way we dropped them at the student union in Glasgow 3 hours later. I'd like to think they won!
I hitched on Saturday. Was walking in The Lakes and decided I really shouldn’t have gone for a walk with knee pain. Took me 10 minutes to get a ride. Loads of grumpy men with plenty of space in their cars ignored me and then 3 young women stopped and gave me a lift. I was super grateful and starting to think that maybe I don’t look as creepy as I thought! 🙂
Last time I hitched was in the Lakes too. Up Wasdale having walked over Illgill Head and Whin Rigg and bivvied on top, and didn't fancy the walk back up the road to Wasdale Head. Thought it'd be the easiest hitch in the world: a short ride up a dead end road, no ambiguity as to destination, dressed for the hills. But still got passed by quite a few half empty cars. Got a lift from a lovely Czech couple in the end.
A few years ago Mrs IRC and I were at a motorway services on the M6 somewhere around Manchester. Two students approached us to ask if we were going north. They were doing a competition to get from their univ to Strathclyde Univ without any cash. As it was only a mile out our way we dropped them at the student union in Glasgow 3 hours later. I’d like to think they won!
Glad to know they're still doing that sort of thing. When I was at uni I did a hitched to Morocco for a charity challenge - must be some others on here who did that? It was a countrywide thing. Not sure if it's still going. There were also "boomerang" challenges where you had to hitch or otherwise blag free travel as far as possible and back in a given time.
