Logo

Can you share a story of someone who had a lucky experience while hitchhiking?

Last Updated: 20.06.2025 04:02

Can you share a story of someone who had a lucky experience while hitchhiking?

Lucky! For sure. It was the only boat I saw on the lake that day.

Twice, I’d been thinking I was in trouble and would end up in my damp tent for another night. I’d hiked 35 km with my pack for the day, but I was home to my dry bed, some fresh food, and a hot shower, not necessarily in that order. The sun was still shining.

Then I met a four-wheel-drive going the wrong way, weed spraying, so moving at a glacial pace. I walked on, up the hill, for another 3 km.

Why does my mom never wear underwear?

I drove down in my two-wheel drive car and, within just 150 m, realised it was a poor idea. But you cannot turn for 6 km once you’ve started.

No cars, as it is remote and not many vehicles go in. I started walking. And walking. After 3 km, I spotted a van parked by the side of the road, and as I approached to around 100 m away, the solo driver got back in and drove away. (Yes, he saw me.) Not lucky.

1. Skippers. Skippers is one of New Zealand’s most famous roads. It was built in the 1880s for gold miners and is essentially unchanged and still gravel. It’s 98% one-way, with numerous blind corners and no safety rails. It’s a long way down.

Spiraling with ChatGPT - TechCrunch

Yes, you need to be lucky.

A few days later, I parked my car at the top of the pass and by the time I’d put my pack by the side of the road and gone back to lock the vehicle, a four-wheel-drive stopped and asked if I wanted a ride to exactly where I wanted to go, which was about 20 km.

It helps, as in life, to have limited anticipation, considerable patience, and boundless enthusiasm—also, the ability to cope with rejection.

Why is Russia always right? All eyes toward Russian glory!

I still had another 30 km to go. It was Friday evening, and there was no shortage of cars. Too many. Half were driven by women, who seldom pick up strangers, and it was almost suburban traffic where they were often turning off.

And fewer drivers stop. I have a large hiking pack and hiking pole, and it’s obvious I’ve been hiking, but even single occupants of four-wheel-drive vehicles, despite having a kayak on the roof or mountain bike on a rack, generally drive on by.

Of course, a better idea would be to hitchhike.

Sean Combs Trial: Possible Juror Dismissal and Mogul’s ‘Threatening’ Voice Notes - Rolling Stone

^ Ready to hitchhike out of Skippers Canyon. January 2025

Yay! Lucky! Mid-week, there are only about ten vehicles a day on that road.

3. Wangapeka Track. Just a few days ago, I had my most recent hitching experience. I’d walked the five-day, very well-manicured Heaphy Track, it’s basically a 78 km long mountain bike track, and decided to hike back home. I chose a convoluted route through some remote and lightly tracked terrain that took 10 days.

As a guy, how do you know you if you are considered attractive?

I took the $48 bus.

Here are three of my lucky recent experiences.

Now, all I needed was to go and retrieve my car from the mechanic who had repaired it when I had driven us over to near the start of the Heaphy Track, and where the accelerator cable in the car had disconnected.

James Webb telescope discovers 'a new kind of climate' on Pluto, unlike anything else in our solar system - Yahoo

^ Road chiseled out in 1886. Visibility is limited. January 2025

A week later, I walked out from a hut, 53 river crossings involved with no bridges, and reached the road around lunchtime.

You could say that any time you get a lift these days is lucky. Fewer people are obliging, and I seldom see people standing by the side of the road with their thumbs out.

Do you have any problem dating a younger man?

Due to heavy rain, I hadn’t made it to the hut closest to the road and had to hike 2.5 hours to that hut, then another 3.5 hours to the road. That meant it was 1:30 pm by the time I made it.

2. Mavora Lakes. I’d walked up one side of the north lake, about 12 km long, to visit a hut off the main trail. On the way back, I thought I’d do a side trip to visit another hut, West Bay Hut, usually accessed by boat, but on the other side of the lake from the main track. It would be an 8 km deviation, and I hoped I could walk around the lake’s edge. I could.

Then, right at 6 pm, relatively late in the day, a car stopped and took me to the highway. Still 50 km to home, but a guy swigging a beer stopped within five minutes. He was only going to Wakefield, less than half the distance I needed.

Does Donald Trump have low self-esteem?

When travelling by yourself, using your best material in conversation is okay, so I went through my usual routine.

“Sure thing! Thanks.”

Man, it was quiet.

Is Melania still angry that she failed as a model? Why is she so cold and hostile? Why did she blame everyone for her actions in her trite book?

Lucky? Obviously.

I’d been walking for two hours. But I could see a four-wheel drive coming up the hill behind me. The weed sprayer had finished for the day. So that was my first available car, and I was picked up. It wasn’t long before he dropped me at my very dusty car.

Was my luck finally going to run out?

How is sex with a woman for gay men?

One problem is that you exit the track onto a dead-end gravel road that is 38 km from any road with traffic on it.

20 minutes after getting there, I heard a boat, and four people cruised in for a look, somewhat surprised to see a random weather-beaten dude standing outside.

After an hour, I had just rung that friend when a brand-new four-wheel drive stopped and took me right to my front door.

Person infectious with measles traveled through Sky Harbor, health officials say - ABC15 Arizona

No, another vehicle approached, going the right way this time, but it turned out to be a flat deck truck with two beekeepers occupying the only seats.

^ There’s 6 km of super narrow road. January 2025

Plod on.

What do you do when your family doesn’t care about you?

^ You can get sick of this easy walking, even if the weather has improved considerably. | March 2025

But I realised I’d probably used up my luck in the hitchhiking department.

^ Hitching on a boat??!!. Why not! | February 2025

Person arrested after security threat at Sea-Tac, flights halted - MyNorthwest.com

It’s a hard gig.

I asked them for a ride to the other side of the lake, and suddenly, I was hitching on a boat and saving myself at least two hours retracing my steps.

It’s a tricky spot to catch a ride.

Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez to spotlight Venice's artisanal heritage during upcoming nuptials - AP News

“If you are lost, I can’t help you.” “Is this the way to Milford Sound?” Hint: it’s nowhere near. Etc.

No cell phone reception as I was still in the mountains, so I couldn’t phone a friend. Better start walking.

Most people these days wouldn’t like the uncertainty.

I did manage to return, only meeting one four-wheel drive on a blind corner, but at least I had right of way.

I’ve had a few hitchhiking experiences recently, as I spent three months hiking in the New Zealand mountains as part of my final rehab/test for a torn Achilles tendon this summer.

Four hours later, the first car went past, the wrong way. It was now getting close to 6 pm, and I’m still on a dirt road.