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:'''''For specific information on each state please check the links at the bottom of this page.'''''
:''Driving in the United States is similar to driving in Canada, but very different from driving in Europe. It is not uncommon for Americans to drive more than an hour each way to work, and 77 percent of Americans drive alone to their jobs... Most states allow people to drive unaccompanied once they have reached the age of 16.'' -[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_in_the_United_States Wikipedia: Driving in the United States]
=== License plates ===
Every state issues its own specific car plates, and most states have several different styles. In some states, the license plate will also show the county of residence. This can be helpful if you spot a car that might be going in the same direction as you. It might also be helpful to write down the license plate number in case of foul play.
''I hitchhiked over 200,000 miles in 50 states of the US, 19 states of Mexico, and 8 provinces of Canada I would say in general that it is easy to hitchhike in all those countries but some of the most difficult places are in America. Each state varies greatly in geography and ease of hitchhiking. In the south, for example it is easier to hop freight trains since the hitching is so difficult. My favorite states for travelers are [[Colorado]], [[California]], [[New Mexico]], [[Oregon]], and [[Arkansas]]. I have hitched alone, and with numbers of other people. Hitchhiking with two people or large equipment like a bicycle or kayak seems to give shortest waits. I would rank hitchhiking as a slightly more risky activity than cycle touring on windy highways with no shoulder. These days I prefer to ride freight trains and motorized bicycles, and I recommend you do the same.'' [[User:Thewindandrain|Thewindandrain]] ([[User talk:Thewindandrain|talk]]) 04:42, 28 October 2012 (CET)
''Hitchhikernick - I crossed have hitched around the US from Boston to San Francisco many times, only 3 short of doing every state 3 times 😁. WOW what can I say, definitely the southern waymost generous nation. The north east is toughI have been given money and bought food so many times without asking, prepare for some waits several times being 100$ bills😁. I'm actually there now on a skiing trip (Feb 2024) and looks as if you were not worth anyonesame thing has happened on this trip. Waiting times have been from instant pickups where I haven's attentiont had time to put my bag down to waiting 2 days consecutively (highway 6 Nevada in Feb 2014). Luckily it gets better soon! Texas was the best state for me, lots of rides even from women, Never spend my own money and basically no waitesalways leave with some money left over 😁. Also California is pretty good to hitchhikeAverage waiting time about 3.5hrs, though more touristsa lot less around ski areas. To all girls - it's definitely safe enough in my opinionDefinitely the only nation where I get checked by the cops, though many times they have proven to be helpful. Some times I was asked have had to walk up the onramp but never got into trouble for sex doing so, if cops arrived they would generally give me a few times by people not understanding hitchhiking muchride to a better spot, never been given a ticket. Definitely some of the greatest experiences too... And drinking and partying with the natives in general - for me waites for longer than Monument valley, hitching and winging a ticket into Burning Man, crusing on a boat around Kachemak Bay and hiking to the magic bus in Europe (when alone I have to hardly wait longer than 10 minutes ever)Alaska, but still camping and hiking around the longest wait during Grand Canyon, Sedona and Yosemite, skiing all big ski resorts, experiencing city life and experiencing life with the whole trip were ~2 hours at homeless to name a bad spotfew... [[user:Nora]]''!!! You could spend a lifetime experiencing, travelling and tasting the USA 😉
[[trash:United States of America]][[nomad:United States]]
→Personal Experiences
|hitch = <rating country='us' />
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[[File:Kasper-hitch-nh.jpg|thumb|250px|[[User:guaka|guaka]]<small><sup>[http://guaka.org/ site], [[User talk:guaka|wikitalk]]</sup></small> hitching in New England, taken by [[User:Amylin|amylin]], September 2007]]
=== Cars ===
There are more than 250 million registered vehicles in the USA, the most of any country. Everyone has a car, and gas is so cheap that people drive everywhere. As a result there are a lot of roads and highways. Sometimes you may need to change your technique to accommodate unfamiliar infrastructure. Sometimes it can be hard to find a place with slow traffic! Although traffic is heavy, hitchhiking is also hard because nobody trusts somebody with no car. (Why don't you have a car? There must be something wrong with you.) It would help to look like a foreigner, but don't go so far as to wave a foreign flag around. Hitchhiking is not as common as in Europe and Latin America, so expect to have to explain yourself, possibly to the police. (See the section on police below).
The main interstates have two or three numbers, as in I-8 or I-76. Offshoots or ring roads will have a preceeding digit, for example, I-295, which runs along I-95.
== Methods for catching rides ==
=== Police ===
Many police in this country have arrest quotas, not to mention many police (not all!) are assholes. That being said, you may encounter an officer of the law who is a rather enthusiastic about giving you a hard time. Keep in mind that even foreigners have rights, such as the right to refuse being searched. For good information about dealing with the police, check out [https://www.flexyourrights.org]. /
Being in a state which permits hitchhiking does not guarantee that the police will not harass you. Most police don't know the laws and will tell you it is illegal to hitchhike in that state. [[User:Thewindandrain|Thewindandrain]] argues with cops on a regular basis and refuses to stop hitchhiking where it is legal. He has been innocently arrested for this twice, but has remained confident and never been taken to jail even after being cuffed and in the car and continuing to stand up for his rights. They are usually bluffing right to the very end. If you know the law in that state, don't be afraid to tell the police they are wrong!
''Haven't hitched extensively there, but where I have, the experiences have been unique. I've hitched Oregon to Mexico along the famous highway 101. I also hitched from Oregon to Chicago on i90 in the dead of winter. Lots of clothes for that one, and a warm place to retreat to at every stop. The most remarkable thing about hitching in the States is that you get picked up by REALLY interesting people. Not all the time. But our beloved weirdos are more common in the US than anywhere else I've hitched. Regardless of what you think about the States, it's easily one of the most interesting places to hitchhike, especially if you LIKE adventure.'' - [[User:Chael777|Chael]]
''Have hitchhiked moderately in US, about 9,000 miles(including ferries and train hopping). Its a diverse country so generalizing a state or even a county(as I have been picked up in the most conservative counties) would not be right. I have been picked up by really awesome people(some of them are now my friends), Friendly cops(who offered me water and money) to discriminatory cops(who just wanted to get rid of me), people who turned out to be gay(asked sexual favors), bored people looking for a good conversation(what you have to do is just listen and and ask question to acknowledge that you are listening), people who saw me as a curious and tired foreigner etc. It was a great experience and helped me learn a lot about the culture here. One thing I learned is that if you are having fun then you get picked up easily as compared to when you are not. My personal favorite states are [[Alaska]] and [[Missouri]].'' - [[User:Keep_trying|Tarun]]
''I hitchhiked over 200,000 miles in 50 states of the US, 19 states of Mexico, and 8 provinces of Canada I would say in general that it is easy to hitchhike in all those countries but some of the most difficult places are in America. Each state varies greatly in geography and ease of hitchhiking. In the south, for example it is easier to hop freight trains since the hitching is so difficult. My favorite states for travelers are [[Colorado]], [[California]], [[New Mexico]], [[Oregon]], and [[Arkansas]]. I have hitched alone, and with numbers of other people. Hitchhiking with two people or large equipment like a bicycle or kayak seems to give shortest waits. I would rank hitchhiking as a slightly more risky activity than cycle touring on windy highways with no shoulder. These days I prefer to ride freight trains and motorized bicycles, and I recommend you do the same.'' - [[User:Thewindandrain|Thewindandrain]] ''I hitchhiked from Panama to the US, intending to go through the whole of the US by hitchhiking with my little brother. I cannot recommend to hitchhike in pairs. It takes _days_ to find rides. We looked like regular guys, did 20k+ miles in more than 10 countries. If you do it, do it alone.'' - Summer '14 ''I crossed the US from Boston to San Francisco the southern way. The north east is tough, prepare for some waits and looks as if you were not worth anyone's attention. Luckily it gets better soon! Texas was the best state for me, lots of rides even from women, and basically no waites. Also California is pretty good to hitchhike, though more tourists. To all girls - it's definitely safe enough in my opinion, though I was asked for sex a few times by people not understanding hitchhiking much. And in general - for me waites for longer than in Europe (when alone I have to hardly wait longer than 10 minutes ever), but still the longest wait during the whole trip were ~2 hours at a bad spot.'' - [[user:Nora|Nora]] ''These experiences are from a voyage undertaken during Autumn of 2023. Approximately 6 weeks in length, 41 rides, 3000 miles. Los Angeles to New Orleans with lots of detours. For context, I am young, male, Asian, clean shaven and have short hair. I travelled with only a backpack. It was difficult to get rides, whether I was standing on an onramp, walking on the interstate, asking at gas stations, waiting after traffic lights, standing on the shoulder etc. I tried pretty much every method of hitching, and would like to say none of them have good chances of getting a ride quickly. For me, it was an even split between getting rides easily (matter of minutes) and waiting HOURS for rides. There is no State that was particularly easy, not even California along the 1 and 101 was easy, in fact some of my longest waits were in California. But of course, no one goes to the US and expects hitching to be smooth sailing. Public opinion towards hitchhikers is terrible, the vast majority don't give a damn who you are, where you're from and where you're trying to get to. Expect to be given ugly looks and get used to being ignored, since people see you as just another homeless person, which you are. Asking at gas stations is arduous, people are often scared and a lot simply won't take you no matter how nicely you ask. Mexicans will save you time and time again, they are often the only people who will pick you up on the side of the interstate or will actually hear you out at a gas station. Asking Mexicans or other Latinos in Spanish works beautifully, even a couple phrases will get you a vastly more positive response than using English. I often freedom camped in towns and rural areas, never in cities though. No bad experiences from that, but it does get cold. I preferred hitching at on ramps over gas stations just because I didn't want to run the goddamn gauntlet everytime I approached someone. Walking along the Interstate is an act of desperation, I don't recommend it (but have done it many times) because it is FUCKING DANGEROUS, and loud. Now the good parts: The people who do give you rides will be fucking AMAZING. Food, weed, beer, work, money, parties, couches to surf, fishing invites, intriguing conversations, crazy people, funny people, random people. WOW. The US has got it all, a kaleidescope of humanity in overflowing abundance. When that ride finally comes, it will be awesome so HANG IN THERE. Cops didn't care if they were driving past and I was on an onramp but State troopers will give you a hard time if you're on an interstate, I got two rides from cops to their county border and also had the police called on me thanks to some Karen in Texas. Racism is to be expected in the South if you're a person of colour, but the blacks will be so much more friendlier if you aren't white. I was never threatened or harmed, but most of my drivers were terrible at driving, some drank, some were high. Be wary of that. In conclusion, this country is NOT a walk in the park to hitch. It's hard. You'll need determination, the patience of a saint and a little courage, but it'll pay off. Trust me.''-The Falling Leaf.
== Links ==
Analyses of hitchhiking in the USA by [[User:Korn|Korn]] on warmroads.de [https://warmroads.de/en/hitchhiking-in-19-the-usa/ - Hitchhiking in the USA.]
== Nomadwiki & Trashwiki ==
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{{IsIn|North America}}
[[Category:United States| ]]
