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Many Americans have a limited worldview. (I can say this because I am one.) We think there are two places in the world: America and other places. Don't waste your time explaining that "American" is an incorrect demonym. And get used to our senseless system of measurement. It's a part of our culture.

Relatively quite Despite a few large number of immigrants all across the country, most Americans are still curious about people from different parts of the world, fascinated by foreign accents, and eager to introduce visitors to American culture. Despite an undercurrent of xenophobia and racism in rural parts of the country, Americans tend to have a pragmatic view towards foreigners: Americans might profoundly dislike your country of origin, but they will rarely hold that against you as an individual. Relative to other Western countries, people in the rural United States are profoundly religious. People who pick you up might inquire about your religion. If you're not religious, try to deal with it in a positive way and accept the difference. Despite a level of religious intolerance much higher than in Europe, Americans tend to have a pragmatic approach to people of unfamiliar religious backgrounds: Americans tend not to judge you badly even if they might be suspicious of your religion.

:''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]

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).

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]. /

== Hitchhiking Books Personal Experiences ==

Rather than [[File:Unitedstateshitchhiking.jpg|thumb|400px|''Relative Ease of Hitchhiking Each State of America (based on a genre survey of its ownhitchhikers with 114,000 miles cumulative experience.)''.<br> Green: Easy <br> Yellow: Average <br> Red: Difficult]] ''Haven't hitched extensively there, but where I have, hitchhiking books probably fit better 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 genre 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 alternative travel bookswhat you think about the States, with Jack Kerouac’s On The Roadit'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, Bill Bryson’s A Walk 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 Woods 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 Robert Pirsig’s Zen 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 Art of Motorcycle Maintenanceculture 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]]

Redwood ''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 Deadwood describes Flaherty’s 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 trip across America. 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 know how hitchhiked from Panama to cook muskratthe US, squiirrel and rockchuckintending to go through the whole of the US by hitchhiking with my little brother. And oh yeaI 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, I almost got killeddo it alone.”'' - Summer '14

''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 Analyses of winter. Lots of clothes for that one, and a warm place to retreat to at every stop. The most remarkable thing about hitching hitchhiking in the States is that you get picked up USA by REALLY interesting people[[User:Korn|Korn]] on warmroads. Not all the timede [https://warmroads. But our beloved weirdos are more common de/en/hitchhiking-in -19-the US than anywhere else I've hitched. Regardless of what you think about -usa/ - Hitchhiking in the States, it's easily one of the most interesting places to hitchhike, especially if you LIKE adventureUSA.'' - [[User:Chael777|Chael]]