Women of reddit, would you ever hitchhike? Why or why not

35 comments

1. No, I enjoy living and not being assaulted

2. Nope. I like getting to my destination alive.

3. Uh no. Well… Idk maybe. .. depends how far I’m stuck out in the middle of nowhere I suppose. Either way I can die 😂

4. Nah I’d rather not be murdered.

5. Absolutely not, I like being alive!

6. Have. Did it out of pure desperation, I was homeless and needed to get our of where I was because it wasn’t safe

   I feel relatively safe asking other women for a ride

7. Hell no. With the way people act today!? Nope

8. No, I’d rather not be raped or killed.

9. Nope. I watch too much true crime. Ain’t nobody gonna kill me.

10. Nope, I don’t trust that nothing gona happen

11. No, but that’s because I don’t trust strangers’ driving. There are a lot of people out there who shouldn’t have a drivers license, and I’d rather not get in a car with one of them.

    I cannot recall a single murder of a hitchhiker in my country, so I wouldn’t be the slightest worried about that.

12. Personally, no. I’ve done a lot of solo travel and I don’t think I would ever consider hitchhiking. I think safety is paramount and has to be put first. When you’re hitchhiking, you really don’t know what you’re getting yourself into or who the strangers picking you up are.

    Some people have good experiences hitchhiking, but I don’t think they outweigh some of the horrifying things that happen.

13. No. Sounds like a recipe for disaster and getting raped or assaulted.

14. I have before when I was really desperate and stuck somewhere. But I walked to a gas station and asked people there so I could see who I was asking before they stopped.

15. I have hitchhiked a lot. Mainly as a 16 year old girl and there is an abundance of absolute lunatics who enjoy picking up hitchhikers. Speaking from experience, a weird bible thumper with an axe and shovel in his backseat telling us we should have more clothing on, an old lady who wouldn’t stop when we asked her to so we jumped out when she slowed down and ran to the gas station to where she followed us and tried to pretend to this group of guys we ran to for help that she was our grandma to get us back in the car. Another man tried to force my friend and I to give him a blowjob at our destination or he wouldn’t let us go but we escaped and screamed pedophile. I’ve never seen a man drive off as fast as he did. Another couple of men picked me up when I was 15. They were mid 30’s.. they took me to their campsite, got me extremely drunk and had their way with me which you think would have taught me a lesson. Do NOT hitch hike. Just don’t do it. I have a daughter now and if I ever find out she has hitch hiked I will kick her f**** ass.

16. I did with a friend when I was drunk and a teenager, luckily we lived in a small town so it ended up being one of our friends’ dad haha. But now I would never.

17. I have participated in a few hitch hiking competitions (the team that gets there fastest wins), and it was fun. Mind you, I live in western Europe where hitch hiking is a fairly popular thing to do among twenty-somethings. I always partnered with a male friend, too.

    I had one solo experience when I missed my bus stop in Turkey and ended up by a highway at 1 AM because the bus driver was an absolute jerk-off. Got picked up by a Syrian truck driver who luckily turned out very nice and non-murderous, and drove his truck along tiny dirt roads to deliver me right to my mother’s doorstep. I still wouldn’t recommend the experience. Best stick to German gas stations during daylight with a male friend.

18. i used to hichhike all the time, sometimes with friend sometimes alone…I never had any issue in 4 years of hitchhiking …its was great

19. depends on the country. Japan? sure, maybe. USA? Absolutely not.

20. Not unless I was desperate and almost certainly not alone. For reasons outlined many times in these replies

21. Did it once when I was young and stupid.

    Had a job interview but my car had broken down. It was a good 45 minute walk in the heat of summer. By the halfway point I was sweaty, stinky, and my makeup had started running. I was at risk for being late to the interview and started getting concerned they would see a disheveled irresponsible person arrive.

    A car pulled over and asked where I was headed and if I needed a ride. The guy seemed nice enough so I jumped in. I was very lucky he drove me straight to where I needed but asked for my number in return.

    Now I felt obligated and gave it to him. The next day he called me 3x in a span of a few hours leaving me increasingly frustrated voicemails that I ‘used’ him for a ride bc I wasn’t returning his calls.

    It’s men like this who really aren’t as ‘nice’ as they seem. It’s men like this who make me not want to accept any friendly favors or acts of kindness from males. A female wouldn’t expect a date in exchange for lending me a tampon.

    I blocked his number and never spoke to him again praying he wouldn’t show up at my interview site bc I did end up getting the job. A year or two later he saw me on social media on a friends account and bad mouthed me to her. It really burned his ego that I just wasn’t interested after his “nice gesture”.

22. I did as a teenager growing up in WA state with a few others and once alone in College in Long Beach. Also, once with my husband, kayaking on the Eel River when we were dating. I am still alive, no harm happened! This was also two-three decades ago.

23. I have hitchhiked while on long backpacking trips. It was always on a road to a small town, and the people who live there know about us long distance hikers. I have found people who live in small towns are more likely pick up people, as they “get it.”

    Would I on a highway or near a city? I suppose it depends on the situation, but probably not.

24. Only if the driver is a woman, because I’d feel more safe.

25. Unless I was trying to get away from a homicidal maniac or was stranded in the wilderness and needed a cocoa cola; no.

26. I want to say no, but I have gotten into cars with strangers before so obviously I’m pretty stupid

27. If I’m alone, never. I rather walk. I would be paranoid and anxious the whole ride. I absolutely don’t have faith in strangers and as women we sadly all know the risks. I’m already anxious when I’m walking home alone at night, so locked in a car with a stranger and no way of controlling the destination no thanks.

    If I’m with friends (female or male) I could, as a last resort. I would feel a bit more secure if we are at least two passengers but again, that would have to be a really desperate situation.

28. I have in the past when my car broke down. I declined the first offer that came along because he gave me bad vibes. Second guy passed the initial check and didn’t murder me, so that was a win.

29. No, because men.

30. I have.

31. No, I live on a continent with pretty good public transport.

32. I have before and it was fine, but there’s a very tiny chance that I would ever be in a place where I couldn’t just take the bus or other public transport instead.

33. I have. But would only do it in extreme situations. Almost every dude that stopped to pick me up wondered if “I wanted to party”. No thanks.

34. Absolutely not. It’s how people take advantage of you when you’re vulnerable

35. There are worse things than death:

    Colleen Stan was hitchhiking from Oregon to California when kidnapped and held for seven years and up to 23hrs a day in a wood box no bigger than a coffin under his bed, when he wasn’t raping and torturing her.

    So, it’s gonna be a no from me.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Colleen_Stan