Alan

Posted on by

As I was standing on the on-ramp to I-66 leaving Haymarket, VA holding a “FRONT ROYAL” sign, my spirits were high. I was enjoying the cooler weather and just had a pleasant conversation with my dad on the phone.  I was in a dancing mood, which is good news for those long waits for a ride.  This was also good because it didn’t seem like much traffic was moving in my direction.  To my surprise a mere 30 minutes into my wait a car stopped and an excited young man with quite a lot of hair and a tie die shirt motioned me over to his car.  I ran over to his car and asked where he was headed.  “Front Royal, man, the same place you are!” Perfect. I’d be getting to Shenandoah today for sure.

As I got in the car I heard a good Gorillaz song playing in the background and we talked about our reasons for heading to Front Royal.  I explained my trip and that I planned to spend two days in Shenandoah hiking.  He told me he was meeting his friend Dalanie to go hiking for two days as well, but somewhere else.  By this time my favorite band Modest Mouse was playing so I complimented his taste in music.  We were soon talking about music and it was nice finding out we had similar tastes.  He said Dalanie made him the CD he was listening to and asked if I’d be willing to wait until Dalanie arrived because he knew she’d love to meet me.  Of course I said yes.  He then asked what I’d be doing for food while in Shenandoah, and I told him I planned to do a bit of grocery shopping.  That’s when he really blew my mind and offered to buy me groceries.

When we arrived in Front Royal we went to Target and did a bit of shopping.  I realized seeing when Alan outside of the car that he was basically a giant as he towered above me.  A gentle giant though, because he was such a nice guy.  I bought some Campbell’s soup in a bag, trail mix, and a little bit of fruit.  I didn’t want to abuse his offer to buy me groceries, so I skipped the Mountain Dew I was craving and kept it at just enough groceries for the next two days.

We finished up and went back to his car and waited for Dalanie.  He warned me that Dalanie’s mom, who was dropping her off, probably wouldn’t be cool with the idea of Dalanie getting in a car with a hitchhiker, so he asked me to sit in the back behind the tinted window when she was due to arrive (sorry Dalanie’s mom!).  I totally understood so I hung out in the back seat.  While we waited Alan’s mom called and asked what he was up to.  Alan never mentioned he picked up a hitchhiker on his was out to meet up with Dalanie.  He humorously said “Well, I picked up a hitchhiker and he killed me.”  She laughed and said alright and that was the end of the conversation.  Alan said he’d tell her later the details of our meeting, but for now this truth hidden in a joke would have to do.

When Dalanie arrived I hung out in the back seat.  The plan was going well until they had to put some stuff in the back of the car and Dalanie noticed me and said “oh, there’s a guy in your car.”  Crap, think quick!  I turned around and introduced myself as “his friend” because I didn’t want to say I’m Alan’s friend and have forgotten his name was actually Alex.. which it wasn’t, but that’d have been bad. Dalanie was cool with the response and I made sure to smile extra friendly to her mom, and she bought it.  I mean, I wasn’t lying.  I did consider Alan my friend at this point.

Dalanie’s mom headed off and Dalanie hopped in the car.  We debriefed her on who I was and her response was simple, “cool, nice to meet you!”  We were off to drop me off across town at the entrance to Shenandoah.  When we got there I offered to get them into the park for free with my National Park pass, and as we got to the front gate I found out I left the darn card at home!  I felt bad, but they were okay with it.  They dropped me off at the entrance and we said our goodbyes and took a picture together.  I was disappointed to see them go, but we both had places to go and things to do, so that marked the end of our few hours together.

Alan’s a great guy and Dalanie a cool gal, and I was so happy to meet the two of them.  I wish them the very best.

IMG_2344

CouchSurfing: Julio

Posted on by

On the first day of my trip I learned that to properly CouchSurf, one must put out requests earlier in the day.  On my third day I thought I had a place to stay in Fairfax, VA, but on my arrival to Burke twenty minutes away after slugging out of DC, I found out that was no longer available.

Time for plan B.

I went to a nearby IHOP to use their WiFi, which they so kindly allowed me to take up a booth at dinner time to do, and got onto CouchSurfing.net and looked for nearby couches that were available.  I informed the hosts of what I was doing and that I’d really appreciate a ride from Burke to their home. I put out five different requests and within about five minutes this guy named Julio gave me a call.  He told me he could come pick me up in about an hour in Burke and bring me to his house for the night.

So I blogged for a bit and Julio gave me a call when he arrived.  He told me he was going over to Boston Market to grab some dinner so I went over there to meet him.  When I arrived he introduced himself and asked if I wanted dinner.  Of course, I was rather hungry so I accepted.  He gladly bought my dinner within moments of meeting me, I was really surprised.  I was happy enough to be able to get him to pick me up and let me stay in his home, but he just exuded hospitality.

On the way back to his house he explained to me his situation.  We would go back to his house and eat, but then he’d need to leave me there to go help his friend move some stuff.  So not only was he kind enough to buy me dinner, but now he was trusting me alone in his home.

As we arrived at his home he offered his scooter for me to ride around if there was anywhere I cared to go.  It was unbelievable.  He just had total trust in me.  I didn’t have anywhere to go, but I almost wanted to just ride it around to ride it around because it was pretty cool.

IMG_2337

As we were eating dinner we talked about our lives and I found out we have a mutual interest in woodworking.  He has a wood shop in his garage where he works on various projects.  A short time later a friend of his stopped by.  She had recently gone through some troubles and he was letting her crash on his couch for a few days. She was waiting for a friend of hers to come pick her up so she didn’t need to keep staying at his place.  Julio had to get going so he left and Stacy, which I think was her name, and I chatted for a bit.  She told me about how kind and helpful Julio was.  She was pretty cool herself because no matter how much I tried to tell her she didn’t need to, she made a bed up for me, got me a towel for my shower in the morning, and told me I could have her leftovers in the fridge for breakfast.

Eventually her ride arrived and I was alone in Julio’s house.  How unusual.  I watched some TV and finished up my blogs and Julio eventually came home and brought me some orange juice for the morning.  We watched Comedy Central for awhile and eventually we were both off to bed.  He told me he’d need to leave early for work, but to feel free to sleep in as long as I’d like and leave whenever.  I took him up on that because sleep is awesome and in the morning I woke up to an empty house.

I wanted to do something nice for him, so I washed the couple of dishes in the sink as I drank orange juice and nibbled on some leftover Indian food from two nights before (one cannot be picky when Traveling on Kindness).  I made the bed and did my best to keep his house in as good of condition as when I got there. I left a little note about how I appreciated his hospitality and was on my way.

Julio is a fantastic individual and I hope my future CouchSurfing experiences are as great as this one.

IMG_2326

Cabbage Patch Kid

Posted on by

One of the clear problems with my mode of transportation is that I’m completely reliant upon finding a person who is not only willing to pick me up, but is going from where I am to where I want to go. It’s especially tricky when you need to take multiple roads to your destination because more than likely you’ll have to look for a new ride once each road intersects.  On day one I had a place to stay in Frederick, MD but my friend was unable to come pick me up.  My ride was kind enough to go out of his way to drop me off at a decent location on the intersecting road I was going onto that he wasn’t.  Sadly it was getting late and no one seemed to be going where I was going.  I was only 30 minutes from a nice place to stay and the chance to see an old friend, but that’s the nature of hitchhiking, you’ll not always get where you want to go in the time frame you want.

I spent the next few hours hanging out in a McDonalds enjoying the AC and Wi-Fi while putting out couch requests and contacting other people I knew in the vicinity. Sadly, none of it panned out so it was time for my backup to all other backup plans: find a place to set up camp for the night. I took a look at Google Maps and found a nice patch of woods a block away from where I was that seemed to be a no man’s land between some businesses and a residential area. I packed up my stuff then headed towards it around 11 PM.  I wandered into the wooded area and found that it was full of these large bushy things that I didn’t really know anything about.  It seemed like a pretty good place to set up camp though, so I went in far enough that I wasn’t (too) visible to the outside world and knocked down a few plants to clear a spot for my tent.  The plants were rather tall so they somewhat camouflaged me from the outside world.  I set up my tent which took no time at all, threw my gear inside and called it a night.

I remembered when I walked into the patch that I smelled the hint of a skunk nearby, but I figured my presence in the area would have it move off.  What I never considered was that there was no skunk, and that the large bushy things were the source of the odor.  In the morning when I woke up to the sound of my neighbor working on their car and a guy mowing the lawn in front of his business, the scent still lingered and I noticed my tent smelled a little strange as I was packing it up.  I sent my dad a picture of my location that night and he responded back, “Interesting terrain.  Sort of looks like skunk cabbage plants.”  Oops.  As it turned out this was indeed a skunk cabbage patch and that odor often lingers on stuff it comes in contact with.  Luckily it only seemed to cling to my tent, so I’m hoping whenever I use it next that it will air out.

It’s funny how you can figure out much more complicated matters and completely overlook something as obvious as “that’s a strange smell, maybe it’s coming from the things you’re completely surrounded by.”  The learning curve has definitely begun.

Slugging

Posted on by

Last night I spent the night in DC with my great friend Sam.  I was warned several times that if I ended up in DC I’d have a heck of a time getting out.  I took my chances because Sam is awesome and I wanted to see her.  In the morning I set out to head towards the interstate and realized it was indeed an awful idea and it’d take forever to get there and likely even harder to get a ride.  The night before I looked up “hitchhiking in DC” and a few things came up. The first was a complicated process using a metro and a bus to a highway with a specific location to stand.  The second was this process called slugging.  It’s a community of commuters who have organized routes in and out of the city at certain times of the day free of charge.  I could get pretty well outside of the city as long as I’d be willing to spend the day in the city until outbound rides started around 3:30.  So I went to the national mall to enjoy the free attractions.  There was conveniently a “slug line,” which is just the term for the line of people waiting for a ride,  two blocks away from where I was, so it worked out perfectly.

While I was waiting in a slug line to Burke, VA, I spoke with a gentleman who has been slugging for several years.  He told me a big part of the gig is that it allows you to avoid rush hour traffic by using the HOV lanes.  The commuters get the obvious advantage of getting a free, quick ride into and out of the city.  The drivers get the advantage of a faster drive into the city.  The whole community gets the advantage of less vehicles on the road and less parking getting taken up. I asked him if drivers switched around from time to time, and he explained that most slug drivers have a parking space provided by their place of employment, so generally the same group of people are the drivers all the time.

I really liked the idea of this process, and was excited to see how popular it was.  I think when I got to the line at the very beginning of the shift, there were about 10 people in line.  I waited maybe ten minutes before it was my turn to grab a ride to Burke. By the time I left quite a few more people had arrived, but I think they weren’t going to have any trouble getting rides because cars were coming by every two or three minutes.  With the 10 locations or so to line up throughout the city, I’d venture to guess there are somewhere around one thousand sluggers in the DC area.  But that’s just a guess.

One thing I didn’t like about the process was one of the unwritten rules, which I educated myself about before I started slugging.  It was that you do not talk unless the driver initiates conversation.  To me, it took away from the community aspect of it and made it seem like purely a business transaction.  Plus is was kind of weird because I was getting into a really nice car with a very professional looking guy and wanted to explain why I was there.  He didn’t seem to mind though and as our quiet ride continued I began to appreciate this rule.  You don’t have to worry about forcing a 20-30 minute conversation after a long day of work and it gives you a time to reflect and relax.  I thanked my driver and gave him one of my cards with a message on the back about how I’d like to know his story about why he does it and how he feels about the whole process.

So overall, at the very least it’s a great resource for hitchhikers to get a decent distance outside of the city.  I think it’s a really great resource to make everyone’s commute a lot quicker.  It’s not quite as “kind” of a community as I originally thought, but it’s still a fantastic example of people coming together on their own to improve their way of life and have mutual benefits without any exchange of money.  That’s pretty cool.

Prayers Answered

Posted on by

On my very first day of Traveling on Kindness, I got picked up by eight different people.  Of them, two of them would be considered “bible bangers.”  These types of people are the kind of person who will pick up a hitchhiker with the intention of pushing them towards (typically) Christianity.  I was warned about this phenomena, but I don’t really understand what the big deal is.  You’re getting a ride from them, if part of the criteria for that ride is to hear about that person’s faith, so be it.  I’ve got nothing against religion, and enjoy conversations about it.  I’m not religious myself, but I’ve explored faith and just haven’t ever found what I’m looking for.  I also love to accept prayers, because you never know – maybe they do get answered.

Which leads me into what happened with my last two hitches of day one.  I was standing at a spot for quite some time, most people were kind of smiling and thinking “what the heck is this guy doing?” as they passed me, but I kept my head high, maybe danced a little bit to keep myself busy, and continued to wait with my thumb held high because I was “Going South.”  Eventually this gentleman picked me up and after I explained what I was doing he immediately asked if it was religious in nature.  Here we go.  Of course, my intentions are not religious in nature, so then he started giving me the spiel.  I appreciated the information and liked how finding out how accepting Jesus Christ as his personal savior changed his life.  I guess he used to be a criminal and found the lord and changed his ways.  When he dropped me off he asked if he could pray for me.  I kindly accepted; hitching sometimes relies on miracles.  He said a prayer and hoped I’d find Jesus and to have him watch over me.  I thanked him and I went on my way.  He dropped me off at an exit on I-83 and I went to the on ramp to find my next ride.

It was starting to get late and the sun was setting over the trees.  The spot he dropped me at wasn’t very good.  There wasn’t much traffic and I was starting to think I’d be stranded there for the night.  A pretty significant amount of time went by (how long I didn’t keep track of) and I started thinking “so much for that prayer.” To top it off a state policeman came up the ramp and pulled over.  He wanted to chat.  I went over to the vehicle and started talking to him.  Every other police officer who drove past me that day was very friendly and just oiwaved and drove off.  He wasn’t exactly friendly.  He asked me what I was dng and I explained to him that I was hitchhiking.  I told him I knew hitchhiking on the interstate is illegal so I was making sure to stick to the on ramps.  He asked about my shirt and I explained that I started in Reading, PA and had been hitchhiking all day.  He continued to ask questions in such a manner as to try and get me to admit to doing something wrong, which I hadn’t.  After the third or fourth time I answered a question he asked in just a slightly different way, a car pulled up right in front of the officer and reversed quite close to the officer to really say “hey, look, come over here dude, I’m ten feet away!”  The officer asked me if I knew who that was and I told him, “No, I don’t, sir.  I believe he is offering me a ride though so I’m going to go over there and speak with him now.”  I then asked if that was alright with him, he unhappily said okay and I went over to the vehicle.  The driver was a younger guy who seemed really cool, he was going pretty far south and told me I could tag along.

I told my ride about what I was doing  and asked him why he decided to pick me up.  He told me he could tell I was a hitchhiker and that his parents met hitchhiking back in the 70s.  He knew the cop was giving me a hard time and wanted to help.  I was really appreciative of it all and he was kind enough to take me about a half hour south into Maryland – which was the farthest ride of the day.  I didn’t quite get to where I was trying to go, but he dropped me off at a good spot for where I was trying to go.  Oh, and his name was Noah.

So yeah, I got a prayer from a guy about finding Jesus and then got saved from an unpleasant police officer by a guy named Noah an hour or so later.  That’s just totally a coincidence.

…Totally.

What’s in the Bag?

Posted on by

All of my supplies for Traveling on Kindness

Having never backpacked (or hitchhiked) ((or lived without money)) before, it took awhile for me to figure out what all I needed to spend my summer Traveling on Kindness.  I did some research on backpacking and hitchhiking gear, and used some of my own knowledge of things I personally find important, and came together with my gear.  There are a few items that are probably unnecessary, but all of my friends know that I always come prepared and if anyone will have it, I will.  It’ll be interesting to see what my gear looks like at the end of the summer.

So here we go, a list of my gear:

  • Osprey Ariel 65 hiking pack (for $30!!!)
  • Eureka Solitaire tent
  • Eureka Silver City 30 degree sleeping bag
  • Clothing
    • 3 Traveling on Kindness t-shirts (thanks 29 Graphix!)
    • 1 pair of long pants
    • 1 pair of long pants that convert into shorts
    • 5 pairs of socks
    • 4 pairs of underwear
    • 1 Underarmor shirt
    • 1 pair of gloves
    • Sweatshirt
    • Rainjacket
    • Hat
    • Cool owl bandana
    • 1 pair of hiking boots
    • 1 pair of flip flops
  • 2 1L Nalgene bottles
  • MSR MiniWorks water filter
  • Small propane tank
  • MSR MicroRocket propane stove
  • Mess kit
  • Leatherman
  • Swiss Army knife
  • First Aid Kit / Gear Repair Kit
  • Sunscreen
  • Safety flair
  • Hand warmer
  • Netbook
  • Duct tape
  • Parachute cord
  • Toilet paper
  • Zune
  • iPhone
  • Solar charger
  • “Car supply kit” with various charging cables for my electronics
  • Headlamp
  • Flashlight
  • Journal
  • Carabiners
  • MRE
  • Hygiene
    • Toothbrush
    • Toothpaste
    • Soap
    • Shampoo
    • Nail clippers
    • Deodorant
    • Listerine
    • Small towel
  • Dry Box
    • Passport
    • Traveling on Kindness cards
    • AAA batteries
    • Advil
    • Water purification tablets
    • Tick remover (I’m a wimp when it comes to ticks)
    • 8GB USB drive
    • Lighters
    • All-weather matches
    • Kindling sticks
    • Gum
    • 2 cigars
    • Big Sharpie marker
    • Gum

That’s pretty much everything I think.  I feel like I probably over packed a bit, but I’m sure as I travel I will figure out what truly is unnecessary and part ways with it.  I think at the very least these supplies will get me through my daily activities.

Why Traveling on Kindness?

Posted on by

I’ve had several people ask me now – what made you decide you wanted to “travel on kindness”?  Well, it’s sort of been a culmination of a lot of things.  For one, I love to travel.  I’ve driven to the west coast, (half-way) to Alaska, and taken a motorcycle trip out to Las Vegas.  They’ve all been pretty fun, but there were two things about them I didn’t care for.  We took the trips way too quickly to really get a feel for the areas we visited, and let’s be frank – driving is expensive!  Even more expensive when you drive an SUV that gets 14.5 MPG highway if you’re lucky.  I wanted to get away from the quick 2-3 weeks trips I’ve done in the past, really meet and get to know the people I run into, and avoid the money hole of a gas tank to fill.

Something else about me is that I’m extroverted.  I love interacting with people.  However, I’m awful at starting a conversation with someone I don’t know, and typically stick to interacting with people I already know.  I’ve had the same three friends who I hang out with for years now and maybe a fourth person added to the mix from time to time.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re great and we enjoy each other’s company immensely, but I feel like I’m missing out on something.  I’ve wanted to overcome my difficulty with interacting with strangers, and what better way to do that than need to rely on interaction with strangers to make it from day to day?  Well, there are probably better ways… but this one is more fun (right?).

One of the things I’ve noticed about people, and I have a feeling this is an American trend, or maybe a trend in my local area, but Americans seem to be afraid of everything.  We’re always freaking out about things that people didn’t think twice about 40 years ago.  The first things out of everyone’s mouth when I even mention this trip are “You’re going to get murdered!”; “You’re going to get raped!”;  or at the very least I get a “That’s scary!  How are you not scared of doing that?”  You talk to most anyone and they’ll tell you not to pick up hitchhikers because they’ll probably kill you.  The fact of the matter is, most of them are no different than I am.  Just a dude or gal traveling without a vehicle.  They’re no more scary than anyone else.  They just have a big backpack and their thumb sticking out.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m well aware of that fact that there are whack jobs that I need to be mindful of, but I feel I’m taking plenty of steps to protect myself from the crazies.  I’m looking forward to proving that there is far more kindness around us than bad intentions.

Another thing, until about 8 months ago, I’ve had a girlfriend pretty much solidly since I was 14.  That kind of changes the whole way you view the world and live your life.  It’s been really weird adjusting to the single life for me; you can just ask my ex-girlfriend – I definitely went into it kicking and screaming (metaphorically… mostly).  It’s not exactly a shining moment in my life, but it’s one of those things you figure out and get past.  I’m pretty well adjusted now, and being single lets you do cool things like traveling for three months with no money without any concern of an unhappy girlfriend.  Plus it totally eliminates the daily calls you get about how you’re a jerk for not bringing them or wanting to go home and try and fix things with your ex-girlfriend who thought it was a great idea to dump you unexpectantly the day before you left on your trip.  Not that I have ever experienced that and am still bitter or anything.  So yeah, I think a trip like this is a great way to solidify the fact that there isn’t anything wrong with being single and has lots of perks.  Oh, and ladies, I’m single. That’s right.  Accepting dates where you pay for the next three months because, well, I ain’t got no money.

Lastly, a couple books I’ve read and films I’ve watched have continued to build up my desire to do this.  First, I saw this movie called Into the Wild.  I’m sure this movie must not be well known, because not every single person I talk to about my trip brings it up like I might not have heard of it before doing a trip like the one I’m doing.  Yes, he dies at the end.  I’m aware.  But you know you thought the first half of the movie where he’s traveling the country with nothing and running into all sorts of interesting characters was about the coolest thing ever and you thought to yourself “I want to do that.”  The only difference between you and I is that I remember saying “I’m going to do that,” which was promptly rebutted by my girlfriend at the time saying something like “not a chance.”  Which was awfully depressing… and made me want to do it more.  A year or so later I read this great book called A Walk Across America by Peter Jenkins.  It’s a really fantastic true story about Peter Jenkins walking to Louisiana from the New England area with his dog.  It was awesome it further fueled my desire to do something similar.  I actually started “training” to do a walk across America with a friend, but one training day later, twenty miles under our feet, and ten blisters on our feet, we said screw that.  And finally, most recently, I watched this fantastic documentary called Craigslist Joe.  Joe traveled the country and lived for one full month solely off what he could acquire through Craigslist.  Once the documentary ended, I just turned to my friends and said “That’s what I’m doing this summer.”

So this combination of factors is the long version of why I’m Traveling on Kindness this summer.  And if you skipped all that and are just reading this last paragraph – the short version is, “because it’s an awesome idea.”