hitchhiking
Thumbing for rides
Hitchhiking is traveling by soliciting free rides from passing motorists, typically by standing at a roadside with thumb extended.
Once a common and socially accepted practice, it declined sharply in the late twentieth century amid safety concerns.
We hitchhiked across the country one summer.
The compound hitchhiker appears in science: a hitchhiker gene travels along with a selected gene during breeding.
Mechanism for vertical transport
- driverVehicle operator
- passengerTraveler, not operator
- pickupSmall open-bed truck
- dropoffAbrupt descent point
destination · stranger · motorist · trucker · car · vehicle · highway · roadside
Short opposable digit
- roadsideAdjacent to pavement
- outstretchedSpread to full length
- signalMessage-conveying cue
- armUpper body limb
wave · beckoning · soliciting · indicating · pointing · motioning · requesting · summoning
Fifties counterculture member
- KerouacBeat Generation novelist
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- sixtiesNumbers sixty through sixty-nine
- hippieSixties counterculture member
freedom · bohemian · drifter · vagabond · transient · itinerant · nomadic · wayfarer
Exposure to harm
- strangerPerson not yet known
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- safetyFreedom from harm
- crimePunishable illegal act
isolation · assault · abduction · robbery · trafficking · predator · nightfall · exposure
Leisure travel by car
- journeyTravel from place to place
- backpackingSelf-supported wilderness travel
- wanderlustCraving for distant places
- adventureRisky exciting undertaking
exploration · cross-country · route · interstate · waypoint · trek · pilgrimage · odyssey
Accidental fortunate discovery
- unplannedNot arranged beforehand
- impulseSudden urge to act
- chanceLikelihood of occurrence
- flexibilityAbility to adapt easily
randomness · unpredictability · whim · openness · freewheeling · improvisation · open-ended · uncertainty
Without payment or restriction
- budgetPlan for spending
- frugalityEconomical resource management
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
- thriftCareful use of resources
low-cost · shoestring · cashless · moneyless · cheap · economical · penniless · broke
lift
Mechanism for vertical transport
dropoff · destination · stranger · motorist · trucker · car · vehicle · highway · roadside · junction
thumb
Short opposable digit
- roadsideAdjacent to pavement
- outstretchedSpread to full length
- signalMessage-conveying cue
arm · wave · beckoning · soliciting · indicating · pointing · motioning · requesting · summoning · flagging
beatnik
Fifties counterculture member
- KerouacBeat Generation novelist
- countercultureRejection of mainstream values
- sixtiesNumbers sixty through sixty-nine
hippie · freedom · bohemian · drifter · vagabond · transient · itinerant · nomadic · wayfarer · rover
danger
Exposure to harm
- strangerPerson not yet known
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
- safetyFreedom from harm
crime · isolation · assault · abduction · robbery · trafficking · predator · nightfall · exposure · caution
roadtrip
Leisure travel by car
- journeyTravel from place to place
- backpackingSelf-supported wilderness travel
- wanderlustCraving for distant places
adventure · exploration · cross-country · route · interstate · waypoint · trek · pilgrimage · odyssey · globetrotting
serendipity
Accidental fortunate discovery
flexibility · randomness · unpredictability · whim · openness · freewheeling · improvisation · open-ended · uncertainty
free
Without payment or restriction
- budgetPlan for spending
- frugalityEconomical resource management
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
thrift · low-cost · shoestring · cashless · moneyless · cheap · economical · penniless · broke
- Road Travelroad trip, highway, interstate, freeway, car
- Ideationbrainstorming, mind mapping, idea generation, ideas, brain dump
- overland journeysroad trips, rail travel, overland routes, wagon trains, caravans
- Car Customscar culture, bumper stickers, fuzzy dice, air fresheners, Sunday drives
- off the beaten pathhidden gem, hidden gems, secret spot, backwater, remote villages
- countercultureflower power, flower children, free love, hippie communes, Summer of Love
hitchhikingdriving
Controlling a vehicle
limousine service · self-driving · taxi · rideshare · Uber
hike, hiking, hitch, hitched, hitchhike, hitches, hitching, hitchhiker, hitchhiked