Sharing the experience

I was driving my Mondial from Sacramento to Grants Pass Oregon yesterday. Stopped in Redding for gas and a bite to eat and as I enter the onramp I see a young guy holding a sign that says Medford. Medford was 20 miles shy of my destination but a good 150 miles away. He seemed friendly so I stopped and picked him up. As I came to a quick stop I heard him say "NO WAY!"

He excitedly ran up to the side of the car and said "really, are you serious" I had him jump in and we had a great conversation for over two hours. Very interesting young guy, had been hitchhiking around Thailand only a month ago. Currently he was abandoned by some travel companions that he'd given gas money to in San Diego with only the clothes on his back. San Diego clothes, shorts, flip flops and tshirt. He hadn't really slept much since this happened two days ago as he was freezing at night and he said he hadn't really eaten either. One passerby had given him a pack of cigarettes.

On his way he found some bits of clothing by the side of the road, he got a dirty old jacket that he was looking forward to helping him sleep, found an extra pair of socks on the side of the road and other odds and ends. He also came across a 5 gallon paint bucket that he used to carry all his possessions in.

He did have an iphone but the charger was in the car of the people who left him when he said he was in a gas station rest room. It had gone dead but a woman who had given him a ride prior let him charge it and then gave him her car charger so that was also in his bucket. With the iphone he asked if he could take a picture when we took a break half way on the trip to get some water and I said I'd take his picture with the car. I had him get in the drivers seat and took a few pictures.

His ultimate destination was Bellingham Washington where he lives and I wished him good luck. He said he'd been standing in the near 100 degree weather on that onramp for about 4 hours when I stopped. When I dropped him off at a truck stop in Medford, the best place to try to get a further ride I gave him a bag of pistachios, the only food I had in the car. Also gave him my bedroll that I keep there for sleeping at friends houses when I travel and I found an old knit cap. He was very grateful for the gifts, thanked me profusely, gave me a hug and was on his way.

During the ride he thanked me many times and was excited to say that he'd now ridden in a Ferrari and can now cross that off his list of lifes dreams.

I'm not suggesting anyone pick up hitch hikers in their Ferraris but it was a great experience for both of us. I did some crazy seat of my pants travel when I was young and it was fun to relive some of that through a young guy who seemed sharp and had a great personality. He didn't ask me for a single thing and felt bad that the only thing he had to offer in exchange for the ride was a cigarette, but in the end I think we both got much more.