Does Anyone Still Hitchhike?

You hitchhike to know you’re not alone. No good, recent studies look at how many are doing it, Jonathan Purkis, a sociologist who has studied hitchhiking, told me. And knowing the exact number of people who hitchhike is something of a fool’s errand: Part of the practice’s appeal is its under-the-radar quality. The hitchhikers I speak with generally feel safe, but the practice does still come with risks. “You wind up,” Flannery told me, “in places you would never wind up.”