I was once asked to contribute some memories for a book on hitch-hiking, and spent the better part of one night recalling stories of bygone years. It was the start of a tradition that grew into this book, which continues to grow with every new experience.
It's a rather lengthy piece for on-line browsing, but it is broken down into a great many very short stories, that are all essentially unrelated and can be read in more or less any order, making on-line browsing more realistic. I've included a rough word count of each piece in the table of contents to help in navigating, as some are decidedly longer than others, influencing the commitment involved in following a link and deciding to read. This is the sort of navigation aid that too many web sites lack in my mind. Note however, that each chapter is on one page, and it is the chapter's whole word count that reflects the load time of the page, if anything. Few, large pages facilitate a dowload for local reading and/or printing as well.
As time goes by, and the book grows, the style is evolving as well. You'll find that first chapter is purely anecdotal representing memories of years long passed. The later chapters were written progressively nearer the events they describe, and could attract a little more precision. In particular while I've stuck to an anecdotal presentation, trying to present only the meat not the fat so to speak, the snippets of stories in the later chapters have more material tying one story to the next, so that they could conceivably be read as a flowing chapter as well as a pile of individual anecdotes. Indeed the later chapters are in fact better read as a whole I think, there is a certain romance that shines through the web of stories they present. The whole is more than the sum of the parts ...
Your average paperback novel has between 100,000 and 150,000 words and this currently stands at around 70,000 which should provide some clue as to its total size.
I welcome and encourage feedback. In particular I would appreciate any effort to report typographical errors, but I'd be grateful for any feedback on content as well.
Overview of Chapters |
Approximate
Word Count |
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Readers' Comments and Feedback |
500 |
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Chapter 1: The Early Years |
8000 |
|
Chapter 2: Europe '95/'96 |
6000 |
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Chapter 3: New Zealand '97 |
20000 |
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Chapter 4: Australia '97 |
27000 |
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Appendix A: Wheels of Steel |
4400 |
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Appendix B: Travelling Black |
4500 |
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Appendix C: The Wall |
3500 |
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Total |
70400 |
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Table of Contents |
Approximate
Word Count |
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Readers' Comments and Feedback
Being a collection of comments submitted by readers since this book first appeared
on the Web in 1995. Submit yours! |
500 |
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Chapter 1: The Early Years
Being a collection of 24 essentially unrelated anecdotes concerning my first few
years on the road, written on one night in late '95. |
8000 |
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Hail a Cab |
250 |
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Crazy Crazy Women |
1400 |
|
The Reindeer Don't Mind |
1000 |
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Don't try for Spain via Italy |
800 |
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Japan, a Hitcher's Paradise |
1400 |
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Rain, a Mixed Blessing |
100 |
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I Don't Hitch Myself |
100 |
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I Don't Usually Pick Up Hitch-hikers |
150 |
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The Ferrari |
100 |
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Fast! |
200 |
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Buses and Trucks |
200 |
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Never Commit Yourself Before You Hitch |
150 |
|
Queue Jumper |
200 |
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Saved by a Traffic Jam |
150 |
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The Hitcher's Bus Stop |
150 |
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Audacious |
100 |
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It's a Hobby |
150 |
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No Hurry |
150 |
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Hitching Doesn't Work in Malaysia! |
100 |
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A Clean Ride |
50 |
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Mitfahrgelegenheit |
50 |
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A Cosy Threesome |
50 |
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Crime Doesn't Pay |
50 |
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Don't Care Where I'm Going |
350 |
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Chapter 2: Europe '95/'96
Being a collection of 4 essentially unrelated anecdotes concerning a 6 month stay in Switzerland. |
6000 |
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Christmas Hitching |
800 |
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International Week 95/96 |
700 |
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Late Night, Good Friday in Italy |
1800 |
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No Time to Hitch (a Romance) |
2500 |
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Chapter 3: New Zealand '97
Being the story of a two month trip around New Zealand split into 50 more or less
self standing anecdotes strung together to weave a tale of adventure. |
20000 |
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Onion Rings |
600 |
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Traffic Stunts |
400 |
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Shopping Trip |
150 |
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Courtesy Lacking |
200 |
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Leapfrog |
400 |
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The Compassion of a Virgin Hitchee |
350 |
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A Ferry Sad Blunder |
850 |
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Where the Wild Food Grows |
650 |
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Watch that Wheel! |
300 |
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The Cold Turns Warm |
350 |
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Covering all Options |
200 |
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Hurry Hurry |
250 |
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He Who Rides First, Arrives Last! |
300 |
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A Rendezvous with Good Fortune |
650 |
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Sneaking Up |
200 |
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A Not So Sorry Story |
350 |
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Good Times |
250 |
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Into the Wind |
350 |
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Sounds Too Easy |
200 |
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Wasted Pessimism |
250 |
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To Travel Like a Parcel |
100 |
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Put That Lift on Hold! |
200 |
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Finally the Sheep |
100 |
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Sunday Drivers |
350 |
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Come to the Party |
300 |
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Synchronicity |
600 |
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Saved by the Radio |
200 |
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The Singer |
280 |
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Relay Hitching |
1200 |
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Not Exactly a Hitch |
200 |
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East-West Lotto |
100 |
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The Hitcher's Graveyard |
650 |
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Three's a Crowd |
250 |
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Torn in Two |
250 |
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Gremlin |
100 |
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A Tune a Ride |
300 |
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A Charging Ride |
400 |
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Parting Thoughts |
300 |
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Back-Seat Combat Zone |
550 |
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In the City |
750 |
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Heading North |
1800 |
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Hitchers on Tour |
600 |
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Off the Back of a Truck |
250 |
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Rendezvous Encore |
500 |
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The Kiwi Lions |
450 |
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The Angel |
400 |
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Bad Attitude |
300 |
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The Lure of Ronald |
150 |
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Kiwi House |
200 |
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Goodbye New Zealand |
500 |
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Chapter 4: Australia '97
Being the story of a one month trip around South Eastern Australia, split into 31 more or
less self-standing anecdotes strung together to weave a tale of the most incredible nature. |
27000 |
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Hitching from Home |
450 |
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Spy on the Road |
250 |
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Pauline Hanson Comes to the Rescue |
450 |
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Turn Your Back |
350 |
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Get in Line! |
250 |
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To Fly or not to Fly? |
300 |
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Pauline Hanson Strikes Again |
350 |
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A Fine End to a Fine Day |
300 |
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Dave's Bit |
450 |
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Melbourne to Adelaide, The Long Way |
1600 |
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Too High to Stop |
3000 |
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The Chicken Came First |
1600 |
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The Road to Andamooka |
400 |
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One Night in Andamooka |
2300 |
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Limping into Woomera |
500 |
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Lucky 13 |
200 |
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Back to Adelaide |
400 |
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The Universal Esperanto Congress |
1200 |
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A Hard Day's Hitch |
1800 |
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A Truckies Tale -- Synchronicity at Work |
550 |
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An Auspicious Occasion |
2500 |
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Stuck in Hay |
1500 |
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No Dope Dope |
600 |
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Roo Stew |
500 |
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Yellow Folk, Orange Load, Golden Hearts |
350 |
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Against the Instinct |
200 |
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A Conspiracy Against the Sun |
400 |
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Fork It or Walk It |
250 |
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Intermissive Musings |
650 |
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An Auspicious Ride |
950 |
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The Road Home |
1300 |
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Appendix A: Wheels of Steel
Being an essay on trains and thumbs, describing my attitude to the former and transition
to the latter. It was written as a single essay, though it has been divided into eight parts for
ease of reference. |
4400 |
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The Eurail Scam |
900 |
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The Birth of a Hitch-Hiker |
250 |
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Sleeping on the Trains |
600 |
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Preparing for the Trip |
250 |
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The Error of the Guidebooks |
400 |
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A Wicked Game |
1250 |
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The Individual and Society |
250 |
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Personal Growth on the Road |
450 |
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Appendix B: Travelling Black
Being the rather prosaic account of my misadventures evading fares on European public
transport, and a rambling justification thereof. |
4500 |
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A Student of the Art (Vienna) |
400 |
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Don't Pay the Ferryman (Venice) |
100 |
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Richie Rich (Bratislava) |
225 |
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Broke Thumber (Grenoble) |
100 |
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A Personal Challenge (Germany) |
350 |
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Old Ladies and Policemen (Berlin) |
650 |
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Debts to Pay (Zürich) |
250 |
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Wait Right There (Zug-Zürich) |
300 |
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Rapid Fire (Berlin) |
400 |
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The Score |
125 |
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Why Buy Tickets? |
1500 |
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The Good Citizen |
900 |
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The Shamed Citizen |
200 |
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The Bottom Line |
250 |
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Appendix C: The Wall
Being an account of my growing discomfort with being wealthy and one of the greatest
barriers I have yet to encounter between peoples. |
3500 |
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A New Class |
225 |
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The Evolution of Greed |
600 |
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Buying Independence (A million islands) |
350 |
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The Economic Divide |
600 |
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Hollow Smiles |
1000 |
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Temporary Insanity |
450 |
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The Grand Irony |
75 |
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