A Hitchhiker’s Guide to America

Listen (Talk of the Nation on NPR)
When he was 16, Elijah Wald found himself stuck in Reno after the bus he was taking to San Francisco broke down. He decided to hitchhike the rest of the way.

Three decades later, he has crossed the United States at least a dozen times on a smile and an outstretched thumb. He’s found rides on three other continents and has accumulated enough stories and experience to write a book called Riding with Strangers: A Hitchhiker’s Journey.

Wald discusses his hitchhiker’s guide to higways, rest stops and the adventure of travel by thumb.