marienbad Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Forums for Travelers and Couchsurfing As you can see, I’m brand new to this forum. I’m a native of the CA central valley college town of Davis, and have lived in various urban centers of Oregon, Washington, and the CA Bay Area, but I’m completely unaware of the rest of the country. I love the outdoors and I love meeting different kinds of people, so this summer I plan to get acqauinted with my country. I’m preparing now to hitchhike (more or less, including Craigslist rides), using Couchsurfing.com hosts and solo camping. I don’t have any particular destinations in mind except that I want to visit several of the longest-lasting “communes” and I want to eventually come to the head of the Appalacian Trail in Maine for about a week-long backcountry hike. My main task will be soaking up the places and the people I meet, doing sociological/art photography, and (maybe) doing some “interviews” with people about their life stories. What online forums would you recommend for me to talk to folks with similar experiences/mission? I’m also a couchsurfing newbie so I don’t have any “friends”, “vouchers”, or “references”. What was your experience like as a couch-surfing newbie in the USA (if you have been)? Should I expect to get a lot of rejection due to my lack of online track-record? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave A. Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Try buying "Freedom ofthe Hills". It will answer many of the questions you have posted on this and other websites. Also, browse the archived threads on this and other sites, all your questions have been thoroughly discussed many times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Water Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 getting to baxter park in maine will be a trip. you'll have 10x more luck getting to springer mountain in georgia for being at a terminus of the Appy Trail. From virginia south people are much more amenable to hitchers than in the northeast--as far as just thumbing by the road, looking grubby, bearded, with a backpack. more pickups too. but katahdin is a much more majestic place than springer mnt, truth be told. spoken from experience. also, doesn't hurt to travel with a woman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marienbad Posted June 26, 2011 Author Share Posted June 26, 2011 Water, I may end up traveling with a woman, but not so sure I want to Thanks for the tip about Southern hitching. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maine-iac Posted June 26, 2011 Share Posted June 26, 2011 Yeah getting to Katahdin will probably be a little tricky. Not many people hitch hike in Maine, and even less hitch hike in those parts (unless they are standing besides an AT trailhead). Here is a blog for a buddy of mine who is hitchhiking to the extreme. http://www.velabas.com/ Maybe have a look through and see if that helps you out any. I know people that have gone from OR to Vegas and that seemed to work alright... One thing that is fun to do is take the train across the country. For a reasonable price you can buy an unlimited month long rail pass and go anywhere in North America during that month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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