This is the only picture of all four of us in existence, and it was just taken a couple nights ago. CRAZY.

Only a few more days.

If I die on this trip, please bury me here, wrapped naked in a buffalo skin:

(Bagdad, AZ)

Interesting crop circle spotted near Bagdad, AZ:

Tom

We have a second blog now!

http://helpahungryhitchhiker.wordpress.com

wordpress has this amazing thing where you can update by phone. Not having a smart phone, I realized that this would be a good way to update from the road. So this blog will still be getting attention. Hell, it will be getting most of the attention. But I'll only be able to update it from libraries and places. So check the other one after departure (Aug 3!) to hear our dulcet voices describing the trip and places.

The date is rapidly approaching and our successes finding places to stay is encouraging to say the least. Security is our highest priority of course and no precaution is going unnoticed. Soon our road beans will come in handy and our thumbs will be solidly brazened.

My mother does not bid me with a blessing at this point.

My father's faith is encouraging.

We throw ourselves at the mercy of the road; to the sympathies of psyches indoctrinated by a modern media. Here's to hope.

-Michael

I forgot to put up this picture of Steven and I just before we went in to buy supplies for our hitch trip from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles. In fact, I forgot to mention the trip at all! We made it in just under 24 hours (including a full night's sleep and a few long breaks) in a total of seven rides.

Ride number one came from Christie (Kristy? Kristi? Christy?) a 53 year old elementary school teacher in a convertible. She was pretty nice! Gave us a bag of food (sandwich, banana, yogurt, iced tea!) all meant for her boyfriend. Took us to Watsonville where we camped on a beautiful beach.

Ride number two came from an old-ish man in a little car who took us up the highway a ways and dropped us off at a better place to hitch from.

Ride number three came from an apparently wealthy man in a Prius and his débutante, and they told us bad jokes and told us about the precepts of comedy and took us to Monterey before going to a golf tournament. Nice enough folks. We had a food break and made friends with birds trying to steal our bread.

The next ride came (I think!) from Jamie, owner of Horsefeathers, an equestrian company. She was extremely nice, and stopped for us despite having to unpack some stuff from her car. She gave us a ride through some beautiful country. If you have any equestrian needs in the Bay area, she's your lady. http://www.horsefeatherstraining.com

The next guy we got a ride from was named Alex, I think. He drove fast, passed people faster, and drove us all the way to Big Sur. It was a long ride, and I took a nap for a while, so I don't know what happened. We ran into his mom at Big Sur, and he said hello to her, and then dropped us off by a very nice stone beach. We ate, explored, had a beer, found some ticks on us, and carried on.

KT Joy picked us up next and gave us a ride to the middle of nowhere. She was phenomenally nice and optimistic, and really really wanted us to follow our dreams and passions and such.

Once she dropped us off some 40 miles outside of San Luis Obispo, it looked like we would have to pitch camp. But then we got picked up by Alex and Elsa! We saw them drive by and then they drove back a few minutes later. Elsa is here in CA from France for an internship, and convinced her counterpart that we looked nice enough to pick up. So they drove us all the way to LA, and even dropped us off at Steven's door. Stand up people! In case that wasn't enough, Elsa hung out with us a week or two later, and even lived at Alica's apartment for ten days! Here's a picture of the lovely, kind, and talented girl!

We leave in just a few days! August third! Keep the support comin'!

“Once in a while it really hits people that they don’t have to experience the world in the way they have been told to.” – Alan Keightley

Liam Odien!

Hey! Five lovely ladies that we know are roadtripping across the country too! They have a blog you should check out and follow! Sarah bought me a hat and a new shirt today. Can't back out of the trip now!

http://tickbride.wordpress.com/

That's the lovely ladies' blog!

LIAM

Hey kidz, Steven here letting you in on the latest hitchhiking newz.
As the fateful date rears its dusty head, the boys scramble to find mace, make granola, and hydrate. With luck, the Fates will smile upon our sunkissed scalps, and the road will be soft and dewy.
For your health

Hello! Deadlines! Giveaways! Updates!

The date of our departure draws near. One month from today, the adventure will begin.

That said, we will be having a few giveaways. They will each consist of a limited edition print by Steven Amrhein (numbered and signed by all the hitchhikers), and other surprises that we'll throw in. It could be anything, from a t-shirt to a mix tape. The winner of the donation giveaway gets extra cool stuff! Here's the criteria:

Giveaway 1: The prizes will go to whoever gets us the most followers. Have them comment on this post and say who showed them the blog. Whoever gets the most wins. We'll say that the deadline for this is Aug 1, 2010.

Giveaway 2: The prizes will go to whoever gets us the greatest dollar amount in donations, either by telling people to donate or by getting the followers you bring to us to donate.

Our paypal is helpahungryhitchhiker@gmail.com, and anything helps. We've already had a couple of donations, and would absolutely love love love some more. Have whoever donates comment with your name when they donate. The winner of this giveaway will get some extra special stuff. This giveaway is going to go until Aug 1, 2010. The winner will not only get the print and some extra surprises, but they will get some sort of souvenir from our travels when we return.

Keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways and more details on our fabulous prizes!

Be well, and happy trails.

Liam Odien

Holy cow! The show went well. A very, very special thanks to Alica Forneret, and to all of the people who showed up and supported us. We made around five hundred dollars; we're not all the way where we need to be yet, but it's certainly a very, very, very good start. The bands were amazing, the company was incredible, and the Jamborees got everyone at the place bouncing. To those of you who couldn't make it, you missed out!

I come to the point now (I promise there will be all sorts of rad pictures and things after this) where I gotta plug us. We have a paypal account (helpahungrhitchhiker@gmail.com), and need donations! We encourage them in any amount; just a few dollars can feed one of us for a day, as well as keeping us warm and safe and sheltered and all of that. We've already gotten two donations, and would love more! Anything helps!

But I imagine all ya'll want some meat to this post -- here ya go.

A few of our very favorite people, including hitchhiker Michael Albini

That's Joel, security master extraordinaire.

The first band, Park

The second band, Curdle Motif

The third band, The Raga

Wine bottle candle holders

Crocodile

Sunshine Factory

The last two are picture of The Jamborees, who stole the show and got the whole party dancing.

“The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are.” –Samuel Johnson

People ask me a lot why we're going hitchhiking. "Don't you know it's dangerous!", they shout, before telling me about a friend of a friend of a friend who got killed by someone who picked them up. People ask us why we don't just take the train, or fly, or take the bus. People ask a lot of things.

There's a few reasons I'm going, and I think that it's safe to say that the reasons also apply to Steven, and Tommy, and Mike. My friends might have a different view on all of this than I do, and if they do then I imagine they'll make a post about it.

The first reason is pretty simple. It's very cheap to hitchhike. For the price of food and a sleeping bag and a few supplies, you can make it across the country. That's a far cry from the couple hundred we would pay for a plane ticket, or the even greater cost of a bus or train ticket. We're all in college, and we're all hurting for cash.

The second reason is what people don't understand so well. We all like adventure. Plain and simple. We like to put ourselves in situations where we don't know what will happen next. That's not to say we're reckless and dangerous and all that. We take every precaution to make sure we're being (relatively!) safe. That's true in this trip, as it has been for our backwoods camping, our boat building, our bouldering, and anything else we do. We don't want to take a plane because we don't get to see much of the country. You just see the world all tiny below you. We want the grit. We want the dirt and grime as well as all of the beautiful things that there are to see. We'll be going through a number of states, and it is our hope to see them up close. See them for real.

The third reason sort of has to do with the second. We want to meet people. On our first hitching trip, we met three phenomenally cool people, people who we never would have talked to otherwise. You get a good sampling, make some quick friends, and then you're off to the next adventure.

And that's why we want you to follow us. Because we think that life is nothing without a good adventure or two, and any good adventure has a good story. We'd like you all to see, or listen to, or read, or be a part of the story.

Yours truly,

Liam Odien

The Help a Hungry Hitchhiker Benefit Show

On August 5, 2010, Steven Amrhein, Liam Odien, Michael Albini, and Thomas Barrett will set out on a hitchhiking trip across the country, from Pacific to Atlantic. Their ultimate goal is New York City. We wanna help them out!

The Help a Hungry Hitchhiker Benefit Show is being organized to help fund this trip, and to provide emergency food and shelter, if required. The cover charge is three dollars, and refreshments and baked goods (courtesy of the fabulous baker-ette Stephanie Couey) will be sold inside. All proceeds will go to the hitchhiking fund, and will be spent on hitchhiking or related activities. Remaining monies will go towards the authoring and publication of a book about the adventure.

There will be live music all night, a heated pool, and overnight camping for all who would like it (bring your gear and we'll supply the space!)

In summary:

April 10, 2010 @ 6:00 PM
$3 cover
All ages
Live music! Refreshments! Pool! Camping!
BYOB

SUNSHINE FACTORY
CROCODILE
THE RAGA
MEDIA
CURDLE MOTIF
PARK
THE JAMBOREES

Everyone get together and help a hungry hitchhiker!

* For more info call (951)756-5165/ email tickbride@gmail.com