[Music] my name is Isaac and I get checked Across America for free that's me right there and this is the story of how I hitchhiked Across America or how to hitchhike depending on how you want to look at it overall I traveled 4 000 miles I was given thirty dollars and only spent 28 of them I jumped four fences got a countless amount of rides and an insane of judgmental looks I met some of the most generous and interesting people in my life I slept on the side of roads in strangers cars and couches I
didn't eat or I ate for free I Saw The Good the Bad and the Ugly of America I'm so happy I got to experience it in my lifetime and I can't thank the people enough who are so kind to help me wait wait hold on I'm so zoomed in all right thank you for the ride I guess um I don't know any last words that I'll remember forever with this camera we'll be friends so how does someone do this well step one plan so where you want to go when can you go and what do
you need to go step two packing [Music] I packed what I felt was essential and even a few unnecessary things since it was my first time packing I certainly made some mistakes don't bring it guitar or a laptop I don't know why I thought I was gonna use either let's talk about what you actually need you definitely need a backpack toilet paper toothbrush toothpaste water bottle deodorant pain pills baby wipes socks sleeping gear clothing and snacks I'm trying to figure out why you need these things well you you shouldn't which brings me to my next
stay clean a lot of baby wipes so I can take horse baths I have lights on lights just for my face I don't have like disgusting acne the whole time it will not hurt to be clean in any situation because people don't want to hang out with some smelly dirty guy you'll just get picked up more uh as far west as possible I'm trying to get to Portland let's talk about the expectation versus reality I'm gonna be honest here this is not a Moodle that is where I slept literally sometimes it would sign look at
all this walking I'm gonna have to do all the way down there sometimes it was scary sometimes it was boring and sometimes I just wanted to quit yeah I don't know dude I I'm gonna be honest with you I'm kind of just like done with hitchhiking like I'm just kind of just like over it already I got my quick uh I got what I needed out of it I guess like I just did it went from one Coast to the other and now I'm kind of like just over it I feel like it's not it's
no longer fun it's not gonna be fun 100 of the time I had to do things that I wouldn't normally do like going to the bathroom in the woods and having uncomfortable rides or interactions with people you don't have any plot dude no no I don't I don't smoke oh you don't no no like one ride I had with this really old man he kept having me pack pipe for him and he kept asking me if I was scared while as two dogs in the back seat chewed on a deer carcass but this was eventful
and this made me excited what made this whole thing worth it were the memorable rides I got a ride no way with bad rides come some really good ones we're just memorable ones one of my favorite rides that I got was when I was in the middle of Kansas so I am sweaty as heck I'm still in Kansas at a point where I was just so sick of the amount of cars that passed I usually just deal with it and uh Jesus Christ the night before a cop picked me up and told me not to
hitchhike on the interstate there's no soliciting or anything so I almost jumped on a moving train but I was too scared I was gonna fall and lose a leg so I risk getting put in jail to get a ride out of Kansas when I tried to get one more ride on the interstate that's when the Mustang convertible man gave me a ride something hi guys I am [ __ ] straight and I'm gonna get laid when I get North Carolina no no I actually legitimately remember praying just to get a ride to Denver because I
was so sick of hitchhiking in Kansas it was absolutely miserable to me it was so hot and it was so weird because as soon as I finished praying I was sitting on the gravel and a car pulled over to me whenever you have a car pulled over for you it's a relief but it's also an insane amount of butterflies and fear rushing throughout your body which brings me to tip number two talk to them before you get in the car my truck now I didn't know if you stopped for me I'm hitchhiking across the country
right now um you're a photographer I'm kind of thank you so much thank you try to judge the cover of everyone's book your judgment won't always be right but for the most part it's gonna be pretty spot on I remember the first time laying eyes on this guy thinking that he was one of the scariest looking people I've ever seen But to my amazement I would spend two awesome days with this guy driving through Colorado Salt Lake City Yellowstone and he was one of the most generous fun people to be around and I still have
his phone number to this day throw me a text through your text yeah your Journey's over yeah have a good one thank you brother so yeah thank you for the ride know it man another long and interesting ride was these ex-mormons I remember on the third day I went up to an older couple trying to smile and look as unthreatening as possible which brings me to tip number three smile the name of the game of hitchhiking is all about social perception you want people to make a judgment of what kind of person they think you
are so if you look like a nice person then people will think you're a nice person I was like this guy looks like he's like my age also just be a nice person it works 100 more than just pretending after long conversations with each other I found out that they were ex-mormons and they had a lot of cult-like stories to tell me they were just good people but just not what I expected when I first looked at them so tip number four don't judge a book by its cover but also judge a book by its
cover when people say that you can't judge a book by its cover they're almost always wrong trying to judge a book by its cover is a skill at the end of the day you want to be good at this to know if you're safe or not but sometimes you can be wrong but let's hope it's a pleasant surprise because one time I was pleasantly surprised when I found I got picked up by a Philly truck driver I got picked up in Montana bright and early in the morning at 9am which I was kind of always
shocked when a truck driver came and picked me up but this guy was a black man from Philadelphia yeah hitchhiking Across America I started in Philadelphia that's where I'm from are you really yeah what what part North Philadelphia which I couldn't be more wrong about judging this guy by his cover I found out that he was gay and it was super refreshing just to have a legitimate conversation with a person who had a different perspective and experience who could kind of open my eyes for a second and I could put myself in his shoes and
kind of understand where he came from he was one of the most open books on this trip and shared every part of his life with me which I was grateful to hear I spent eight hours with him sharing music both of our stories I found out that we had way more in common than I would have ever suspected if I would have never talked to him I would have never known tip number five be a degenerate after all you are a homeless hitchhiker if you want life to be fun take some risks so maybe go
drunk Sam do them when I got picked up outside of Oregon on the coastline by one of the most beat up trucks I've ever seen in my life or actually I think it was a Subaru there were these two unshowered men how old am I 22 22 how about you guys who threw me in the back of the Subaru without any seats and a husky which I was honestly terrified of because the guy kept telling me it was gonna bite me they ended up taking me to some sand dunes and drinking and driving more than
I could have ever imagined but I have one of the most unexpected pool experiences sand duning for the very first time tip number six know your lines you're allowed to have fun that's kind of what the whole point of life is about but it's a slippery slope on the border of Oregon I had a man pick me up with a huge beat up truck with a trailer attached to it and I also thought this guy looked interested I drove hours on end for this guy through the Redwoods and the West Coast he took me to
his house around two in the morning and he let me sleep in a brand new camper on his weed farm we ended the night drinking with a couple of beers and his friend offered to give me a tattoo which I honestly regret not doing his friend also asked me to do cocaine with him which I politely declined tip number seven smell the roses you're gonna see some pretty cool stuff take your time and enjoy it even if it is just for a second enjoy a viewer too the world can be a beautiful place it's insane
that there's no photo or video of words that can express the views and emotions and effects that they had on you it was better than TV I had to work there and the payoff was great the West Coast head to toe was amazing Oregon northern Idaho Northern California and also Wyoming for the views I definitely recommend taking a look at these whether or not you're hitchhiking tip number eight try to travel cheap traveling is pretty easy to blow money but I can honestly say I don't think I would have made my experience any better at
the paper and then we got we got tobacco all right so what we're gonna do is we're just gonna sprinkle it on there it was probably more fun for me just to rough it and to make it a challenge to survive on nothing so how did I make this trip cheap believe it or not I didn't spend any of my own money people would just give me money that I wouldn't even ask I just got pulled over by the police I guess you can say pulled over because um I don't know I wasn't really driving
so and uh the cop took me to a sheet which I thought was kind of funny and he hooked me up with a lady named Kim and she gave me a free fountain drink which was sweet and Wheeling I didn't even buy food water gas or hotels people would give me food for free I I believe you no I'm all right thank you delicious I'll take one I'll take one drive me for free and all they want in exchange was some company and good conversation but you're going to have to sacrifice somewhere and I sacrificed
my living standards sleeping in the woods or stealth camping eating nothing or just a cliff bar a day barely showering it is definitely not a lifestyle that many people would enjoy but it was my cup of tea my hygiene was not the best either I took a lot of [ __ ] baths like baby wipes and lysols in my armpits I would shower at strangers home sometimes I would just wash up in a creek or in a hotel pool I also would sleep on the side of roads and my hammock and strangers homes cars or
RVs one time I slept behind a dumpster and a raccoon attacked me in the middle of the night my food also suffered but it wasn't the worst I had a bag of Trail Mix and Cliff Bars I would eat a cliff bar a day when I felt hungry if I needed it then I ate trail mix at night in my hammock when I was feeling like I wanted something sweet also it would help to keep me warm at night because digestion actually creates heat like I had to eat a ton in Montana because I actually
almost froze it out trying to sleep wow so oh last night was hell it was so well the opposite I was freezing it was so cold and I slept like in one of these like I just snuck off to the side of the road and threw up a hammock in here and uh I am dying it's so cold I had to start moving because I was freezing last night I woke up like three or four times like just shivering and it was just too cold to move also if I was setting up camp I would
walk into hotels and just ask the lady if there was one at the front desk if they had a complimentary breakfast ask how much a room was and then just walk right out the front door then I would sleep wake up stash my backpack and walk in the hotel and get a free breakfast people just thought that I stayed the night so tip number nine you don't need to eat them tip number 10 less is more I was happier than I was in a really long time I think it was just a way to set
back my brain like 10 000 years into caveman lights with simple goals and simple reward systems just working out and I was lucky to get food or a ride I've become way more grateful for simple or small things everything that I took for granted was eradicated from my mind I was praying for a long car ride compared to dreading it a shower felt like a million dollars a McDonald's burger felt like a five star five quarts meal every day a new person is happy to meet you a new state a new city a new view
a different person's perspective and I removed all stress in my life in a weird way life became easier and more enjoyable it was just a just a pretty simple way of life tip number 11 nothing good ever came from Easy Nothing in life that is worth it will ever be easy whether it's to lose weight or get that new car or to start that business it's good to be hard just remember that sacrifice is needed no matter what choice you make just make a choice and don't let life make
