I Promise I Won't Kill You: A Hitchhiking Adventure

by Nate Damm

In the summer of 2013, Nate Damm hit the highways of America with a backpack and a thumb up, with the goal of hitchhiking across the country. The people who chose to give him a lift along the way proved to be every bit as interesting and strange as he had hoped they would, sharing their stories, unique nuggets of wisdom, and heartfelt thoughts on life as they offered up their passenger seats. Along the way, Nate experienced extreme boredom, run-ins with the law, drunk drivers, handsy truckers, and more, finding the spirit of America and coming to some important personal realizations in the process.

Genres: Travel, Memoir, Nonfiction

67 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 22, 2014

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short but interesting

I read his other book about hitch hiking across America and really enjoyed it--this book is short but enjoyable and well written.

[Ken Grater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hitchhiking

Since I've never hitchhiked or picked up a hitchhiker it was interesting to read about someone who had done it often and who looked forward to offering rides to future hitchhikers. The different people he met on the road, from the molester to the grandmas and his attitude towards them was also interesting. I enjoyed the book.

[J. A. Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nate does a nice job of detailing his hitchhiking experiences across the U.S. He's a brave and trusting soul and the experience with the truck driver is an example of what can go wrong. Nonetheless, overall, he does have nothing but positive experiences.

[Julie Haigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A travel memoir with a difference, very enjoyable.

This is short-ish book-but not that short-and it’s very well written. It’s a travelogue of the author’s adventures hitchhiking. Each destination is named and he tells of his conversations, anecdotes, observations, and scenarios with the different characters who picked him up and drove him to his next destination as he hitchhiked across America. There is a sad tone sometimes; reflecting. I was wondering what happened to him, why was he alone on the road? I love how this is done, it’s very accurate and really interesting. Although this is brief it does end satisfactorily, there are good conclusions with his thoughts about why memoirs/reminiscences are so fascinating. Travel Memoirs: I read loads of these but this is different. This has been a really good book. I picked it up when it was free; I knew it was a shorter read but it was much more substantial than I expected. I really enjoyed reading it. A travel memoir with a difference. I will be reading more from Nate Damm!

[David Caldwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author hitchhikes across the country. He tells about the people who picked him up, mostly good. He also tells about lessons that he learns along the way.

I am not sure why I chose to read this short book. I don't usually read nonfiction. The life described isn't something that appeals to me. I guess I just wanted to get a glimpse of why someone would chose that life.

I can't say that this tale made me want to grab a backpack and hit the road. It also didn't really change my attitude of not picking up strangers either. Of course, since I don't travel much, I wouldn't be able to give more than a couple of miles lift anyway.

Still, this tale wasn't that long and it was free. So I got to see a different way of looking at the world and that is very rarely a bad thing.

[Bonnie Bartley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not for kids

I enjoy Nate's books and blogs but can personally do without the sometimes strong language. I realize he's just being real, but I wouldn't want my 16 year old reading them (because of the language only) and that's sad because he is a gifted writer and his adventures on the road and the excellent way he describes them and his feelings teach life lessons that are intriguing to say the least. Love the way he describes his feelings and the person he is inside because he is not judgemental, but loving and kind to everyone including the homeless, stoned, vagrant, animals, and the little dog that he held in his arms that he witnessed being hit by a car and who looked into his eyes as he took his last breath. This is how God loves and that says a lot about Nate.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like ‘I Promise I Won’t Kill You’ is a bit of a missed opportunity. It’s a quick little read about a cross country trip which the author takes by hitchhiking across America. There are some funny stories, sad stories and poignant stories along the way, but they’re not deep enough and don’t go into enough detail. It feels like he wrote this book almost as an afterthought rather than keeping a detailed journal along the way. Instead of going deep into his interactions with others on the road and providing vivid descriptions of what he sees on the road we get the cliff notes version. I enjoyed it but it could have been so much more.

[Jessie Bise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye Opening

This book was very well written by the author who makes the reader 'feel' the journey. It was a very eye opening read for me as I have never picked up a hitchhiker or hitchhiked myself. This excellent book showed me the other side of traveling, whether it's for adventure or necessity. Thank you to the author for sharing his experiences in an enjoyable book. :0)

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like travel across the country stories but I wasn't all the way on board with this one. I tried to map out his journey but couldn't quite figure it out. It seemed too confusing.

I wanted a better ending too. What happened to "the girl"?

Still I am going to read his other book and his shorter story about a bus trip.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

another fun adventure by the author, I had read his book (Life On Foot: A Walk Across America) which I really enjoyed. this one is another cross country, but this time hitchhiking. It is not as detailed as the other but still interesting.

[Bob Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light and revealing work of the vagabond life, meeting people, learning their stories while growing your own story. I really enjoyed this book! Nate hitchhikes across America to Oregon, finding epiphanies along the way. A very enjoyable read!

[Tracy Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice telling of one of his summer's spent hitchhiking

Well written book about a backpacking trip across the US one summer. Enjoyable read that is well edited. No crazy stories, just his experience and how it made him feel.

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved Life On Foot, but I'm glad I got this via Kindle Unlimited and didn't (directly) pay for it as it's unreadable. Poor flow and seemed to be focused on showing the worst of America vs. the best he portrayed in his previous book. Also, you like to drink and smoke, we get it.

[Karol Gajda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Nate. It's a short (~1 hour) and enjoyable read about life on the open road, bumming around, and having a (sometimes frustratingly) good time.

[Dawn H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

This is quick but great read, along with his other writing. I would definitely recommend this book along with his book A Walk across America

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walk

A nice easy read about a young man that is hitchhiking from Virginia to Portland, Oregon. The people he meets along the way that offer rides for nothing in return.

[Ricky Kimsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hitchhiking

I cannot condone hitchhiking because of the obvious danger however I found the author's sometime humorous adventures across America entertaining.

[Rhonda · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was okay