Vagabonding in America: The People's Guide to the U.S.A.

by Ed Buryn, B/W Illustrations (Illustrator)

Before Ted Bundy and such showed up, and during the middle of the so called "counter-culture revolt"- people could hitchhike here and there and especially if they "looked cool" could manage it cross country without a lot of need for a car.

Genres: Travel

247 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the time it came out, this was actually some kind of well-to-be-taken advice. Before hitchhiking acquired its menacing symbolism (thank you Jim Morrison)- in some cases, too, it was absolutely warranted. But for a few years before Ted Bundy & such showed up, and during the middle of the so called "counter-culture revolt"- people could hitchhike here and there and especially if they "looked cool" could manage it cross country without a lot of need for a car. Granted it was a time when not everyone would pick anyone up for less reason than that, but this book allowed those considering this transit option a means of organization, not unlike Colin Fletcher's The Complete Walker.
Now, you would not necessarily want to live like this forever,
I sure would not advise that, but for the young then it wasn't always such a thing to be afraid of. And thumb-travel had, for some time between the 2 World Wars and the Depression, been something even an older generation had indulged themselves with. One can only imagine what a gentler, safer method of transport it was in those days. And the young now can - for the most part- hardly imagine taking risks in a meaner, more paranoid society. Buryn wrote a previous book on Vagabonding In Europe which went over the same subjects.