Hitchhiking Across America with Cody Smart

 Back in 2006, disillusioned New Yorker Cody Smart decided that he was going to hitchhike across America. The decision didn’t go over well with his family and friends, who all tried to dissuade him but he went off anyway, looking for adventure and stories.

He first went west and then up to Alaska, hitchhiking with truckers. He stayed in Alaska a while before heading down to California, and then East through Arizona, Louisiana and finally back to New York.

His time spent on the road was quite the adventure, Cody managed to take pictures the entire way, photographing scenic views, long roads, the friends and drivers he met on the way and a whole host of characters.

You can see the entire thing on his website HERE. It’s a great view of the American landscape and the American people and their varying cultures. The site isn’t great, because while the pictures are awe-inspiring and a great work of photography, it lacks captions to describe who or what each picture shows, or any context. There are short blurbs that explain each part of his journey, but you get the feeling Cody could go into so much more detail with all he has seen.

For anyone that thinks it’s all fun and games though, Cody went through hardships. Hitchhiking is illegal in some areas of America, other times it’s just frowned upon and hitching a lift is much harder than it looks. Before he came full circle and completed his journey, he was robbed, almost killed and almost raped in Mississippi. It wasn’t glamorous, a lot of the time he slept rough, and it’s a dangerous thing to do.

For anyone inspired by Cody’s blog to do the same, I’m not saying don’t do it. It looks like a beautiful and fantastic adventure, but be careful. It won’t all be fun and games and it might not work out every time, but by all means research it and try it if you think you’re up to it. By the looks of things, it’s a truly awesome ride.