Tales of a Canadian Hitchhiker

In my last post, I expressed my desire to get out in the real world and find real stories. Recently I'd begun to doubt if other journalism students shared my aspirations. Then I met Drew.

When Drew showed up at random on the Grace campus, I assumed he was a prospective student or a friend of a friend. Later I learned that he is a Canadian university student hitchhiking across the U.S. before going back to school in the fall.

Like myself, Drew is majoring in journalism. Makes sense. Journalists write stories, and Drew will have one heckuva story by the time he arrives in California.

Since leaving Toronto, Drew has slept outside and scrounged for food. He's gone a week without a shower and waited eight hours straight to be picked up. He's bummed rides in an ice cream truck and a shiny Lincoln.

People go entire lifetimes and never end up with stories like these. And these are just the ones he told me over popcorn chicken at Arby's.

Later that night, I was talking with my roommate Ryan. "I want to do that someday," I said. "Well," replied Ryan, "You'll never do it if you keep saying 'someday.'"

He's probably right. But I still dream of doing it -- for the sake of the stories.