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A Detour for Awe and Beauty
Another lesson for my inner control freak from a stolen poster and an unexpected detour
Get into the car
We’ll be the passenger
We’ll ride through the city tonight
Really, the best thing about hitchhiking is the unexpected stuff that can just fall into your lap. It requires a little leap of faith to stick your hand out with the universal symbol for needing a lift. It also requires trust from the person who offers you an empty seat as they continue on to their destination. Both of you are participating in a sort of trust fall.
I’d always been more comfortable depending on myself, and in that comfort I became caged. Self-reliance can become self-isolation very easily, and many times I’ve felt the creeping depression that sneaks in through the side door loneliness leaves open. My partner, the first person I learned to trust as much as myself, took my hand and then ran off a cliff, jumping headlong into a trust fall the size of the Grand Canyon. Or at least Grandstaff Canyon.
We set out from Grand Junction with a vague plan to keep heading west. Some people recommended Moab, so that’s where we pointed ourselves. The ride that took us all the way in, the lovely lady pictured above, also recommended a hostel in town.
