Travels With A Road Dog
A Hitchhiking Memoir
Hitchhiking the Americas
Hitchhiking is an unconventional way to travel and it’s even more rare to find such a journey that can be told from the perspective of a woman. Travels With A Road Dog is a non-fiction, coming of age travel memoir to bring you along on a hitchhiking adventure from the comfort of your reading chair.
Woman's Hitchhiking Adventure
Excerpt: “It was early summer 1993, near the end of June. I packed all I needed into a small shoulder bag, left a note on my boyfriend's pillow, and headed out onto the open road.
I was twenty years old and my childhood dreams of traveling were about to be realized. For years, this feeling had been gnawing at my soul and I didn't realize it was wanderlust until that fateful day when I walked out the front door.”
The hitchhiking routes I took in the United States.
Hitchhiking route through Mexico
Love Affair with the Open Road
With little money but plenty of gumption, this thumb took me around the United States, Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, and Venezuela. Along the way was joined by a three month old Lab/Shepherd mix puppy, named Jambalaya (spoiler alert: Jambo lived to be twelve years old, retiring in San Diego, California).
I was well suited for the road, hence the nickname "Road Dog" given to me by some of the old, grizzled hitchhikers I met along the way.
The freedom of living underneath an open sky and going wherever I wanted with only a cooking pot, blanket, tarp, rope, and some matches. It was a grand adventure!
Non-fiction Travel Stories
During the mid-1990's when U.S. tourists were warned to stay away from Mexico, I entered Mexico illegally with a companion and we hitchhiked down the Mexican East coast across Chiapas and up the West coast where we had a run in with a Mexican cartel.
The adventure continues with a ride to the Bahamas on a sailboat with no engine. I then flew to Venezuela where I hitchhiked from Caracas to Cumana, where I lived for four months all the while experiencing student riots and barely escaping the anger of a madwoman.
Jambalaya, my traveling companion. Shown here around 7 years of age.