Hitch-hiking is an act of mutual trust

In april 2010, I returned home from a study trip to Zürich, Switzerland. Due to the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano ash cloud the airspace was closed and trains were fully booked. So I hitched, just as I did back in the eighties.

As I recall it from that period, I just jumped into cars, and drivers were keen to pick up hitchers. But with my recent hitch-hiking action it was striking, that in nearly every ride the subject 'trust' was a prominent subject of discussion. Can I trust you? Can you trust me? How can trust exist between strangers? Apparently, times have changed. We – or at least I – seem to have lost our innocence or perhaps our naïvety.

Maurice Berix