ROD wrote:
California. Mostly hostels. Maybe hitchhiking (sounds a bit
dodgy). Maybe backpacking. Eating cheaply. I want to ensure she is
safe and is careful. Apart from going with her, anyone have tips
for me to share. She won't listen but I can plant a seed of some
sort.

Eating inexpensively and well is easy if one doesn't patronize chains
and/or franchises and is careful to maintain a healthful and
nutritious diet.

A money saver, for example, is buying the morning juice at a grocery
store for $1.50 a pint rather than pay $2 for four ounces at a
restaurant. The bonus is being able reüse the bottle if she is one of
those water-carrying types.

Hitch-hiking is the best of all ways to travel; I cannot recommend it
highly enough. I always pick up hitch-hikers as I have a cosmic debt
to pay.


Iceman wrote:
All of [the original post] is perfectly fine except for the
hitchhiking, which she should not even consider, period. It just
isn't done in the US,

Bull****!

so 99% of normal people would be afraid to pick up a hitchhiker,

Perhaps. So, what? The rest of us are enough to have a nice trip.

and you take your chances with the people who would.

Just as you do everywhere else in every aspect of life.

PTravel wrote:
This is not the U.S. of the 60s and 70s .

True. Reportage, so-called "journalism", is more inflammatory and
less accurate.


PeterL wrote:
Don't hitchhike. It's very dodgy, esp. in California.


Keith Willshaw wrote:
NO HITCHIKING


Gregory Morrow wrote:
DO NOT HITCHIKE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. This is a sure way to
place oneself in danger,

So is crossing a street, going into a bar, etc., not necessarily

ESPECIALLY FOR FEMALES.

Additionally, most all municipalities ban hitchhiking, she'll get
in trouble with the law if she attempts this.

In spite of being illegal in most places in the USA, one does not get
into trouble. I've always welcomed police checking on me while aside
the road. The most serious threat I've ever gotten from police was
"We'll bust you if you're here in the morning". I wasn't.

If she wants to ensure that she returns to Oz in a coffin (or even
ensure that she permanently disappears) then hitchhiking is the
SURE way to go...

Utter nonsense! The probability is that she'll meet nice people
who'll treat her respectfully and well. Yes, the negative
possibilities are numerable but extremely unlikely.

Here's the real "safety" answer:
lilirishstar said: "As one man told me as I instinctively pulled my
son close to me as we walked by 'Hey man, we aren't going hurt you,
we are just homeless'"

Otherwise your question is unanswerable because an Earthquake could
happen at any instant. Fires happen. Cyclones, floods, tornadoes,
tsunami, hurricanes. Bad guys might be at the corner. If they're not
involved with someone else, they might want to get involved with you.
You could be mistakenly arrested and charged with a serious crime.
Traffic lights get out of order. People ignore STOP signs and lights.
Safety isn't anywhere. Danger is everywhere. What scares you might
differ from what scares me. Statistics indicate that your bathroom is
the most dangerous place you can be. Better watch out!
-- __________________________________________________ ______________
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