URBAN HITCHHIKING: WALKING WITH STRANGERS

Would you like a spontaneous encounter with a stranger in the midst of your day-to-day life? If the answer is yes, then Urban Hitchhiking is for you! Created by urban-space-mastermind Lauri Jäntti and myself, Urban Hitchhiking is all about unexpected encounters in an environment where collective rush often hinders the mental space from extemporaneous meetings with new people – the city.

As opposed to traditional hitchhiking, in UH the hitchhiker does not stand still and await a vehicle, but instead the company of a fellow walker. The way this is done is by placing oneself in the midst of pedestrians and sticking up a thumb or a sign (such as: “May I walk with you for a while?”). The aim is to share a short (or long) yet important moment with an occasional passerby. Urban hitchhiking can be done by whoever in whichever city in the world. The amazing part of it all: even a city is not as cold and distant as it seems before approaching people with an open mind! Check out Urban Hitchhiking on Instagram and Facebook and try it out yourself!

To share experiences, use the hashtag: #urbanhitchhiking

The concept of Urban Hitchhiking was launched in Helsinki, Finland, in 2016. To check out images of Urban Hitchhiking in Helsinki, click here!