Hitching the Highway — Ted Bailey

It is the Seventies. Ed Macale is thirty plus and soon to be divorced. He suddenly quits his secure job and home and escapes from the routine of suburban England to realise his long held dream of going to America. Ever since he was a kid he was inspired by seeing colourful images of that big country in the cinema. Now he is finally able to take a life-changing trip and on his own terms. With his personal possessions in a bag and only four contacts to stay with, he hitchhikes westward across the vast varied landscape on historic Route 66 to California. It is an exciting experience as he hitches rides, a couple of over thousands of miles, meets a diverse collection of fellow travellers and passes through the most spectacular countryside he has ever seen: it is the romance of the road. Immersing himself into the exciting and existential footloose culture of the road he recaptures the journeys of the thirties migrants and the beat authors and hippies of the post war generation. This is Eds story of the events and his feelings about them as he explores and experiences a different country for the first time.