During the summer of 2013, I hitchhiked 6,700 miles across small-town America, carrying a backpack, an empty wallet, and a sign that read Traveling On Trust.

I hitchhiked along cowpath highways and dime-sized towns, testing the hope that people will stop to help a stranger. I slept with a shotgun one night, rode fifty miles with a blind driver, and found myself trapped with a man who once attacked police officers with a machete. I found truckers and criminals, meth addicts and Vietnam draft dodgers, New Age skiers and conservative Christians.

I kept a blog as I traveled, where I shared a few stories that happened along the way.