Three American college students, student teaching in London hopped on a ferry to Dublin with little money and no idea how we were going to travel the country. Train rides were too expensive so we hitchhiked. I don’t remember all the rides but here are a few:
- The man from Belfast who heard on the news his neighborhood had just been bombed so he dropped us off and went home.
- The priest who blessed my friend’s rosaries while driving along a highway
- The truck driver who assumed we had marijuana because we were Americans
Was it safer back then?
Cedar Waxwing's 365 
Hard to say. But I hitchhiked a teensy bit in England in the mid-80s. Doubt I’d do it now.
I think we often confuse “ignorance” with “safe.” Although in the 70s and 80s, hitch-hiking was more common, and so probably was safer. My dad would pick up hitch-hikers. He loved talking to them – the further they had come, the better.