User:Donaldskiles

I have to laugh at the individuals and internet pages I read these days of people claiming to be the “King of Hitchhikers” or holding some type of hitchhiking record.

My name is Don Skiles and I am currently 64 years old and I do not drive. I have never driven a vehicle in my entire life. Why not? No particular reason. I guess I never took the time to get a driver’s license and since I never personally owned a vehicle, I had no reason to learn how to drive one. Now don’t get me wrong; I know how to drive, I have just never done it. That seems to amaze a lot of people when I tell them that. Some people even have a hard time believing that fact, but it is very true.

I learned as a teenager back in the 1960s how to hitchhike. Hitchhiking has been my only form of transportation since then. I left my home in Southern California as a teenager back then and decided I wanted to work in National Parks in the Western United States to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The jobs I would find in these National Parks were seasonal and would generally only last from 2 to 7 months. Then, I would have to hitchhike to another National Park to seek work for the next few months. One of the things I liked about working for the concessionaires in National Parks was the fact that they provided room and board, so I did not have to worry about keeping a roof over my head, or food in my stomach, or paying utilities, etc. Everything was taken care of for me by the employers I worked for (usually at a minimal charge). Sometimes it would be hundreds (or even thousands) of miles between these parks, but that is how I have been surviving my entire life. While working in these National Parks, if I needed any type of supplies, I would simply stick out my thumb and hitchhike to the nearest town, which sometimes would be many, many miles from where I was working as most National Parks in the United States tend to be located in very remote areas.

I have family that live in Eastern United States, and I would regularly hitchhike to visit them in between my stints working the National Parks that were mostly in the Western United States. I also had a fondness for the State of Alaska which I first hitchhiked to when I was 16 years old, resulting in numerous trips back and forth from Alaska to “the lower 48” and back again. I even purchased a home in Alaska later on in my life.

On one occasion, one of the people who stopped to give me a ride while I was hitchhiking would turn out to be my future wife. It was very interesting explaining to my children how I met their mother!

I am not sure of the exact amount of miles I have accrued over the length of my life. At 64 years old I still hitchhike and I still do not drive to this day. If I had to estimate how many miles I have hitchhiked in my lifetime, I would say I have certainly hitchhiked over one million miles, but I am certain the actual total is much higher than that. As I said at the beginning of this biography, I really have to laugh at the people I see online these days who look like they are in their 20s stating that they are the “King of Hitchhikers” or others stating that they hold some type of Guinness World Record for hitchhiking because they simply hitchhiked across Europe a number of times. The ONLY way someone could come close to the number of miles that I am continuing to add to, is they would have had to start hitchhiking at a very early age, have been hitchhiking extremely long distances during their entire life, and they would have to be VERY old!

I may have possibly hitchhiked more miles than any other living human being in history by now, but of course I cannot prove that. Not something to brag about, as if I had to do it all over again I believe I would have opted for an easier way, but it is a fact nonetheless.😉