BootsnAll Travel Community

Is there such a thing as general aviation hitchhiking?

Like say if a pilot (let us call him 'steve' for consistency's sake) were flying between two cities in his little Piper or Cessna, and he was looking to subsidize his fuel bill, Steve could use a magic website that worked sorta like couchsurfing.com and post "1 seat available for each leg between City A, Town B and Metropolis C on these dates--pay your share of the gas". Then I could send a message to steve and we could see if we could come to an agreement.

I ask because I'm trying to get a town that several hours drive from the closest airport, and I don't have a driver's license, and...well...small plans are fun.

I don't think it exists, but what a GREAT idea! It might work better any place else but the US. Don't you remember that everyone between the ages of 16 and 85 has a car - AND is driving it, even if it's just down to the corner store?

So, WHERE do you need to get to - from where?

Well...

My mother lives in Bishop, CA and I'd be coming from SF. After looking at an atlas (after posting that question about SF-Reno) I started to realize how silly it all seemed, traveling a total of 6-8 hours ~175 miles.

Since this last post I've been checking out chartering, and that actually might be viable. Bishop is near Mammoth and it would not surprise me if there is probably going to be a respectable amount of traffic in between the bay area an Mammoth.

Gordie used to have links for just about everything imaginable on the Eastern side of the Sierra, but the link is dead.

There used to be 2 companies that would charter flights over to Bishop out from around the Fresno area. That was years ago back before I had bookmarks.

There may be more options from LA. It's generally quicker, easier and probably even more reliable to get to Bishop from the LA area during the winter. It's prime climbing season...you could probably get some dirtbag climber to drive you to Bishop from SoCal if you fed him.

Hmmm...maybe I should see about pushing my Bishop trip back to when I am in LA. The logistics seem much friendlier.

quote:

and I don't have a driver's license,

I am assuming you let your (throw in relevant state here) license expire and you've either never pursued (can't yet get / don't really need) a driver's license in Switzerland.

I am just curious to your thought process and how you ended up here. Mainly because after 10 years my license is due to expire next year and I'll be running into a similar scenario.

A multifaceted process, I guess:

a) My old lic: well...It's a shameful tale. I physically lost it, it expired in '97, and has been suspended since '96. (Long story short: Mandatory court appearance for doing 95 Northbound I-5 near Oceanside...just three days before moving to Hawaii. One of those little expensive messes that I keep meaning to clean up.)

b) I was sick to cars...after years of stressful driving in LA, a zillion parking tickets, and many thousands of dollars in repair bills for my Triumph Spitfire and later VW Bus. This is reinforced every time a friend has car troubles.

c) I've lived in cities with decent public transport ever since. (Honolulu, London, Zurich)

d) Driver's permits are difficult to get here. They are an earned privilege that cost a significant amount of time and money to get, and are easy to loose. New arrivals have to convert their existing, valid driving permit to a Swiss permit within 3 or 6 months. (I forget which.) After that time has gone by, one has to jump the hoops like everyone else.

I think about it every now and then, but never have really gone past applying for a Swiss learner's permit seven years ago. (A form, photo and ~SFr50.) Too much effort and stress for something I really don't want that much.

In the mean time, I'll be content to walk, take trains and fly if I must. Unless I'm going to Bishop.

quote:

Originally posted by Stoo:
My mother lives in Bishop, CA and I'd be coming from SF. ...

Since this last post I've been checking out chartering, and that actually might be viable. Bishop is near Mammoth....

My mother killed this idea yesterday. Thanks, Steve Fosset.