'JetHiking Gypsy' Begins Journey Next Week
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Anyone who's ever flown knows it to be true. In the air, on the ground – there are no guarantees.
"I always associate traveling on planes with commercial. I think a lot of people do. TSA, security scans, miserable in general,” said Amber Nolan.
As a travel writer, Amber has flown a lot.
"You can't just go to the airport and sit there with your thumb in the air. That's not happening."
Maybe not, but Amber just may have come up with the next best thing.
"I call it jethiking."
She plans to travel the country by hitching rides on private planes.
“I don't know how comfortable I'd be hitchhiking in a car, but with this, you talk to people ahead of time, you get a feel for people and you're not really hitchhiking, you're more networking."
Nolan already has a website up and running. She calls herself the "JetHiking Gypsy."
"It's been nonstop since yesterday, people contacting me, ride after ride."
All she plans on bringing is a map and a backpack, and –
“Believe it or not, travel writing does not pay very much."
Not nearly as much money as you might think such a trip would cost.
"You hear so much about the Statue of Liberty, all these other attractions. It would be really cool to see what else is out there for people, especially people who are on a budget, who can't afford a $300 dollar a night hotel someplace."
Amber leaves Rochester on July 11th. Her first stop is St. Louis. She's not planning her trips too far ahead. Like a hitchhiker, she'll take them when she can get them.
She figures her jethiking trip will take all summer, probably into the fall.
“I know some places will be harder than others. Going to Hawaii on a plane may be difficult, but if I can do all fifty states, that would be amazing."
Her travels have already taken amber all over the world; most recently, three months of solo backpacking in South America. Amber plans to update her progress in a blog, and through webcasts and radio interviews, and maybe, show others that travel doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.
"Every day is something different. You don't know who you're gonna meet, or what you're gonna do,” Amber said. "Once you get started, you get bit by the travel bug. It’s that everyday new experience you can't stop doing."