Obsessive hitchhiker reveals favourite lifts - including Birmingham cabbie who fled Taliban

-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A traveller who hitchhikes all over the UK and has caught more than 200 free lifts is encouraging others to “dust off their thumbs” after saving thousands of pounds and meeting “fascinating” people. Nico Lethbridge, 26, a copywriter originally from Saffron Walden, Essex, started hitchhiking after visiting his cousin in the US in 2017.

He has since caught scores of rides with strangers across the UK and abroad - including in August 2022 when Nico was picked up by a “fascinating” Afghan taxi driver in Birmingham who had been living in the UK since 1996 after fleeing Kabul from the Taliban.

He also recalled being picked up in Shrewsbury by a renowned “weed grower” who claimed to have won a prize at Spannabis, an annual cannabis event in Barcelona, and to have supplied the class B drug to a number of famous US hip-hop artists. While on his way to Stonehenge, he met a couple at services in Leicester who were having an affair and sneaking away for the weekend.

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Armed with a backpack and a small whiteboard, Nico, who now lives in Dalston, east London, “travels by thumb” whenever possible and said that on average, journeys took around twice the drive time advertised on Google Maps. Hitching rides has saved Nico more than £3,000 in transport tickets, but he said the best part of the journey was meeting interesting people along the way.

Asked whether he had ever felt in danger, Nico said “touch wood” he had “never had a bad experience”, and he had only turned down a ride once because he feared the driver had been drinking. Sharing his top tips after catching rides in countries across the world including Nepal, Italy and Ireland, Nico said hitchhikers needed to know when to say no and made sure they “look like you don’t smell”.

“Honestly, Britain is the easiest place to do it,” Nico told PA Real Life. “I generally find it takes twice what Google Maps says, which isn’t too bad and I usually wait less than half an hour.

“So for anyone who is interested, I would say dust your thumb off and go for it, because it’s a great way to travel. I think the main benefit is connecting with a random stranger – that’s what I get the most out of it, because it takes you out of your bubble.

“I’ve met all kinds of people, from drug dealers and refugees to artists and one of the last remaining miners in Britain.” Nico was hoping to pursue a lucrative career in finance before visiting his cousin Dan in Los Angeles in 2017.

During the trip, he was low on funds and decided to hitchhike Route 101, eventually reaching Seattle, more than 1,000 miles away.

“I was too young and didn’t have enough money to hire a car,” he said. “It was amazing, and kind of changed my life.

“Until that point I had been planning on working in the City and making as much money as possible but it completely changed my outlook.” After graduating with a degree in history from the University of Durham, Nico embarked on a month-long hitchhike across the UK in 2022, starting in Edinburgh.

Nico said the best part of hitchhiking is meeting complete strangers (Nico Lethbridge/PA Real Life).
Nico said the best part of hitchhiking is meeting complete strangers (Nico Lethbridge/PA Real Life).

“I had a bag, a whiteboard and a tent, and I spent the next month following my thumb,” he said. He travelled down the west coast of Cumbria to Whitehaven, through the Lake District to Hexham, Northumberland, and then down to Stonehenge in Wiltshire.

After failing to sneak into the Glastonbury Festival, Nico continued his journey through the West Country for a few weeks before heading back to London. “That was kind of the beginning and I’ve kept hitchhiking ever since,” said Nico.

He now travels by thumb when possible and estimated having completed around 200 hitchhiking journeys, which he documents on social media and the publishing platform Substack. He starts by scouring the map to identify a suitable location on the side of the road where vehicles can easily pull over.

Nico then writes the name of his destination on a whiteboard and waits for someone to stop. “The good thing about a whiteboard… is that if it isn’t working, you can just rub it out and put the next town up or somewhere nearby,” he said.

Over time, Nico has come up with a number of ways to increase his chances of being picked up, starting with his appearance. “There is a bit of a knack to it,” said Nico.

“Someone once told me that as long as you look like you don’t smell, someone will stop. I tend to try and look fairly presentable, but not too smart because you don’t want to attract the wrong person.”

Another important aspect of hitchhiking is “being able to say no” to drivers who do not inspire confidence, according to Nico, who once turned down a ride from a bunch of “topless blokes”. “But even people who look really dodgy have then turned out to be super nice,” he added.

“I guess being a bloke, it’s maybe easier for me to take those risks and I definitely wouldn’t recommend getting in if you feel a bad vibe.” Last November Nico decided to hitchhike from London to Paris to watch England play Argentina in the Rugby World Cup.

Nico has been picked up by all sorts of vehicles (Nico Lethbridge/PA Real Life).
Nico has been picked up by all sorts of vehicles (Nico Lethbridge/PA Real Life).

He was by the roadside at 7.30am, hoping to arrive in Dover for 12.15pm to catch his ferry, but this time people were not stopping. Nico thought he was “screwed” when, after several hours, someone stopped but only offered to take him as far as Maidstone in Kent.

“I got to Maidstone and put Dover on my whiteboard,” he said. “Five minutes later a car pulls up and I asked ‘where you off to?’ and he was like ‘Paris’.

“So he drove me all the way there.” A few weeks later, he decided to race his girlfriend Ari, 25, to Brighton.

“She had to get the train to Waterloo and then down to Brighton, and I beat her by about five minutes,” he said. “She was actually quite p****d off.”

Nico, who is also a photographer, has been documenting his journeys and publishes a weekly blog under the name Britain by Thumb, which he hopes to turn into a book one day. Generally speaking, he said people driving fancy cars were less likely to pull over, although it did occasionally happen, and he was once picked up by a Bowtop wagon.

“I’ve had a couple of smart Range Rovers pick me up, but only two though, and they told me stories about slightly ill-gotten means,” he said. Nico has also stuck his thumb out abroad, including in the US, Zambia, Nepal, Azerbaijan, France, Italy and Ireland, and plans to continue hitchhiking whenever possible.

Asked what his friends and family thought of his methods, Nico said: “Most people think it’s quite weird but my mum and dad are quite used to it now. People often think it’s more dangerous now, but I think it’s the opposite because you’ve got a mobile phone.

“If you’ve got the time, a fully charged phone and you’re looking for an adventure, get yourself in the nearest layby.” To find out more visit: nicolethbridge.substack.com.