About

This is the section of my website where I can clear up any confusion pertaining to myself or my beliefs. I’m here to set the record straight.

What’s with the name? TallBoy?
I picked up the name while hitchhiking, its common to pick up what they call a “handle” or a “road name”, TallBoy is mine.

How did you get the name TallBoy?
Well, I was hitchhiking to Burlington, Vermont and my ride (a guy named Seth) had stopped to gas up. I went inside the store to buy a couple of sixteen ounce beers to share with my new friend. I knew there was a nickname for a 16 oz-er but for the life of me I could not remember what it was. I racked my brain to no avail. When I got to the register the cashier (a woman in her sixties) looked me up and down, then out the window at my ride who was gassing up, smiled, and said, “Oh…a couple of tallboys, eh?.”. “Yeah! A couple of TallBoys!!”.

How tall are you?
Taller than you (6′ 2”)

How did you first get into hitchhiking?
My father used to do it as a way to get around because he didn’t have a car. One summer he and his brother, Uncle Tom, hitched back to Connecticut from Montana. Hearing his stories from the road while I was growing up left an impression upon me that hitchhiking was a sure fire way to adventure. I decided to try it out for myself in college and quickly realized that all my hopes and dreams of what hitchhiking could be were in fact for the most part a reality. Two, three month long hitching trips, coast to coast, every country in North American, and over 30,000 miles have convinced me that hitchhiking is the way to travel in style HA!

Don’t you ever think hitchhiking is dangerous?
I’m not naive enough to say that hitchhiking is “extremely safe” but then again I don’t consider it “dangerous”. I have hitched over 30,000 miles, across 30 states, through 4 countries, over the past few years and have yet to have a “bad” experience. That’s not saying that I have never had any trying times on the road (which make for good song writing), it just means that I never encountered anything that I felt like I couldn’t handle. I’m not saying it’s for everyone or that it’s the easiest thing to do in the world, but for me it just feels good. Personally I think that riding my motorcycle around my home town is more dangerous than accepting rides from total strangers thousands of miles from home, but hey, that’s just me.

What would you consider the best part about hitchhiking?
The total lack of control you have on your present situation, at times you’ll find yourself in the middle of nowhere as the sun is going down, solution: camp out and get a good nights sleep. It’s those moments that I love. You just have to go with the flow and it always seems to work out for the best. Hitchhiking will teach you a lot about other people but you’ll also learn a lot about yourself.

What does your family think about your exploits?
My family is incredible. They are supportive of my decisions to go off adventuring and are happy for me.

Here is a quick bio of myself:
I am 27 years old and currently live in Brattleboro, Vermont/Manchester, CT. I was born and raised in Connecticut and have 2 brothers and a sister. I went to the University of Connecticut where I studied photography and graphic design. Currently I am working various jobs and saving money to continue traveling. My favorite way to travel is to hitchhike but traveling by motorcycle is a very close second.

If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me:
tallboy@tallboyadventures.com