>Are there too many hitchhikers out there...I have been having
>discussions with other letterboxers (off of the board) and that has
>been a major topic.
>
>It seems like every box we find has a hitchhiker in it.
I think what you're seeing is a case of geographic displacement. I did some
writing on hitchhikers on my site recently
(http://www.letterboxing.info/articles/00000010.shtml) and I figured that
as of November 2002, there were approximately 280 hitchhikers in
circulation in the United States. With more than 2,500 letterboxes in the
U.S., you ought to find a hitchhiker in every ten letterboxes you find (on
average). I expect that the average is actually lower since a number of
those hitchhikers are often in someone's backpack or sitting on their desk
for stretches of time between letterboxing excursions, and another number
are almost certainly lost since there's no way of knowing for sure if
they're still in existent. (Of course, there may also be more hitchhikers
that have never been announced publicly, as well.)
Personally, I've found 4 hitchhikers and 81 letterboxes, or half of what
you'd expect from the raw numbers. When I was in Nebraska, I found 8 boxes
(just about all of the boxes in existence in the greater Omaha/Lincoln area
at the time) and no hitchhikers; I've found 17 boxes in PA and no
hitchhikers; 12 boxes in Michigan and no hitchhikers; but 20 boxes in New
Jersey and 2 hitchhikers.
Judging from the talk on the LBNA list, lots of people have never found
hitchhikers, and they get very excited when they finally do. From that, and
from the numbers themselves, I'd
But if your neck of the woods is oversaturated with hitchhikers, then I'd
agree that it's the right thing to do for 'boxers in that area to hold off
on planting new hitchhikers, and to make an effort to move the hitchhikers
outwards, away from the epicenter of 'contamination'
of 'boxers out there who would be thrilled to find just one!
|-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-|
Silent Doug, P21 F85 X04
silentdoug@douglasgerlach.com
http://www.letterboxing.info