In the opening chapter of this book you'll discover the reasons of my lifelong passion for wanderlust－the love of traveling the world, especially on a shoestring budget.

For the next three chapters you'll accompany me vicariously on a three-month hitchhike from near Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Seattle, Washington, down the West Coast of the United States, east to Tucson, Arizona and from there to the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. From there we'll hitchhike back to Wisconsin along Mexico's Gulf Coast and northward through Texas and Oklahoma.