Cody Smart hitchhiked across the US, up into Alaska and back through the Southwest.

They say hitchhiking is dangerous. Everyone said I’d get robbed, raped and killed. I paid no attention. I figured America’s paranoid, and hitchhiking is safe. You can’t have an adventure nowadays without someone saying you’ll get robbed, raped or killed. They were right, of course. I did get robbed, almost raped, and nearly killed. I guess hitchhiking is dangerous. But that might be reason enough to go – for that certain risk, a fire drill from the sterile status quo.

His portraits of the truckers, fishermen, hobos and hitchers he meets along the way are all you really need.

Hitchhiking Across America – In Pictures