I’m alone, hunched over by a dusty road junction, and feeling the bite of the morning sun. I’ve already been waiting here, on the outskirts of Esperance on the south coast of Western Australia, for more than three hours. Another wave of traffic approaches. I smile, stretch out my arm and raise my thumb.

Most drivers who pass wave or give me a thumbs up. One gives me the finger. There isn’t much traffic. Someone tosses a water bottle out their window at me.

Just as I start to catastrophise in the dust, a four-wheel-drive quietly pulls off the road and comes to a stop behind me. I hoist my backpack around my shoulder, run over and jump in the passenger seat, thanking the driver profusely.

One of my stranger interests is hitchhiking. I’m drawn to the idea of abandoning control and finding comfort in a stranger’s company. It’s a subculture, an art, and a way of travel that satisfies wanderlust like no other trip.…