Mentor section

[benwanderer]

I think Thumbing.it should have a mentor section. There are a lot of newbies out there that have a lot of questions. Some of them go on to be world travelers, while others never make it out the door.

what the newbies get.
In the mentor section, newbies who are nervous or uncertain of  themselves can post a request for a mentor. Someone would volunteer, and bam, a match is made. The newbie could then ask all the routine newbie questions of the mentor, and get answers specifically tailored to them without the need for clogging up the boards. They could seek encouragement and share travel dreams and plans with the mentor. Exchange ideas. Get advice. All one on one in a format that is more personalized. Of course the mentor could refer them or link them to specific topics on the forum to answer their questions, and they would still obviously participate in the rest of the forum.

what the mentors get.
As far as what is in it for the mentors, they get to pass on knowledge and help encourage the next wave of hitchers. People who would otherwise stay home make a friend and are pushed to achieve their dream instead of bailing out or reading about it and then not going. The mentor also makes a friend, and gets to help the site in a big way. In addition, they end up with a travel buddy for however long. Who would you want to travel with more than the person who has advised you, helped you, and become your friend?

First-time-outs and mash-ups
In addition to providing advice and sharing stories and encouragement, as well as friendship, I think it would be really cool if the mentors went out with their students on their first trip. Of course this would be up to student and mentor, but it would be a HUGE help to getting people out the door. Students would tell their mentor when they wanted to set out on their first trip, and mentors could help the students plan it. They could then meet up in the students town or location and travel together on said trip. Again this would be entirely optional, but should be encouraged.  This would be like the final Exam in the mentor/ student pairing. The two could have a good time and put to use all of the things they learned together.

Then, after they went their separate ways, we could have mentor mash-ups. It would be like a hitch gathering except for mentors and students. We could determine a place and mentors and students could gather to share what they've been up to since their First-Time-Out trip. They could hang out, have fun, and learn more or just chill.

conclusion
I know that hitchers are by nature people who are happy being by themselves, but I think something like this would help to build bonds within the community, ensure best practices, and build up the number of people who GET OUT THERE and live life. I know I was fucking TERRIFIED when I first set out to hitch, and something like this would have kicked ass in my eyes. I'm traveling for the next few years, and would be more than willing to take on as many students as needed. I'm REALLY passionate about the idea and would love to see it become a reality. I mean, I'm not the most well traveled, and I don't know nearly as much as say Lightfoot or TW&R, but I'm willing to find the answers to questions, and before the new site is even up the amount of experience I have will be vastly improved.

[lightfoot]

I like helping newbies out sometimes but I don't have the time or inclination to do it on a formal basis. Not meaning to fully dismiss your idea here but ... there are some people who obviously don't have what it takes to hitch across their town. There are some "mentors" who would encourage anyone to hitch. One problem would be mentoring someone who is a minor or a runaway who has lied about their age. There might be mentors who misrepresent their own qualifications. If I had an 18-year-old daughter who I found out was being "mentored" online by some 43-year-old guy about anything, I'd be pissed. If some newbie goes out and has a horrible first trip, that's something I wouldn't necessarily want to deal with. Similarly, if someone gets stuck on an on-ramp for 58 hours somewhere, I don't want to be getting "what should I do?" emails.  No amount of mentoring is gonna help anyone get out of LA any faster or get through Phoenix any faster, let's be honest here. A lot of hitching expertise is developed and refined through trial and error. Some trucker ripped off my backpack in Amarillo back in 2009. That hardly would make me a mentor to anyone.

[thewindandrain]

We have a community of people here with a vast collective of experiences and knowledge that far surpasses what any one mentor could offer. When sparkies have questions, who better to answer them than everyone combined?

Usually the people that ask really specific questions haven't even made the decision to go and are putting off hitting the road, telling themselves they have to keep preparing and address every little concern that might come up as a means to delay leaving. There is no cure for that. I can't always read their essay about their tumultuous home life and how they are still torn between whether or not they should leave and what sites they should see when they hitchhike up California 101 from Big Sur to Arcata and should they bring toilet paper (no they shouldn't.)

That being said you raise a valid point as a one on one personal touch can go a long way in giving someone the confidence needed to take that first step. A live chat room would be great for this, but will we have a large enough userbase to support it? I doubt it--not at first at least. I don't know what the right way to handle this is.

[Evs]

Hey benwanderer,

I like where you're head is at. I think it's great to have a passion to really try to help people in an actionable way.

But I'll tell you what, I think the point of a communal forum is that when someone asks a question, and that question is then answered, the community at large benefits more by making that question and that answer publicly visible for all to see and talk about.

I think that if people want to develop a 'newbie/mentor' relationship, then thumbing.it will be a great place for those people to exchange contact information so that they can get in touch.

As far as the forums go, I'd like to see a place where open conversation is encouraged and where no one is left out because they are not a 'newbie' or a 'mentor'.

What does everyone else think?

[benwanderer]

Well, I know when I've been voted down. I think it's a good idea, but this isn't Tony-thumbing.it, it's a community. I'll obviously go along with whatever y'all vote for. It's more about wanting this community to be... well... a community. I'd like to see real brotherhood, that's all. And that could be done in many ways. It doesn't have to be THIS way. I think TW&R's idea for a live chat room would be great. And I do totally understand Lightfoot's point about hitching being something you have to learn by doing.

I guess I'll just have to be extra attentive to the sparkies. ^_^

[roaddog]

Agreed, I think it's a good idea, but also think that Evs has a great point about the idea that 'newbie' and 'mentor' creates a sense of "being left out".

If someone wants to hitch, they will do so regardless. That's what I did- I wanted something badly enough that I did what I needed to do to get there. Agreed, there should be a sort of meetup board where folks can meet up if they want to exchange contact info and such.

It's one thing to have the desire to do something and another to have the desire to have someone do it for you- which- by the way- I've seen way too much of from those who want to "tag along" to learn but end up being a drag, a waste of time and a huge burden.

But again, the internet didn't even exist when I went out on the road. I had the idea and met ONE person who lived that life and then knew it was right for me. That's it.

[lightfoot]

On paper, it's a fantastic idea benwanderer. Sparky wrote a great introductory piece for first-time hitchers on the old site and I wrote "Psychology of Hitching" which is sort of a companion piece to what Sparky wrote. Hopefully both of those can be resurrected on the new site. But everyone has their own style of hitching and we all look at situations differently. Some people are laid back; others hitch aggressively. Some people spend hours researching before they head out, others want to be surprised at what's ahead. The more I hitched, the more rides I would turn down. I didn't turn many rides down but a good spot is a good spot and sometimes that beats an unknown spot 45 minutes down the road, especially at night.

[roaddog]

Good point John- if I'd known some things in advance, I wouldn't have had to learn them the hard way. And spot on about the different learning styles.