Two Thumbs Up: Hitching Rides from Southern California to East Berlin

Two low-income college students hitchhike from California to NYC during the Cold War, cross the Atlantic and thumb their way into East Berlin––with near disaster a constant companion. A fatal accident comes close in a first ride with two drunk Mexican dwarfs. Ditto in a motorcycle collision outside Paris and a crash in the Swiss Alps. These alarming events are offset by what they learn and who they meet in west Europe’s youth hostels. Their adventure begins with no clue about what to do with their lives. It ends with a clear vision of the road ahead. I know this, because I was one of the hitchhikers.
TWO THUMBS UP is a fast-paced 60, 235 words coming of age memoir set in America, western Europe and Berlin during the mid-1950s. It will appeal to readers of American and European history and to fans of hitchhiking memoirs like Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild and John Waters’ Carsick. Other older adults will find reading this Cold War era adventure of two southern California university students worth their time.