Finding another lift was tough. I talked to 15 people or more, but all of them refused to give me a ride. Most of them showed compassion on me excusing they are heading to other places, but some of them looked at me as if I were a beggar. (Technically, I was a beggar asking a free ride at that moment.)

I was getting lost. If I were on a surface street, I could walk to a nearby public transportation or at least catch a taxi. But I was in the middle of a highway, so I needed to find someone who can at least get me out of this highway. Again I regretted my decision to hitchhike. I thought it is going to be an interesting experiment, not anymore.

As the day was breaking, I finally found a driver who is going close to Osaka.
“I can only get you to Nara. Would that help you?” The man in his late 20s seemed ambivalent between his curiosity and prudence.
“Huge help.” I was almost to cry with a relief. Nara is a neighbouring city of Osaka.
“Come with me.” He said, and I thanked him.

His car was the smallest but the cleanest one compared to the previous two vehicles. As I sat on the seat, he gave me a canned coffee.
“Oh, no, sir, this is too good for me.” I was feeling sorry and ashamed at the same time for getting a too much favour from a stranger.
“Take it. You’ve been up all night and need to stay awake for another few hours.” His voice was modest yet warm. I thanked him and had the coffee.

“What was the purpose of your hitchhiking?” He asked me as he drove off the highway to the city.
I detected a familiar Kansai accent from his composed voice. Suddenly, I felt like to let out my anxiety which I have never verbalised before.
“I wanted to see what would happen if I do something that other people don’t.” I exhaled. “Most of my friends are getting job offers seemingly without questioning their choices. I don’t understand how come they are so sure what they want to do with their lives. I don’t know what I want to do with my life, and I feel like I’m lying if I go to an interview without knowing what I really want.”
“That is a very typical thing.” He assured.
“Is it?”
“Most people don’t know what they want. I didn’t know either. I’m a science researcher now, but it took me 10 years to figure out what I really want to pursue in academia. It’s not something you can be sure 100% from the beginning. You speculate on a theory, experiment, analyse, and improve. ”
Through the window, I watched people walking on the street: School kids, businessmen, mothers on bicycles, and old people walking with their dogs. I imagined the choices they have been given, and the choices they have made.

As the car approached the station, he broke the silence.
“If you are really not sure what you want to do with your life, maybe you want to consider continuing your study in a graduate school.”
I was surprised. Grad school? To me, who was from a middle-class family which could barely afford my university tuition, continuing study seemed a very radical idea.
“I’ve never thought about it.” I said. “But I will give it a consideration.”
“Good luck.” He smiled and got me off.

While I was waiting for a local train goes to Osaka, I called my mother and told her that I was coming back home. She got very upset to know what I have done last night. I apologised her and swore that I will never hitchhike again following to the promise to the yakuza.

After spending a week in my hometown, I returned to Tokyo (by a bullet train this time), and then graduated the University following year. I got a job in a small company and worked hard to save up a fund to study abroad which was one of my dreams from childhood.

Sometimes I wonder what those people who helped me that night are doing now. Without them, I would have been lost somewhere between Tokyo and Osaka. I want to thank them in person, but I can’t even recall their faces. All I remember is what they have told me, and the three different views from the three different navigation seats.
After 13 years from that journey, I am getting myself a driver’s license this summer. If I find a young female hitchhiker somewhere, I will stop my car and treat her a coffee.