Hitchhiker (as used in letterboxing):
Hitchhiking letterboxes come in several forms, but
all have a common attribute - They move.
In general, the basic idea of hitchhiker boxes runs
as follows - A person finds a "normal" letterbox, and
discovers a second box, unrelated to the intended
find, hidden with the first. The finder then takes
that second box along with them, and leaves it at some
other box he or she visits in the future.
Proper letterboxing etiquette dictates that the carrier
of a hitchhiker should stamp it into the box they hide it
with, and vice-versa. So on finding one, if the previous
carrier didn't stamp it into the box, the new finder
should do so.
A number of subtypes exist within the general category
of hitchhikers:
The original type, generally the default when dealing
with a hitchhiking letterbox, simply goes to the next
box its carrier visits (usually skipping later boxes
on the same hike, to make it move around a bit
faster). Find it, go on to the next box, and leave
it.
The next type, usually called a "traveller", does not
necessarily go to the next normal box visited.
The carrier generally keeps it for some time, up to
a week or two, and tries to place it as far from
its last home as possible. This causes it to have
fewer finders than a normal hitchiker, but such
boxes often travel thousands of miles (not necessarily
in one direction) over the course of a year. People
carrying travellers sometimes, though not always, stamp
the traveller into every box they visit before leaving
it with a new fixed-location box.
A third type, the "personal" letterbox, does not ever
stay with a placed box. It travels with a person
(or car, or dog, or other animate object), and to
"find" it someone must ask its keeper to stamp in.
The first of this type travelled with Max, the dog
of a well-known letterboxing couple from Southern
New England. This differs primarily from a
letterboxer's normal personal rubber stamp
in that it counts as a find, rather than an exchange.
A relatively new type of hitchhiker (with no specific
term yet used to define them) has appeared
recently to deal with a common problem - When leaving
a hitchhiker with another fixed letterbox, the original
planter of the fixed box will often have used a location
with only enough room for the box itself. This means
that leaving a hitchhiker requires either finding
a way to expand the existing location, or leaving it
in a dangerously conspicuous manner. The solution to
this, first used in the "Peter J. McGuire" letterbox,
seems simple yet took years to think of - To leave
such a hitchhiker, the 'boxer picks a nearby spot
(within a few dozen yards, usually) suitable for
hiding the hitchhiker. The carrier then leaves a
description of this nearby spot in the fixed-location
box, for the next visitor to find.
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