{"id":314,"date":"2017-04-24T17:36:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T22:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jessicamannion.com\/?p=314"},"modified":"2018-03-09T10:18:36","modified_gmt":"2018-03-09T15:18:36","slug":"connachen-talkes-life-hitchiking-and-underwear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jessicamannion.com\/?p=314","title":{"rendered":"Connachen talkes life, hitchiking and underwear"},"content":{"rendered":"

Features Article for University of Alaska, Anchorage newspaper The Northern Light<\/em><\/p>\n

by Jessica Keil (maiden name)
\nNorthern Light Features Editor<\/i><\/p>\n

From beehives to bell-bottoms, it appears the 70s are making a comeback in a big way, so one might assume that the era’s favorite mode of transportation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c hitchhiking \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be coming back, too.<\/p>\n

But will anyone stop to pick up those restless souls?<\/p>\n

Steve Connachen, 23, wondered the same as he stood with thumb poised by a Canadian highway. Tired of watching cars pass him by, Connachen decided it was time to pull out the heavy ammo.<\/p>\n

Stepping behind a tree, he doffed his jeans and faster than you can say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shazam!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he was clad in his national dress.<\/p>\n

Less than 45 minutes later, someone stopped and offered him a lift.<\/p>\n

He’s been wearing his kilt ever since.<\/p>\n

Connachen was born in a town about 12 miles outside Edinburgh, Scotland. For the past five months he has been hitchhiking across Canada and the United States working odd jobs, making friends, and spreading a wee bit of his heritage to everyone he sees.<\/p>\n

His attire does initiate some interesting questions.<\/p>\n

Connachen says, he has token replies to people who ask, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What’s worn under that kilt?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nothin’s worn under my kilt, everything’s in working order,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Connachen says with a mischievous grin. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Or, I tell them, ‘I’m a man of few words, give me your hand.’\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Connachen says he decided to travel the world for several reasons.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I read a lot of books, spoke to a lot of travelers. I got the impression that the world has a lot to offer, something you can’t get from a university,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said.<\/p>\n

Not that Connachen thinks universities are unnecessary. He says education is taken for granted by the Scottish people because all the schools are funded by the government, even colleges.<\/p>\n

But college wasn’t for Connachen.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’m a very lucky person,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have no time restrictions and no commitments.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153At first I thought I’d spend one year in each country, but there’s an awful lot of countries in the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

So now he’s traveling as he pleases, staying at youth hostels or at the homes of friends he makes along the way.<\/p>\n

Alaska in Connachen’s first stop in the United States. He says he came here because Americans are frequently put down in Scotland.<\/p>\n

Most of the misconceptions the Scottish people have about Americans are from American movies, Connachen says. They think Americans are very violent.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But I don’t understand why people can say these things when they haven’t even met the people. Every country has its good points and bad points.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

One of the lower points he’s noticed in his two weeks in Anchorage is the public transportation system.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I didn’t realize how good (our transportation) was in Scotland until I left,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. I\u00e2\u20ac\u009dd give Anchorage’s bus system about a 1 out of 10.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am impressed with the bus drivers, though,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Connachen says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They’re really friendly, they help everyone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

To fund his trip, Connachen worked part time as a bartended at two places as well as full-time teaching kids badminton, tennis and racquetball.<\/p>\n

He saved for eight months and wound up with $7,000 in Canadian bills.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But obviously, if you have any intelligence, you have to think about things like money all the time,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Connachen says.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If I have to clean shoes to get money to stay somewhere, I’ll do it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

As it is, Connachen has held several odd jobs during his travels.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got a job at a construction site. I didn’t even know how to pull a nail out, I’ve done mostly physical labor.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But it’s amazing how fast your vocabulary can diminish. When I went back to the youth hostel at night I used some words that weren’t really appropriate,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Connachen says.<\/p>\n

Connachen says he has learned many things about human nature from his travels.<\/p>\n

Like the time he was hitchhiking through a national forest area, just outside of Lake Louise and a mother bear and two cubs came into view.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I was worried, but I just stood there,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Connachen says. He had heard that bears usually leave people alone if they don’t feel threatened. But he had heard other things about mother bears.<\/p>\n

The thing that surprised him was that the cars kept passing by but didn’t stop to help. And when they did stop, it was to take a picture of the bear.<\/p>\n

But luckily for Connachen, not all people are thoughtless.<\/p>\n

Of all the people who have picked him up on his travels, about 70 percent were of British ancestry. Almost half had hitchhiked themselves.<\/p>\n

And most of the people who picked him up were men.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s very rare for a woman to pick up a man. But there was one woman in a Ferrari who stopped. Later I asked her why she had picked me up, not that I didn’t appreciate it.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153She said, ‘How harmful can a man be in a kilt.’<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It turned out she’s one of the top women lawyers in Thunder Bay, Connachen says.<\/p>\n

\"Connachen<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Connachen<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Features Article for University of Alaska, Anchorage newspaper The Northern Light by Jessica Keil (maiden name) Northern Light Features Editor From beehives to bell-bottoms, it appears the 70s are making a comeback in a big way, so one might assume that the era’s favorite mode of transportation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c hitchhiking \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be coming back, too. … Continue reading Connachen talkes life, hitchiking and underwear<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[28,22,29],"tags":[61,62,60,57,54,55],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9TvP3-54","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":307,"url":"https:\/\/www.jessicamannion.com\/?p=307","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":0},"title":"Controversial artwork removed; Professor says potential for violence led to decision","date":"April 25, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"News Article for University of Alaska, Anchorage newspaper The Northern Light Jessica Keil (maiden name) Northern Light Features Editor A sculpture depicting a Ku Klux Klansman was erected in the Arts building on Wednesday, but was taken down two days later after repeated threats were made to tear it down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","img":{"alt_text":"Controversial artwork removed 1 of 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.jessicamannion.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Controversial-artwork-removed-1-of-2-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":319,"url":"https:\/\/www.jessicamannion.com\/?p=319","url_meta":{"origin":314,"position":1},"title":"Sinfonia: it’s not just for music majors anymore","date":"April 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Features Article for University of Alaska, Anchorage newspaper The Northern Light by Jessica Keil (maiden name) Northern Light Features Editor If music hath charm to soothe the savage breast, members of the University Sinfonia might well be the most placid people on campus. 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