We have all heard of Urban Legends, today I am going to talk about phantom travelers or hitchhikers.

They are ghosts of humans or sometimes animals that haunt a specific location, usually roads or rest areas. Sometimes even vehicles!! They place that they haunt usually has to due with a tragedy that occurred there or some other strong emotional connection. Some are doomed to walk that particular route forever because of a sin that they committed.

Some of the earliest recorded sightings of phantom travelers date back to the 1600’s in Europe and Russia. By the time Washington Irving wrote his famous tale about the headless horseman in 1819 and 1820. Phantom travelers seem solid, substantial & real.

Some of the best known ghostly urban legends involve phantom hitchhikers. Most of the time the phantom hitchhiker is a girl or a young woman, the damsel in distress. She is seen, by a male driver. Dressed in white, she will suddenly appear in the car’s headlights. Most times she is soaking wet, although its not raining or there is no water in the area.

Once the driver stops and offers her a ride to where she is going, she will accept and quietly climb into the back seat. She is usually going to the next town, or whatever direction the driver is heading. On occasion she will give the driver her name, but this happens rarely.

The driver will sometimes give her his coat to warm her up. He also constantly checks the rearview mirror, noticing how beautiful she is. When the driver reaches the destination the girl gave him, she is gone when he stops the car & turns to her. If her clothes were wet then there is a wet spot on the seat of the car, or maybe a puddle of water on the floor. Sometimes she will leave behind a scarf or book.

The driver will go to the house that the girl indicated, he is greeted by a woman or sometimes a man & wife. They tell him that this happens every year. It is the anniversary of their daughter’s death. She was either murdered or died in an accident in the location that she was first seen. She tries every year to make it home, but fails. The parents show the driver a photograph of the girl, and it is indeed the girl he picked up. She is wearing the same outfit too.

Now, here’s the the unexpected part, the driver will later go to the girl’s grave, and if he gave her his jacket in the car, then he will find it draped over her stone.