The Lord had me hitchhike the United States for most of 23 years (1996-2020). I am a Christian. I am self-educated and also graduated from Iowa State University in 1995 with a BA in English Literature. I have been influenced by monastic and Pentecostal Christianity.
Three Books
I have had three books self-published. Back in 2017, my publisher (Publish America/America Star Books) went out of business. You can read my books for free here:
High Plains Drifter: A Hitchhiking Journey Across America (2008)
The First Time I Rode a Freight Train & other hitchhiking stories (2012)
Writings from the Road (2016)
A Short Story and Two Poems
A short story, “High Plains Drifter”, was published by Ethos Magazine (Iowa State University) in 1995. Two poems, “Shiloh” and “A Prophet’s Eyes”, were published by Ethos in 1997. I also had a number of hitchhiking stories published on Digihitch.com.
Book Review: High Plains Drifter
Hitchhiking Stories from Digihitch
Book Review: The First Time I Rode a Freight Train & other hitchhiking stories
A Conversation about High Plains Drifter
An American Pilgrim: Some Reflections on High Plains Drifter
Tim Shey in Jackson, Wyoming, 2011
“Thou must join in with the beginnings of life, and be exercised with the day of small things, before thou meet with the great things, wherein is the clearness and satisfaction of the soul. The rest is at noonday; but the travels begin at the breakings of day, wherein are but glimmerings or little light, wherein the discovery of good and evil are not so manifest and certain; yet there must the traveller begin and travel; and in his faithful travels … the light will break in upon him more and more.”
–Isaac Penington
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ROAD QUOTES:
“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you.
You must travel it by yourself.
It is not far. It is within reach.
Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know.
Perhaps it is everywhere – on water and land.”
–Walt Whitman
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“It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door,” says Bilbo Baggins. “You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
–J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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Luke 24: 32: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
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“Familiar with the roads and settled nowhere.”
–T.S. Eliot
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” . . . and when I choose to travel in the beaten road, it is not because I find it is the road, but because I judge it is the way.”
–John Milton
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“Remember us in the roads, the heaven-haven of the Reward.”
–Gerard Manley Hopkins
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Psalm 39: 12: “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were.”
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“Don’t think now, take the road.”
–Oswald Chambers
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“Think nothing and do nothing without a purpose directed to God. For to journey without direction is wasted effort.”
–Saint Mark the Ascetic
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“Faith expressly signifies the deep, strong, blessed restlessness that drives the believer so that he cannot settle down at rest in this world, and therefore the person who has settled down completely at rest has also ceased to be a believer, because a believer cannot sit still as one sits with a pilgrim’s staff in one’s hand – a believer travels forward.”
–Søren Kierkegaard
The Road 
Hey Tim,
Thanks for checking out my writing and leaving a few comments. I’ve been enjoying your stories as well; it’s always nice to find another hitchhiking writer. Maybe I’ll run into you down the road somewhere.
blessings
Dave
Thanks, Dave. I mostly hitchhike west of the Missouri River. Today I hitchhiked from northern California into southern Oregon. I should be heading north in a day or two. I am looking forward to reading more of your stories in the future.
Hope your enjoying your journeys lately. It’s been a while if you can remember me 🙂
Good to see you’re still writing too!
Peace & blessings ~
Tinkerbell: Yes, I do remember you. I haven’t done any hitchhiking since April. I am helping some friends in California. Looks like we will be branding some calves in a week. Take care.
Hi Tim,
Thank you really for reading and sharing my post in your blog. More than anything else, I am just grateful that the message of the Lord is spread as it should. Indeed, obedience is better than sacrifice and I praise Him for helping me obey.
Your blogs and posts are truly inspiring.
Blessings,
Cynthia
Cynthia: Thank you for your obedience to the Lord.
Here is a blog you may want to read sometime:
Scottish Warriors for Christ
https://scottishwarriors.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/what-does-a-real-prophet-look-like-we-will-soon-find-out/
Thanks Tim, I actually visited the site yesterday and posted a comment on the “True Prophets” article. Bro. Frank responded too. Praise God.
God bless brother…
Hi Tim,
Thank you for dropping by. I should be hanging in here a lot as i should be needing some hitchhiking tips from you 🙂
Those look like very good reads, thanks for introducing. God bless you and may you continue to obey the Lord wherever you go.
itchyfeetme: Thank you for visiting my blog. As you travel, you will see how the Lord puts people in your path. If you plan on doing a lot of hitchhiking, you may want to check out this:
Hitch-hiker’s Handbook
http://hitchhikershandbook.com/
Hi Tim, a little email told me that you had popped in to like a post on MisunderstoodGodBlog. Thank you for your thumbs up, (smirk). I never knew there were people who purposefully hitchhike around, but I’m sure it’s an amazing adventure, to say the least. You would be an interesting person at the dinner table, and to hear all of the things The Lord has showed you along the way. Here’s to serving The Lord together! Stay safe.
Hey Tim! 🙂
At the moment we’re running a hitch-hiking photo challenge on our website and you are more than welcome to participate with your shots.
The best entries will be posted on our website with links to photographers’ pages.
Here are the details: http://hitchhikershandbook.com/2013/03/12/hitch-hiking-in-pictures-photo-challenge/
Happy hitching!
HHH: Thanks for telling me this, but I haven’t done any hitchhiking since November 1st of 2012 and I don’t have a camera. I do enjoy looking at the photos on your website. Frodi Brinks has some really outstanding photos.
Any chance your books are available in electronic versions?
I don’t know if you can get it on Kindle.
Thanks for stopping by my blog, ForeWords, and hitting the “Like” buttom.
“Wanderer”
http://nycityonahill.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/wanderer/
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Hey Tim! How are you?
We’ve recently had an interesting debate on our blog about whether or not it’s good for girls to hitch-hike on their own? What’s your view? We’d be really happy if you took part in the discussion having hitchhiked for so many years: http://hitchhikershandbook.com/2013/10/01/solo-female-hitchhikers-good-or-bad/
Take care! 🙂
HHH: I think that women should hitchhike with another woman or with another man. They should not hitchhike alone.
Tim, I just received one of your books for my birthday and am looking forward to reading it. I met you years ago at my grandfather’s farm in West Bend and was so happy to talk to a fellow English major. My Bible study at church is studying witnessing and I am planning on sharing your story with the gals. I keep you in my prayers.
Jen: Are you related to the Berninghaus family? I hope you like my book. Take care and God bless you.
Hi Tim,
Yes, Irene was my grandmother, and Nancy is my mom. Blessings!
Jen: When you first mentioned your grandfather’s farm in West Bend, I thought of my and Nancy’s Grandpa Balgeman. I remember talking with you back in 1991 at the time of your grandmother’s funeral. I was a pallbearer at Grandpa Balgeman’s funeral in 1977. I was also at your mom and dad’s wedding, but I forget what year that was.
It is funny that you received one of my books recently. I just walked several miles from Salmon, Idaho to my friends’ house and noticed my book THE FIRST TIME I RODE A FREIGHT TRAIN & OTHER HITCHHIKING STORIES on the table, so I signed it for them. God’s timing is always perfect.
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Ah, lad…you’re living the life! Walking long distance is wonderful, such a precious way to touch the people and places around you. You must either be a distant relative..or a kindred spirit.
The Lord called me on the road. His Providence provides for me and protects me. I just hitchhiked from Montana to a friends’ place in Idaho. I was bone-tired, so I have been able to get some rest for a few days. We are both in Christ: we are kindred spirits.
Here is an Irish blessing that I just looked up on the internet:
“If God sends you down a stony path,
may he give you strong shoes.”
My translation:
If the Lord has you walk a narrow path,
He will give you the strength to endure it.
It is a sincere pleasure to meet you.
Hi Tim:
Thanks for your recent comments on my site! Wow, you really get around!
Monastic and Pentecostal Christianity fit well into the hitchhiking lifestyle: a simple life led by the Spirit. I’ve not hitched nearly as much as you, but I see where you are coming from.
Hi Tim! I love the article on forgiveness that you suggested I read the other day. Wonderful truths. I just wanted to stop by and thank you for visiting my blog again and for ‘liking’ one of my posts. As you know, I am very new to this adventure of sharing my faith and healing journey, and I really appreciate your encouragement. Blessings!
Kamea
incrementalhealing.wordpress.com
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What an interesting blog you have. Thanks for the pingbacks!
Hey, thank you for stopping by The Fruitful Life recently and “liking” a post. I decided to follow your blog because you quote some favorites of mine and because you have a strong message. God bless.
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I appreciate your heart and if you ever come North to Canada please let me know
Brian
“Only through time time is conquered.”
–T.S. Eliot
This is a comment I left on the blog Richard’s Watch:
When I think on the word “saved” (as in, “I was saved twenty or thirty years ago” or “when were you saved?” and so on), as a Christian, it is probably an incorrect word or concept. To be saved implies the past. The Lord Jesus Christ is past, present and future. As a Christian, I abide in Christ right here right now.
Let’s say someone surrendered their life to Christ a number of years ago. This is the BEGINNING of being connected with the timelessness of Jesus Christ. As we take up our cross and die daily, our body and soul life are put to death, so that the spiritual life within us (Christ) grows stronger and stronger every day. As the passions of the body and soul life die, time dies. Think of the sinful, physical body as shackled to time: the physical body is born on a certain date (time), it lives for 85 years (time) and then dies on a certain date (time).
There is a point in physical time when someone surrenders to timelessness—the Lord Jesus Christ. Worldly people and lukewarm Christians are still bound to time; spiritual Christians are timeless.
The power and beauty of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is that that timeless event (it defied time and space) pierced human time and presented us with the possibility of living a life connected to timelessness and sinlessness (abiding in Christ)—if we act in faith and surrender our lives to Jesus Christ.
I John 1: 7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
The above scripture absolutely implies, not some historical event (time), but the timelessness of Jesus Christ. To an unbeliever, the phrase “and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” is totally insane: the death of Jesus Christ happened over two thousand years ago (time). To a Christian, what happened at Calvary is happening right here right now (timelessness). If we walk in the light (abide in Christ daily), the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us (not cleansed us) from all sin.
Enoch walked with God and then God took him because (after many years of obeying the Lord through proper blood sacrifices [dying to self] and believing in the future Messiah) he walked in timelessness and eventually timelessness (God) took him. Enoch was no longer shackled by time.
Prophets are very timeless because the timeless Holy Ghost inspires them to speak of future events as if they are happening right here right now.
Time to stop writing.
So very well expressed. I agree. We are new creations, and we exist “outside of time” although our flesh is stuck in this time-bound construction. This is why I believe the “rhythm of the kingdom” is important. Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach) stressed the importance of the kingdom; and He modeled alignment with the rhythm established (commanded) in Torah – the days (morning/evening), the weeks (punctuated by Sabbath), the months, the years (Feasts to be observed to mark the changing seasons)… I am convinced there is great purpose in the rhythm He set in place for us while we are attached to time.
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Hi Tim,
I’m embarrassed to say that I just saw your comment on a very old article from 2014 that appeared on The Huffington Post website and that you knew my husband. Email me at info@CatherinePond.com and I’ll provide more information.
Thanks and hope this finds you well!
Best wishes, Catherine Pond
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Where have you been, Tim?
If you want to communicate with me, you can use my email: sawman1960@live.com.
What an amazing adventure to hitch so many places..
The Lord surely protected you..
I have so much to read that you have shared.. If the Lord should tarry I may catch up!
I just spent a few days helping some friends in Idaho. I may be heading up into Montana in a couple of days. I do get tired of hitchhiking, but this is where the Lord has me at this time in my life. Not my will, but Thine be done.
Amen..
I pray God will provide you a place to lay your head, and continue working through you to serve His purpose.
Prayers that you have a nice Christmas
Thank you for your prayers. I am house sitting for some friends in Salmon, Idaho for several days through Christmas. I hope you have a very blessed Christmas.
A Christmas Story of Junked Cars Can Be Beautiful
https://hitchhikeamerica.wordpress.com/2012/09/22/a-christmas-story-of-junked-cars-can-be-beautiful/
Hi,
Can we keep this from TMJ? (Pauli’s my chum in fact)
I’d like if you could write to TMJ, but not say what comes from me. Say as if it all comes from you…
I’m a hiker too, Tim. I hiked from France to Norway (a few times), and France to Istanbul Turkey, once, (on my way to India…via Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan) finished the trip on buses when I got into Turkey. Spent a year in India when I was just 21, (now reached age of 66) living with Tibetans in the Himalaya foothills.
(I had done a year of Tibetan at university in Paris – INALCO – Tibetan Section – before that – I later finished the five-year Tibetan course at uni. Do you get time to study deeply? I’d like to share some docs and insight into Christianity with you – if you have the freedom to have the time and space to do that deeply. I’d prefer we talk about that freely and then you can filter how you want to share that with TMJ…at your free behest…just I can have a little bit of filter from the heat at TMJ and we can talk peacefully here. You can email me too at my email address. I do Skype too if that interests you. Do you make UTube vids Tim? We could make Christian videos tho I’m Buddhist but I’ve got a lot to say about Christians. And it’s good news. Very good news indeed. I already talked to TMJ about my research/… and her blog got censored! I got kicked out of being part of administration/moderation there etc…but whatever… we can talk freely here and that’s how I’d like it to be. Free and easy. lol!)
The truth is meant to get out. Pauli’s open to lots of stuff but she operates with David as a team and beside that she’s got a tightly-knit group at TMJ that needs to be addressed as a group, not as individuals. Being a group implies you play along with the rest. Which is why I prefer to have the leverage of speaking on different forums than just one single blog like at TMJ – tho I’m always on Pauli’s side concerning Obama’s hidden identity. That’s what makes me the odd man out at TMJ because they think Pauli’s “too far out” about Obama. I think Pauli’s “100% spot on”.
I am very well-read. In my early twenties, I read the works of John of the Cross (John Yepes), Theresa of Avila, The Cloud of Unknowing and other classics in Christian/monastic spirituality or mystic Christianity. Before I got into the Bible, I enjoyed reading the poetry of Ryokan, the Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist monk. I have also been heavily influenced by Oswald Chambers, A.W. Tozer and Watchman Nee. Taking up your cross daily and being immersed in the Holy Ghost Fire is what destroys Satanic strongholds. People who are into head knowledge and forms of Godliness don’t interest me at all.
My influences go much further than those you mentioned Tim. I’m a scholar of Tibetan Buddhism. If that’s of interest to you, let’s talk. I’m talking about the Bible and Jesus if that also interests you, you tell me.
No, I am not interested in Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism does not cleanse us from sin. Only the Precious Blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin.
I John 1:7: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
Tim if you’re interested in Christianity and Jesus then the Mongol Emperor Hulagu’s wife and mother were fervent Christians and saved all the Christians in Baghdad from death when Hulagu razed Baghdad. Do you know about Eastern Christianity or not? There are great Christian scholars sources’ available online. Don’t want to disparage your learning but what have you read about that topic and does Christianity in the East interest you (…it’s the Christianity of Christians before the West was evangelized and converted to Christianity)? I’m trying to be constructive here. Just sayin’. If you say Eastern Christians don’t interest you fine, we’ll take it from there?
Tolstoy’s my relative. My second cousin Pontine Paus and Tolstoy’s grand daughter are relatives. Writing to Internet blogs is counterproductive, don’t you think? Most people are stupid dolts, have you seen that too, like I have?
geirsmith: Please, no more comments. Thank you.
I have constantly written, as well as warned America about the Left and their real agenda to silence any and all opposition to their sick twisted agenda. And part of that is the FACT that Mike Pence is a little Weenie, and not to be believed. Besides that Mike Pence is getting paid upwards of $100,000 for a speech leading up to his Book Deal.