Veteran international travel writer, Amber Nolan, has embarked on a journey across the U.S. to answer the question: Is it possible to land in all 50 states by hitchhiking around the country on prop planes and private jets?

Florida native, Amber Nolan, is attempting to visit and explore all 50 states on a shoestring budget. Nolan, AKA The JetHiking Gypsy, has been hitching rides with private pilots in small planes, experimental aircraft and in private jets. She will continue on her quest seeking great destinations, fascinating people, and adventure across the United States.

To date, Nolan has reached 48 states by hitching rides on small aircraft, including the five-day journey to Alaska. The project, dubbed Jethiking, began in July 2012 and has taken her more than 25,000 miles through the air over the United States - for free. Nolan is recording her adventures as she attempts to redefine modern hitchhiking, through a series of photo galleries, interviews and on-line blogging.

Nolan finds private pilots and their families to be very cooperative in allowing her to “hitch” rides, once they understand her goal. “The aviation community has been wonderful. They’ve been very supportive and have helped breathe life into this crazy idea I had.” The general public cheers Amber along the way with supportive messages including: “Go Amber, Go!” Sebastien Heintz, President Zenith Aircraft Company, said “I love what you're doing! I'm a big proponent of putting the fun back into flying and you're doing it in a big way - way to go!” Travel Writer, Nolan, has been traveling the globe and reporting on her adventures since she graduated from college nearly a decade ago. Her wanderlust has taken her to exotic locations such as the jungles of Colombia, and the end of the Earth in Cape Horn, but this time she’s sticking to her own exciting backyard: the United States. The JetHiking Gypsy travels on a shoestring budget and finds a place low-cost housing with pilot families and those supportive of the trek.
		Amber Nolan, AKA The JetHiking Gypsy, is visiting all 50 states by hitchhiking around the country on prop planes and private jets.

“I’ve also camped in the dessert, the mountains, at grass-strip runways, stayed on a number of couches, hostels, farms - you name it,” she says. She funds the JetHiking project by saving money, writing articles along the way, and stopping to work odd jobs; including housekeeping, bartending, and working as a deckhand on a sailboat or yacht.

“Most pilots want to share their passion for flying with people. It is entirely different than flying commercial airlines. You can see more, land on the water (in seaplanes), and fly to places where cars cannot get to,” she said.

The goals of the project are to explore lesser-known tourism attractions; promote general aviation and travel; combat common misconceptions of the air industry and help promote recreational flying while demonstrating that, in a difficult economy, budget travel is still possible with a little creativity. She has begun taking flying lessons and plans on getting her license when she finishes her JetHiking project. Many see Nolan as a motivational role model for people, because instead of dreaming about her goals, she is living them.

Follow Amber's trek through her blog at: www.jethiking.com  or Twitter: @JetHiking