Over 5,000 miles, 3,000 photographs, 930 people

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Benjamin Oliver Jenkins in his stop motion video.
Benjamin Oliver Jenkins in his stop motion video.

The next YouTube sensation just might be “Hitchhiking Stop Motion,” made by and starring backpacking enthusiast Benjamin Oliver Jenkins.

Jenkins hitchhiked over 5,000 miles from L.A. to Maine, took 3,000 photographs, met 930 people (word of caution: seven of them are naked) and compiled his trip to an amazing stop motion animation.

In the video, stone-faced Jenkins is surrounded by people from all walks of life across the continent, including Spongebob Squarepants and Lady Liberty. The haunting and humorous journey brings the focus of travel back to the most important: people.

Jenkins, who runs Adventure Sauce, a site for “creative travel and adventure tips,” has been hitchhiking since March 2009, inspired by Jack Kerouac’s “On the Road” and Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction.”

“I wanted to hitchhike around the USA, talk to people, look for the ‘goodness’ in humanity, and get into adventures,” he says on the website.

Judging by the video, he was quite successful.