Have hitchhiked around Europe many times, before I discovered that cycle touring was a much better way to travel for free!
Having said that, I do love hitching. Its a romantic way to travel. You never know when your next lift is coming, where it is going, or who is going to be behind the wheel. And you can't beat the feeling when you have been waiting for ages, think you will never got a lift, and then someone stops - its a buzz.
Stories? Best lift I ever got was from a Turkish (female) stripper. That was pretty interesting! Oh and there was one time a beaten-up old car that had obviously been in one or two accidents stopped. Behind the wheel was a Chinese man and everywhere else in the car was just potatoes, everywhere, just thousands of potatoes. I had no idea where he expected me to sit.