Nationwide Insights: My Experience with Lyft and DoorDash Across All 50 States

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kreskin Torres, a gig worker who has visited each of the 50 US states while working as a ride-hailing driver for Lyft.

The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I’ve been a rideshare driver for Lyft for about nine years now. I started out in Baltimore.

About a year in, I visited London for a month. I realized on that trip that travel gives you ideas and inspires you to try new things. When I came back, I said, “Now, I want to see my country.”

I wanted a flexible job where I could meet different people and plan my own schedule. I also wanted to minimize what I owned and focus on travel.

The first road trip I took was from Baltimore to the West Coast. I left in February 2018. I’ve been traveling and doing gig work full-time since then. Most months, I make between $2,500 and $3,000 in gross pay.

I’ve been to all 50 states, and some of them I’ve visited three or four times. That took about three years to do. I was stuck at 49 for a while because of the pandemic. When I hit my 50th state — Hawaii — I ended up on the local news talking about my travels.

I try to pick a new home base every few months and visit towns nearby to do rideshare and delivery work. At the end of June, I went to Pittsburgh because I wanted to work in West Virginia for a while. I also want to be in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, later this summer. They claim the banana split was invented there, and they have a festival for it every year.

When I get into a new town, the first thing I normally do is stop at Planet Fitness, where I stretch and shower after a long drive. From there, I usually head to an Airbnb for a few days to relax. Sometimes, I sleep in my car.

Ridesharing is my main work. There have been some places where I couldn’t drive for Lyft because local laws require drivers to have local licenses. In those places, I delivered through DoorDash.

Driving around the US has taught me how to make money in different areas.

Once, I lived and worked in Phoenix for a year, but I realized that I could make more money in Tucson. It’s not as spread out, and it’s a college town, so you tend to get more high-paying, short-distance trips. If you go there in the winter, there’s even more demand from people who come for the warmer weather.

Some parts of the US are less competitive than others. Many big cities are oversaturated with drivers. In places like Chicago, you’ll see hundreds of them waiting at the airport to claim a ride. In Tucson, you may see 10.

Gig work helped me pursue my interest in food

As I started traveling, it struck me how certain regions of the US are known for different foods. I started paying attention to which crops were growing around me and what the places I visited were known for.

I made trying regional foods part of my travels. I created a blog called Rideshare Foodie. I post photos of local cuisines, such as pickles brined in Kool-Aid from Mississippi.

Food is also a great conversation topic with the people I drive for Lyft. They recommend places to eat or foods to try. Sometimes, it’s a restaurant, and other times, it’s home cooking at a barbecue or a block party.

After I’ve stayed somewhere long enough, I can also make recommendations. When I was in Rapid City, South Dakota, I picked up a lady from the airport who was from Brooklyn, New York. She asked where she could find some great Italian food. I said, “Ma’am, they’re not known for their Italian here,” but she should try the beef instead. That area is known for cattle.

One thing I’ve learned in my work is that many people rarely travel beyond their town or even their neighborhood. And when they do travel, they sometimes eat the same things as they do at home.

My lifestyle lets me try new things and meet lots of new people. The more that I travel, the more that I learn.

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