Backpacking across America is so 2014, so a Miami man figured out a way to finance a four-month epic trek from coast-to-coast: working as a Lyft driver.
Brady Jacob drives an old Volkswagen Jetta, but it may as well be a Conestoga Wagon because the Wynwood man is a pioneer.
"Got in my car and went wherever I felt the wind was blowing toward," Jacob told NBC 6.
Jacob took a cross-country, solo odyssey, from Miami to Denver to Seattle to San Francisco to Los Angeles and back, four months of soaking in the USA, and he paid for it by working as a driver for Lyft.
"Got the wheels turning, hey, maybe if I go on a road trip I can go to different cities and I’ll have a job right away, I don’t need to look for a job," Jacob said.
Jacob said his favorite stop was San Francisco, where he stayed for a month, making $30 an hour giving rides, meeting America in his car, feeling like a modern Jack Kerouac.
"I think that’s a great complement, I’ve always loved Kerouac and his work, when I was in college that really inspired me to be myself and live free," he said.
Putting 15,000 miles on that car, obviously, Jacob learned a lot about this country, but he probably learned more about himself along the way.
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"I’m capable of going out there and improvising, making a living wherever I go," he said.
He works at the Butcher Shop Restaurant, he produces music, he drives for Lyft. It's not what he expected when he earned a business degree from the University of Miami, but Jacob wouldn’t have it any other way. This summer, you might say he got his degree in life.
"You never know what you’re going to get into, don’t be afraid to be out there by yourself," he said.
