If you want to visit the United States and travel across the country for free, why not consider a ‘driveaway’? British student Dave Robinson, who did this, tells his story now.
‘It was absolutely fantastic. I was in Los Angeles, California, and I needed to get to Boston, which is on the east coast of the US, to catch my flight back to England 10 days later.
I asked my friend for help and he told me that I could get there for free if I drove someone’s car across the country for them. I wouldn’t get paid, but all of my expenses for the travelling would be covered. I would be able to claim them once the job was done. All the conditions seemed perfect. I didn’t need any experience or training. I was to start immediately. So I phoned an agency, signed a contract and two hours later I was sitting in a Cadillac heading east across the USA.
The owner of the car was a businessman who had moved with his family from LA to Boston and didn’t want to drive the car such a long distance. It’s nearly 3,000 miles (4,800km) from LA to Boston and the agency gave me eight days to complete the trip. I drove around 400 miles a day. The only condition was that I couldn’t drive in the dark, so I got up at half past six every morning and started driving at seven. I took a break around midday every day and drove for a total of eight hours a day, which is the maximum driving time per day allowed by the agency. It was a bit boring at times but I enjoy listening to music and there are hundreds of different radio stations in the USA! I arrived in Boston on schedule and delivered the car to the owner’s house. He was really pleased to see me and his car. It was my first ‘job’ and I enjoyed it so much that I might do it again next year!’
8 Read the text and write short answers (a maximum of 3 words) to the questions.
1 When was Dave’s flight to his home country? _________________________________
2 How did he contact the agency? _________________________________
3 How far is it from LA to Boston? _________________________________
4 What time did he have to get up each morning? _________________________________
5 How did Dave feel about the job? _________________________________
