The world has changed. My lordy has it ever, but I’m not going too far down that rabbit hole here.
In this one specific way, the world has changed dramatically from when my dad was young and from when my older brothers were growing up, because no longer do we strive to land that sweet entry level gig at the legacy local company, punch in and out for 30 years, climb the ladder, and retire to collect a fat pension and live out our days on the barcalounger in front of a television set.
That kind of working life seems about as ancient today as carving pictures that tell our best stories onto stone tablets. And good riddance, what a freaking bore.
We’re a transient workforce now.
We’re a freelance workforce now.
We’re a self-directed workforce now.
And we need a ride that is every bit as smart, modern, and efficient as we are.
We freelancers all need a Kia Niro hybrid. It’s the ultimate car for the freelancer.
In my Kia Niro, I can scoot up to New York City for a movie premiere thing then head right back again, yet another 232 miles roundtrip, to spend a whopping 38 minutes in the famed Rainbow Room with The Tonight Show’s Jimmy Fallon and The Today Show’s Hoda Kotb, before driving 107 miles south to The Inn at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club on Maryland’s Eastern Shore to photograph the Washington Auto Press Association’s annual automotive event.
That was a week.
In my Kia Niro I do all of that, and so much more, while spending so little to make it all possible.
Most weeks in my life as a freelance writer and photographer aren’t quite as absurd or busy but the life of a freelancer is nothing if not unpredictable: 34 days of not much more than napping tabby cats and piles of laundry at home and then BAM! 650 miles on the road chasing the next few paydays. It’s so very 2017. And it’s pretty awesome.
I wouldn’t trade this freelancer life for much of anything, but us freelancer types need to be wise about the time, energy and most of all the money we are putting out trying to make money: Too much on lunch along the highway to that thing, too much at the pump fueling up our ride to get to the next thing, too much on tolls (is there a reasonable local route that’ll avoid pesky highway tolls?) along the way to and from all of it, and our day rate can look a whole lot less glamorous once it hits our fledgling business bank account.
The Kia Niro is a beautifully designed hybrid car that reliably gets me between 43-52 miles per gallon and, with just a 10 gallon tank costing about $25 to fill to the tippy top, lets me keep more of my freelance pay. I need that net pay to be as close to the amount in the gross column as humanly possible. All of us freelancers need the gap between those numbers to be minuscule, or else we might find ourselves punching a time card somewhere.
In addition to sweet fuel economy, with the Niro’s Sport Mode, this Kia is so damn zippy too.
I’m having a blast behind the wheel living this sometimes glamorous life and the Niro is incredibly reliable (#1 on Consumer Reports 2017 annual survey reliability report) so to this freelancer is never, ever, ever late.
Because every trip to the post office and grocery store, and each and every one of my thrice weekly Target runs for more padded envelopes and printer paper (WHERE HAS ALL MY PRINTER PAPER GONE, CHILDREN???), let alone my quick trips to NYC and beyond, costs me gas money, I cruise around town in my Kia Niro and spend next to no pennies at all during my day to day freelancer life.
Thanks to Niro, my business bank account looks good…and so do I!
*Kia has supplied me with a Niro on a long term loan to faciliate the telling of real life dad & freelancer stories. All opinions expressed above are honest and unbiased, as always. I adore the Niro, truly, as my every day, economical, fuel efficient, modern, smart ride.
My Kia Niro, with the girls, on a quest for the coolest used book store!
