Here’s a book review of my first Uber Chronicles by Breana Johnson originally published on Oui Share.
What if you took on a gig-based job? What if you changed your lifestyle and earned money doing something you enjoy … spontaneously, freely, and on your time? That is precisely what Jessie Newburn did. She decided to join the gig economy, working as an Uber driver.
In her book Uber Chronicles: Field Notes from the Front Seat she recounts stories of her drives and her customers in a way that makes you wonder why you haven’t quit your day job yet.
In Uber Chronicles, Jessie tells stories of her Uber passengers and the rides they take together. Each ride is unique, and each builds community and character in some way. What could have been merely a mundane daily task of a series of car trips became a colorful blog of today’s lifestyle, and eventually this book.
The book is unique and certainly entertaining, but what I liked best about it was that the author took her everyday experiences and created a narrative of the unconventional life.
There’s something to be said for predictability, but until you take the leap and leave it behind, you can never realize the joy of working on your time. You never realize what an adventure your job can be if you make it that way. Working in the gig economy grows you as a person and shows the world in a new way.
I should know; I quit my job a year ago and have been working as a freelancer in the gig economy ever since. I wasn’t as brave as Jessie; I was flung into the freelance world when my husband decided to go to grad school overseas and I couldn’t get a work visa. As a freelancer, I found something positively delicious about Uber Chronicles. There’s nothing quite like the freelance life; every day is an adventure, if you let it be.
You don’t have to be an Uber driver to have an unconventional life, and you don’t have to be a freelancer to make your job an adventure. If you think about it, we all live an unconventional life in some way. You don’t have to see yourself as average! Uber Chronicles inspires me to see my life through the lens of adventure; a series of stories waiting to be told.
Read this book and be inspired to live your very own unconventional life, whether you work 40 hours in an office or tag sharks or write for a living. As you will read in Uber Chronicles, your life is a story waiting to be told by you in your own way. Be inspired and live your life to the fullest!
You can order Uber Chronicles: Field Notes from the Front Seat on Amazon.
