{"id":5550,"date":"2017-04-27T10:06:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T14:06:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/?p=5550"},"modified":"2022-06-27T16:43:48","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T20:43:48","slug":"how-car-sharing-eased-one-canadians-unemployment-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turo.com\/blog\/canada\/community\/how-car-sharing-eased-one-canadians-unemployment-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"How car sharing eased one Canadian\u2019s unemployment woes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Saving his Camaro & saving the day<\/span><\/h2>\n

While we love stories about business-minded Turo champions like Osama B.<\/a>\u00a0, stories that tug on the heartstrings and showcase real bootstrapped triumph have just as much splash. Take <\/span>Ryan M.<\/span><\/a>, a young geologist living in Alberta. <\/span><\/p>\n

Stumbling on tough times<\/span><\/h3>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gone through a lot in the last year,\u201d Ryan\u00a0recalls. Just about a year ago, he was laid off from his job in the oil and gas industry during a downturn and was out of a job for several months. Eagerly hunting for new opportunities in a depressed industry, he still had monthly car payments for his beloved <\/span>Chevrolet Camaro<\/span>, and the responsibility was starting to bear down on his back account. \u201cI thought about selling it,\u201d he notes, \u201cand then I heard about Turo and decided, what do I have to lose?\u201d So he kept the car and tried listing it on Turo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Ryan & his Camaro in Toronto. Photo credit: Andrew Green<\/p><\/div>\n

With a warm, bright Canadian summer stretching out before him and a flashy car with enough vroom to tackle the epic nearby landscapes, Ryan was able to earn enough with his Camaro on Turo to make his monthly payments. Speaking to <\/span>Global News<\/span><\/a> last July, Ryan reports that \u201cit\u2019s bringing in about $600 a month, so that more or less covers the cost of the car, and being laid off, any extra bit helps.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

There were, admittedly, some psychological barriers he had to overcome before putting up his car for rent: \u201cWhen you first sign up, you get a little nervous [handing your keys over to a stranger],\u201d he recalls. \u201cBut then you get used to it, so why not keep doing it?\u201d Renting out his Camaro \u2014 the first car he ever bought and \u201cjust a fun car to drive\u201d \u2014 all through the summer high season empowered Ryan both to coast a few months without a job and afford to keep his beloved bright yellow Camaro.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo credit: Andrew Green<\/p><\/div>\n

In the sharing groove<\/span><\/h3>\n

After a successful first summer on Turo, Ryan celebrated another success \u2014 scoring an awesome new job at a civil engineering firm in Calgary. Ready to dive back into fulltime work, and with Alberta\u2019s winter materializing around him, Ryan hung up his Camaro\u2019s keys and stashed his sunny sidekick in storage for the season. <\/span><\/p>\n

Emerging from winter gainfully employed and ready to relist, he pulled the Camaro out of hibernation just a few weeks ago. \u201cI don\u2019t have as much availability [to rent it out] now as I did when I was unemployed,\u201d he notes, \u201cbut I\u2019m definitely going to keep it listed on Turo.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His business was bustling so why not keep it going even when times aren\u2019t as tough? Last summer, he found that a lot of local Calgary neighbors ended up renting it for little weekend getaways to the nearby Rockies, Lake Louise, Banff, and Jasper\u00a0\u2014 all just about an hour away from Calgary, Ryan reports. \u201cThe first time I drove down there, I was just staring out the windshield in awe of how massive the mountains were,\u201d he recalls. And then there\u2019s the Calgary Stampede coming up in July, which Ryan brands as \u201cthe best week of the year\u201d in Calgary \u2014 \u201cthe whole city is just in party mode,\u201d he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Insofar as succeeding on Turo is concerned, \u201cjust give it a try!\u201d Ryan advises. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of odd the first time, but then you get used to it. You meet nice people, and you just try to support them,\u201d he says, citing good customer service and providing delightful extras \u2014 like a quick Calgary tour or an all-access \u201cDiscover Canada 150\u201d pass in honor of the <\/span>country\u2019s year-long sesquicentennial celebration this year<\/span><\/a> \u2014 as keys to his success on the marketplace.<\/span><\/p>\n

The morals of the story<\/span><\/h3>\n

The morals of Ryan\u2019s story are twofold. For one, think outside the box. Even when times get tough, emerging economy platforms like Turo offer unconventional opportunities to earn some honest income with existing investments. For another, you don\u2019t have to be a sharing economy maverick to succeed. Ryan rents out his car according to his schedule, so he can succeed at his fulltime job while still enjoying the extra income that his Turo lifestyle affords him.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you find yourself in Calgary this summer, conquer the Canadian Rockies and rent <\/span>Ryan\u2019s bumblebee-yellow Camaro<\/span>, and be sure to check the Calgary Stampede off your travel bucket list in July.<\/span><\/p>\n

Begin your own hosting journey<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saving his Camaro & saving the day While we love stories about business-minded Turo champions like Osama B.\u00a0, stories that tug on the heartstrings and showcase real bootstrapped triumph have…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5564,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[19,51],"language":[2],"class_list":["post-5550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-canada","tag-member-profiles"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t