Get to Know America’s First Traveling Taxi
- Updated: 05/13/2022
Every Friday, I interview a different travel expert on Instagram and Facebook, sharing some of the longer interviews as blog posts on my Conversations With Travel Pros page.
This week I am honored to share a conversation with Daniel Shachory, the man behind America’s 1st Traveling Taxi. I met him at Travelcon in Memphis in April 2022. I could tell he was up to something special. And that upending stereotypes while he was traveling around the US was at the heart of it.
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I was impressed and curious to learn more. So, post-conference, I reached out to connect, and this Q&A is the result of our conversation.
In the below, Daniel shares his background, his experience hitchhiking, about his life essentials box, and more.
Daniel's Background
Q: Daniel, can you tell us more about your background and how you decided to become America’s 1st traveling taxi, also sharing why you choose to do what you do?
I’ve always had a profound interest in people and culture. Growing up in L.A. I was exposed to a wide variety of cultures which further deepened my interest. Becoming America’s first traveling taxi wasn’t something that I planned. It started out just Ubering at home in Los Angeles and really loving that I had no idea who I was about to pick up or where the conversation would lead.
America’s first traveling taxi came as a result of just gradually making my way from state to state and enjoying it.
I happened to type "Uber" into YouTube and found the majority of videos that I came across were just fighting and arguing between the driver and the passenger which totally contradicted the positive interactions that I had on a daily basis.
The reason I decided to make content about it was one night I happened to type “Uber” into YouTube and found the majority of videos that I came across were just fighting and arguing between the driver and the passenger which totally contradicted the positive interactions that I had on a daily basis.
On Hitchhiking
Q: Before 2020, and before becoming a traveling taxi driver, you were a proponent of hitchhiking as a way of traveling and experiencing different cultures around the world. How did this way of traveling surprise you? Could you share one of your favorite memories from the time?
Hitchhiking is very similar to what I’m doing now. One thing that really surprised me was how willing strangers were to go out of their way to help me. I’ve been invited into the homes of people that picked me up hitchhiking.
Furthermore, I was surprised by how much strangers were willing to open up to me about their lives. The biggest surprise for me was how much I was able to communicate with people through non-verbal communication.
One of my favorite memories was hitchhiking in Vietnam. Hitchhiking isn’t a well-known concept in Vietnam, and many people assumed I needed help and tried taking me to a bus station. I vividly remember telling people that I was traveling by hitchhiking by choice and didn’t want to go to a bus station. It was frustrating at the time, but now I find it comical.
2022 Destinations
Q: Where have you been so far in 2022? Where do you plan to go next?
In 2022, I’ve been in New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Memphis. I plan to continue to Miami from here and am considering going to every Major League Baseball stadium while financing it through Uber. There’s a demand for taxis in Amish country, and I’d like to work as a taxi driver there, as well.
About the Life Essentials Box
Q: Tell us about your life essentials box that you keep in your car. How did you decide what goes in it? How do your passengers react to the items? Do they use them?
The life essentials box is a box full of various items that I offer to my passengers that are essential to living life in 2022. I carry masks, mints, a variety pack of condoms and tampons, a power bank, electrolyte powder, blunt wrap, and Tylenol.
Every item was added after, at some point, being asked by a passenger to stop at a store to buy one of the items.
The passengers are generally very happy to see these items, and it usually makes them laugh.
I find that women are often humored by the fact that I emphasize that I got the variety pack of tampons as they don’t expect a man to so nonchalantly talk about tampons. Yes, they use them often.
However, not all the reactions have been positive. Some Catholic passengers became very angry due to the fact that I was offering condoms as it goes against their religious beliefs.
On Asking the Right Questions
Q: You seem to ask your riders and the people you meet on your travels just the right questions to get them to open up. My favorite part of your Mississippi series is when you ask Mississippians what comes to mind when they think of California and Californians. How do you come up with which questions to ask? Do you ever get nervous that someone will respond poorly?
I try to make the passengers feel as comfortable as possible and have a genuine interest in them and what they’re sharing with me. Thus, I believe this energy transcends onto them, and thus, they feel comfortable answering my questions.
Californians and Mississippians mutually agree that our respective states have many differences. Therefore, I thought it’d be interesting to hear the Mississippi perspective.
Californians and Mississippians mutually agree that our respective states have many differences. Therefore, I thought it’d be interesting to hear the Mississippi perspective.
I don’t have a method that I use to come up with these questions. Some of them just come to me, and sometimes I ask passengers which questions they’d be interested to hear answered.
I’ve always been fascinated by behavior, social norms and constructs, and differences based upon gender, location, etc., and come up with interesting questions regarding these topics.
One goal of my channel is to break stereotypes. For example, I ask men what women don’t understand about them, and many men have responded that “men are sensitive.”
The same can be said when I ask women how they feel about men crying, and many respond that they “like when a man cries.” Men saying they are sensitive, and women saying they like when a man cries, both contradict normal stereotypes in our society.
Men saying they are sensitive, and women saying they like when a man cries, both contradict normal stereotypes in our society.
Furthermore, seeing it in a video format and especially the fact that it’s obvious the person doesn’t know they’re being recorded when they’re making these statements adds another level of authenticity, honesty, and legitimacy. (Refer to Daniel’s comment on Uber’s policy for recording.)
Some people have declined to talk, and I respect their choice. I understand it’s not for everyone. However, yes it’s true that many people are happy to share. Once again, they sense that I genuinely want to get to know them, which makes them feel important and listened to, and thus they happily answer my questions.
On Getting Recorded
Q: How do you know when your passengers want to talk or are willing to be recorded on your videos?
As an Uber driver, I can legally record without their consent for my safety. I typically ask at the end of the ride if I can upload it, and people generally say yes. I do it this way because I found that people are less nervous and more likely to give me consent to upload once they know what they’ve already said.
I generally have a three-question rule when it comes to knowing if passengers want to talk. If I ask three questions and get a closed answer each time, then I take it as a sign that the rider wants to be left alone, and I respect that.
The Secret Box
Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with us that we haven’t already covered?
One thing not mentioned is the “secret box” I keep in the backseat and ask passengers to anonymously write a secret. After the first time I uploaded the secrets onto social media, I received many messages from people explaining that they were facing a similar, challenge, struggle, etc. And that they took solace in knowing they are not the only ones dealing with their problem.
What I gathered from their responses is people generally seem to feel like they are the only ones suffering from a certain issue, and it helps to know that they are not alone.
On Media
Q: Does Uber know you are doing this? If not, it should! In addition to your YouTube channel and social media, do you have any other plans to share your traveling taxi stories and experiences in other ways?
I will be reaching out to them in the near future. Yes, I will be reaching out to other publications such as Buzzfeed and other news and media networks.
How to Book a Ride with Daniel & Where To Find Him
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Hi, I am Janice and and I run the Gather and Go Travel blog. I am a travel writer, blogger, and bookhound, specializing in family and group travel. I have traveled extensively domestically and internationally to 40+ countries. I am fascinated by other cultures, religions, and languages—and love to share what I have learned in my writing. For more on my background, read my bio, our story, and how to work with me.
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