DoorDash has created a lot of opportunities for many people to make cash on their own terms, becoming independent contractors and living life with far more freedom than the grind of a 9-5, with mandated hours, rules, and regulations. Better yet, DoorDash is available for you wherever you go.
That includes vacation and seeing as DoorDash is now operating in all fifty states, you can DoorDash at any state that you travel to, so long as DoorDash is available in the city that you travel to. While DoorDash is now live in every state, that doesn’t mean that it’s available in every city.
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If you happen to be traveling to a city where DoorDash is available, then that will be the perfect opportunity to DoorDash in that city. Nothing much changes when you DoorDash on vacation, except for the map and addresses of course and it may be a little more difficult Dashing in an unfamiliar area.
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How to DoorDash While on Vacation
Of course, when you move to a new area or you are on vacation to an area that is well outside of your home—the location from which you get all of your orders on DoorDash—you will have to update your current location in the Dasher app (iOS or Android).
- Open your Dasher app
- Look for “Dash Now”
- If its enabled, select Dash Now and confirm your new location
- If Dash Now is not available, search for a local red zone and select it
- Confirm your new location
On both the Android and the iOS version, if location services are enabled for the Dasher app, it should ask you if you would like to change your location, whether you are Dashing at the moment or not. However, it may not, especially if you don’t have the Dash Now feature enabled or there are no local “busy areas.”
Even in a new area, you are still bound by the same rules as you are when you are at home. For instance, if there are no busy areas at the moment, you will have to schedule a time for Dashing.
Of course, if you are a Top Dasher, you can Dash pretty much any time you want to.
What About DoorDash Offices?
There are plenty of Dashers who swear by the fact that if you go on vacation and vacation is across a state line, then you have to visit a local DoorDash office to set your new location. This may be true, but the above information comes directly from DoorDash’s website and you can confirm it here.
Just to cover yourself, however, it may be best to visit or call a local office, if there is one in your area, and see if there are any additional steps that you need to take. You can find a list of all of the DoorDash local offices here.
Can You DoorDash in Any City?
If you’re traveling to a heavily wooded, rural district somewhere up in the Smoky Mountains, there’s probably not going to be an area nearby in which you can Dash. The problem is, DoorDash simply isn’t available in every city.
And, to be perfectly honest, most towns, municipalities, villages, etc, aren’t really cities and don’t count as cities in DoorDash’s playbook. So there is a high likeliness that you’re not going to be able to Dash when you go on vacation to a small town, or somewhere that’s pretty rural.
You can always check ahead on the DoorDash website to see if your vacation spot is a DoorDash area. DoorDash has a search bar where you can enter a “delivery address” and, if the DoorDash delivery service is available for that address, then the odds are, you will be able to Dash anywhere around that address.
DoorDash is constantly expanding and adding new cities to its service area. At some point, it will be large enough to where you can feel relatively safe in the knowledge that you will be able to Dash in just about any area that you travel to.
Keep in mind, DoorDash is very clear about its policy concerning travel outside of the United States. You cannot DoorDash if you leave the country, period. There is not a general exception to the rule for border cities in either Mexico or Canada.
If you cross into Canada for vacation, you won’t be able to DoorDash there for the entirety of your vacation. The same goes for Mexico. You’re free to vacation there all you like, but you will not be able to use your DoorDash for the entirety of your stay there.
Another good way to check if DoorDash is going to be available in your area is to check the cities listing on the DoorDash website. Clicking on a city will show you the city itself and all of the local areas, such as suburb sections where DoorDash is active.
Can You Make More Money on Vacation?
That depends on the city that you go to. DoorDash has certain pay rates for locations and those pay rates change during busy times. For instance, pay will be a lot higher in a city like New York (during busy hours) than it will in a city like Pensacola, Florida.
So there is an opportunity available if you are traveling to a much more heavily populated city or area, especially well-known and densely populated areas, where DoorDashing is highly competitive and busy times are times of pure insanity.
Of course, Dashing in a place like New York City is a vastly different experience, since you won’t be driving a car. If you did, you would never get anywhere on time and your tips would be a disaster.
Heavily populated areas like that, where addresses are closely compact, are places where people Dash with other modes of transportation, such as bikes, scooters, hoverboards, or whatever they can use to travel quickly from one destination to the next.
Is it Worth Dashing While on Vacation?
That depends on your personal situation and whether or not the pay rates are better in the city that you’re vacationing in. Let’s say that you set aside $500 for a four-day vacation in a southern Florida city (not Miami).
You may decide that you want to try out that super expensive restaurant on the beach but don’t want to dig too deeply into your $500.
Well, with a single night Dashing in a decently sized city in Florida, especially in heavily populated tourist areas (such as the beach) where everyone is ordering in, you could make quite a bit of money in a very short amount of time, and hit that restaurant up without worrying about breaking the bank.
Basically, it just depends on what you want to do and what you need. The great thing about being a Dasher is the level of freedom it brings you to Dash according to your needs, and vacation doesn’t change that.
Final Thoughts
The more that DoorDash continues to grow, the more versatile and larger its workforce of independent contractors becomes. That level of freedom and versatility offers you the privilege of being able to Dash on vacation, something that hasn’t always been possible with DoorDash.
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As DoorDash continues to grow, expect more opportunities like this to open up with that level of growth. The future looks pretty bright for Door Dashers everywhere.
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