Since becoming a real estate photographer in July, 2003, I have criss-crossed the United States and Canada, visiting 46 states and 5 provinces. In doing so, I logged 100,113 work-related miles on the 9 rental cars I received from Enterprise.

Knowing what I do, people often ask me about the kinds of vehicles I am driving and how they are holding up. At left, you can see the autos that have taken me from one end of the country to the other. My favorite to date has been the Toyota Echo. It appears to be a rather low-end model, but is well designed and performs admirably.

At first glance, I sometimes questioned whether the compact cars I was being given were intended for long-distance driving on the Interstates. The Kia Rio, to my surprise, turned out to be quite road-worthy, in spite of its diminuative proportions. Nicer cars (the PT Cruiser and Mazda 3), on the other hand, failed to produce a markedly improved traveling experience.