By Ethan Maurice | April 12th, 2018

In school, we were taught about the migratory patterns of animals—south for the winter, north for the summer, etc. What we were not taught was that animals are not the only migratory inhabitants of Earth.

Little-known for its migratory nature, the rental car also heads for more temperate climates in the fall and spring each year in search of more frequent renters. Unlike most migratory species, though, the rental car is unable to migrate without a driver.

This is where we come in.

At the right time of the season, we can enter into a symbiotic relationship with a rental car and drive from one climate to another, at little cost to us. This gets a rental car where it wants to go, and gives us an abnormally inexpensive opportunity to fulfill our great American road trip dreams.

Most noteworthy, a third-party has recently been spotted in the rental car's ecosystem encouraging this symbiotic relationship to a greater extent than ever before: a website called Transfercar, which offers free rental deals for drivers willing to help a rental car relocate for the upcoming season.

For rental cars and drivers alike, this is a particularly wonderful development. Rental cars answer their migratory call and drivers have greater opportunity to explore and experience the open road at a lower cost than ever before.

As the days grow longer this spring, we're in the midst of a massive northern rental car migration. In North America, nearly six-hundred rental cars are currently looking for a driver to relocate them to their summer habitat via Transfercar. Take a look at Transfercar's North American Map here. You can conveniently see where each vehicle is and where instinct calls it to go (as well as apply to assist with any rental car's migration).

If you're not looking to follow any migratory routes on Transfercar's map, do not fret, as rental cars are just beginning to learn how to use Transfercar. Most rental cars still haven't adapted to directly sharing their migratory routes on the web and still migrate by lowering their prices in the direction they want to go to entice drivers.

Last May, I assisted in the northern migration of a heavily discounted 2017 Chevy Malibu from Phoenix, AZ to Bozeman, MT over four days for $52, taxes and fees included. I was moving up to Montana for another season at The Range Rider's Lodge. The trip was symbiotic in the greatest sense: the car was then able to roam the north with ample renters for summer, and I traveled a thousand miles for a fraction of the cost of any other method of transport of all my stuff.