August 2, 2010
Location: Rio Rancho, New Mexico
A note to my readership: Please note a few Americans might think "duh" to some of the things that I say on this blog, but keep in mind I have readers from all over the world who have never been to the US and therefore don't understand our lifestyle here.
Things are really starting to look up for this big trip!
A lot of the stressors in my life are starting to go away. This is a time in life where counting my blessings seems to be in order. It seems like my wounds are healing up well from surgery. My pain is well managed. My finances are on track thanks to a kick ass severance package, savings and unemployment insurance. In short: I'm on track to buy the first plane ticket soon.
But, first things first. I finally decided on a backpack. I ended up heading over to ebags.com instead of buying the bag locally. I realize many people may frown on my decision to purchase the bag instead of (S)upporting a (L)ocally (O)wned (B)usiness, Slob-ing, the purchase. But I found the selection to be a lot nicer online and the overall purchase to be substantially less of a hassle. I bought a High Sierra Compass convertible bag. It has the detachable day pack option I was looking for and also looks rather posh in Blue. (http://www.ebags.com/product/high-sierra/compass-convertible-travel-pack-limited-time-offer/63378 ) It has the exact options I wanted at a great price, all delivered to my door step. Woot!
So now I have the cash and the bags lined up. Now comes the bigger decisions - deciding what to do with the life I have going for myself here in America. The really, really big decision I am faced with at the moment is if I should sell my car or not. Not many people really understand my relationship with cars and why this is such a big deal for me. It's not that I enjoy working on them or talking about them - I view them as an appliance more than anything. It's that a car represents everything you need in the Western United States society to be upwardly mobile, to be social and to obtain the goods you need for everyday life. We don't really have any sort of mass transit in our area of the country. Our only real practical option to go to shopping centers or leave home is the car. It's not really practical to bike the 25Km one way each day to work, go to the mall, see a friend or to go shopping. When you are in high school you salivate at the fact that one day, you too might be one of the cool kids that had a car. It's been something that I have spent years of my life working for: having a reliable, clean, nearly-new car is a privilege I sacrificed a lot for. So it isn't something I am willing to part with easily.
My poison of choice is a Black 2007 Toyota Corolla "S". I like it because it has all kinds of sporty plastic and stickers tacked on to it that make it appear really fast while being a very simple, 1800cc naturally aspirated car. It gets fabulous gas mileage, 35Mpg highway or 15.3 Km/L. The payments and insurance on the car amount to around $420 a month for me. Which is actually quite manageable if I am working full time.
The problem is that if I sell the car, I end up taking a really big hit financially. Sure, not having a car payment or insurance payments for a year will be nice. But what happens when I come home? I am going to have to find the cash to find a replacement car, assuming I live in the same area of the country after the trip. Then there are issues with obtaining credit for the car since I worked overseas instead of domestically for a year. Then there's the added hassle of trying to find a reliable car at "sub-b" car dealerships. Ugh. It seems like keeping the awesome car I have would be a better solution.
But, on the other end of the spectrum I have issues with keeping the car. Just because I leave the country doesn't mean I won't need to maintain the car I have. It also means car payments have to be made on time, and I have a financial pain in the ass to deal with. When I am drinking myself into a stupor in Europe or having a Safari in Africa, am I really going to want to miss out on the extended tour because cash flow says I have to make a car payment on a car I'm not even using? What happens if I find a gig in Germany, my car payment is due, and I have to wire funds to my own bank account in the US just to make the car payment?
It would be nice if I could lease my car to someone for a year that I trusted, and have my exact same car returned to me in good shape when I return to the US. Maybe I could work on that deal.
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