anyroadtoeverywhere.com has only been “active” since August, so it might not seem like the long, hard road to location independence, but we’ve been scheming and dreaming for a little over a year and once we really set our mind to it, we’ve accomplished a lot in a short time. But it doesn’t seem like a short time. There was a LOT involved which I’ve outlined in previous posts. Here I’ll detail the last couple weeks.
I’ll start by saying that we’ve spent a lovely last couple weeks including Christmas and New Year’s Eve in Fort Worth with Evalynn’s grandmother, sisters and amazing nieces. The largest concern for us was trying to sell our car in two weeks. We had a 2013 Toyota Prius Bluebooked around $8,800 median selling price.
Everything we sold in Tennessee, we sold on Craigslist and nobody even responded to our Facebook MarketPlace posts, so we started with Craigslist. We had no serious responses. I posted on Facebook MarketPlace and boosted the ad, still no serious responses. Thankfully, my brother, Tucker, had mentioned that I should take the car to CarMax to get a quote and never accept less than that quote. They gave me a respectable quote of $5,500. BUT, our AirBnB host mentioned that GiveMeTheVIN would beat the offer or give you a check for $100.
My negotiating skills are fairly elementary, but, I feel good about this. I was asked what it would take to use them and not CarMax, I asked $500 more ($6,000). They countered with $200. I said split the difference ($5,850), I trusted CarMax and never heard of GiveMeTheVIN. They took offense and pointed out that they’re national, have a podcast and give you an instant Money Order where CarMax delays payment. Then they agreed to meet my counter-offer which we eventually accepted. We expect the $5,850 will remain in the bank for a down payment on our next car, or as an emergency fund while we travel.
Our last order of business before we left was distributing and disposing of everything that didn’t fit in our luggage or carry-ons. We gave a lot to family. We made one last shipment back to Indiana including some clothing I couldn’t bring myself to give away and Eva’s wedding ring, which we’ve substituted with an inexpensive Etsy band so as not to invite muggers or risk losing that ring.
Thursday, January 2nd, 2020, we arrived at the airport at 5:20am for a 7:30am flight, prepared for 35 hours of travel, including 29+ crammed into an airplane seat. I checked our ONE bag that couldn’t be a carry-on. We couldn’t locate the Priority+ Lounge in comfortable time before our flight.
A word about Priority+. If you’re gonna fly a lot, GET IT! We upgraded our Chase Sapphire Preferred card to a Chase Sapphire Reserved card because it came with a free Priority+ card. Our card allows me to bring one guest free: Eva! There is a lounge in almost any airport (especially International Airports) with free WiFi, comfortable seating (after being knees-to-chin in a plane, it’s a rare respite for sleep) and often snacks, drinks and booze.
At JFK, heading to our plane to Shanghai, we were corralled out and forced to go through security again. There was a mean “courtesy” officer who wouldn’t let us in the line and directed us to the check-in counter and wouldn’t tell us why, saying simply “Bye”. Such kindness I’ve come to expect in New York.
Quick detour: When we left Tennessee, we realized that Eva’s passport would expire before we returned to the US. We expedited renewal, but it was declined because she didn’t sign the renewal form. So we expedited again, finally receiving the Passport. BUT, our Australian Visa was submitted using her old passport number, so we had to reapply before they would give us our tickets to fly to Shanghai.
After this near disaster (we got it straightened out) we found the Priority+ lounge and had 2 free drink vouchers and some tasty snacks. 15 sleepless hours later, we found the Priority+ Lounge in Shanghai and boy did I get value. Eva was feeling sick and found a lounge to sleep in. I drank a bottle of Shiraz and several Heinekens. I was gonna get some sleep on this next flight.
And I did.
And we arrived in Melbourne, Australia!
We chose a $50 20-minute Uber over a $30 1.5-hour public transportation and hike to our BnB. Way worth it.
We’re staying in East St. Kilda, a beautiful Jewish community, 20 minute walk to the Balaclava public transportation, restaurant strip and groceries. We LOVE this area. We made the effort to figure out the Myki tram/train/bus passes and visit a friend from the plane in the Fitzroy district. There’s been lotsa talk about the wildfires, lotsa smoke downtown. They commiserate with the US, none too pleased with their country’s leadership either. And I had an opportunity to watch a cricket game in utter confusion in a pub.
Last night was my first night working online & keeping US Central Time hours (6am-2pm) in Australia (11pm-7am). It went well, but our roommate was away and I don’t know how annoying it’ll be when I have conference calls in the middle of the night.
Two days in Melbourne. SO stoked to be a digital nomad. This life suits us well. Now, we just need to keep an eye on the budget.
Tips:
Get a Priority+ Pass if you fly often
It can be tough to sleep on a plane unless you’re inebriated or exhausted. I know my preference
If you’re selling a car for a decent amount, always check with CarMax & GiveMeTheVIN to set your bottom acceptable selling price, especially if you’re in a time-crunch, cuz it’s not easy for buyers to come up with $8,000 cash, and you don’t wanna be stuck
LOVE FROM AUSTRALIA! We’ll be here from 1/4 – 3/13. Lots planned, always looking for friends on the road.