Our skoolie project was contingent on having a place to park the bus and work on it without disruption. Living in Miami, FL, there was no free place for us to park our bus where it would fit and be parked legally. We thought about a few different options for storing the bus before Jake’s grandparents called us to tell us that they weren’t doing very well health-wise. Jake and I talked about spending more time with them, what it would be like to live with them in NJ, and whether is was a good idea to buy the bus in NJ and park it right on the property.

After explaining the idea to them, they approved of the plan and gave us a reasonable time limit to live there and get the bus project completed.

Thinking about moving from Florida to New Jersey was entirely scary, but it was the only good idea we had come up with so far. We started to research what it would cost to move all of our belongings to NJ.

U-haul was the most economic choice, but some of their options were really out of our price range. To rent a 10′ truck with insurance and tow one of our cars behind it would cost us $1420.00 plus gas. If any of you have ever driven a U-haul truck before, you know that they don’t have the greatest MPGs. Another option was to rent and tow a 5’x8’cargo trailer with insurance for $470.00, but neither of our cars were able to tow.

We spoke to our good friend, Julian, who stayed with us in Miami for a few months last year and asked him if it would be possible for him to drive down to help us move and tow our trailer. He said YES. We were so grateful to him for agreeing to drive from NJ to Miami just to help us move. He would be saving us over $1000.00.

Now that we had a solid plan for the move, we reserved the trailer and gave our jobs a month’s notice that we were moving away. Telling our boss that we were leaving really made the reality of the plan sink in.

Minimizing was already a part of our plan, but now that we knew how much space we would have, we had to eliminate our belongings down to a 5’x8′ space, specifically. The cats would be traveling in Elle’s car and Jake would be carrying the succulent garden, leaving only the space in the trailer for our stuff, including our queen mattress. We took a few lessons from minimalists all over the world and minimized our lives. Using painters tape, we marked a space in our spare room in the exact size of the moving trailer and started to stack our boxes in this area.

When it came down to the last week before moving, we started to get really nervous about the drive. Not only were we driving a caravan of 3 cars and towing our moving trailer for 1,240 miles, but we were also transporting our 3 cats in the car with us for two days. The thought crossed our minds that something could go terribly wrong and our pets, who have no idea what was happening, could be hurt. But focusing on the negatives was never going to help us reach our goals. We just had to be brave and prepare as best as we could for the drive.

On the last weekend in Miami, we had an indoor moving sale that we advertised on several websites, including Craigslist, and we had an excellent turnout. We were able to sell most of the big ticket items that we were reluctant to give away for free because of how much we paid for them. The money we made went towards paying for our moving trailer!

Julian arrived two days before the trip to NJ. He had a tow hitch installed upon his arrival to Miami and we prepared his Jeep to tow the U-Haul trailer by purchasing a 2″ tow ball for about $7 at Home Depot and installing it ourselves.

Pulling up to the U-Haul location on the day before we moved, the trailer that we reserved seemed so much smaller from the outside than we had imagined. We were very nervous that we overestimated the size, even though we had looked up the exact measurements and packed accordingly. The trailer was the correct size after all, but we couldn’t pack it all in one night. Due to other complications, we picked the trailer up close to 3:00 pm, giving us only a few hours of daylight to get the trailer packed.

Because we couldn’t finish packing the trailer the night before, we had to pack on our scheduled moving day. After double checking the house 20 times for anything we might have forgotten, it was time to say good-bye to my childhood home. It would be sold in a few months, so I would not be able to return to it ever again.

We took a photo, cried a little, and got on the road at about 3:00pm.

~

Besides driving through a downpour, the first day of the trip went well, getting as far as South Carolina at about 1:00am.

We stopped at a random hotel area, read the hotel reviews, and stayed at an Econolodge.

We sneaked the cats into the room one by one in a blanket since they absolutely hate their carriers and howl when we use them.

The next morning was filled with anxiety. We had to take he cats back out to the car with people buzzing all around us. We were also anxious to get back on the road, but also exhausted from the 8 hour drive from the day before. We argued a bit, apologized, and got back on the road.

When we entered North Carolina at about 12:00pm we decided to stop and use the bathroom. We pulled off into a random gas station about 5 miles north of Fayetteville, NC. After about 15 minutes at the gas station, we get back on the road.

As we pull into the highway, my car stops accelerating on the ramp. I honk and pull over, but being last in the caravan, Julian had already entered I95. Jake was able to stop ahead of me.

My engine was sputtering and we had to shut the car off. It was 90 degrees and I had the three cats in my car. We couldn’t even move them to somewhere cool because Jake had no AC in his car. After calling Julian and telling him what happened, he exited and returned to where we were pulled over.

We troubleshooted the problem and after noticing a ton of corrosion, we decided we needed a new battery. Jake drove 13 miles north to the nearest auto part store and found that they only had the most expensive battery available. Forced to try the battery option anyway, he bought it and brought it back to my car. It wasn’t the battery that was giving us issues. The car continued to sputter.

I started to panic because it was very hot and the cats were panting. I had given them water and opened the doors to give them a breeze from the highway, but I was very scared for their health. I cried many times.

A StateFarm Road Ranger stopped to check on us and he happened to have a scanner to read the car’s computer! We found out that the problem was with the fuel line or fuel pump.

This wasn’t good news to us because we had no idea where we were or how long it would take to fix the issue. It was Saturday afternoon in the middle of nowhere.

After spending almost 5 hours on the side of the road, I called my insurance for a tow and made a reservation at a nearby hotel in Fayetteville. Julian, having obligations in NJ on Monday morning, couldn’t stick around and offered to drive the trailer to our destination for us by himself. We felt defeated, unsure of whether this was something we could fix on our own or how long it would take.

When our tow arrived an hour later, we explained what was going on and that we had the cats in the car. The flatbed driver said the cats could stay in the car while we drive to the hotel. The cats being alone was completely unnerving for us as we followed behind the tow truck in tears of helplessness.

When we arrived to the hotel, I had an epiphany: I had cousins living in Fayetteville! I cried tears of relief as I sent them messages on Facebook and SnapChat, asking them for any help we could get. They replied and we talked on the phone about what had happened and what our options were.

My cousin Livia was able to get us connected with a man named Frank who knew everyone in the church community in their town. Frank buys and sells cars and had a personal mechanic named Robert who he connected us with. By chance, Robert answered the phone at 10:00pm on a Saturday night.

We had an hour long conversation about what we did to troubleshoot the car and what we thought it could be. He agreed that the fuel pump could be an issue, but also advised us that in their town, nothing would be open on a Sunday. He researched the part we needed for us and learned that it was over $300. We offered him a decent fee to find the part on a Sunday, come to our hotel, and help us replace the part correctly. He agreed.

The next morning, he arrived at the the hotel at about 9:00am and took a look at the car and ran the scanner again. He called and reserved the part at AutoZone and Jake and I went and picked it up. We had the part installed in about an hour and the car was running great!

We were so grateful to Livia, Frank, and Robert who helped us resolve the issue as quickly as possible AND on a Sunday. We went out to dinner with Livia and her daughter Amanda to meet  with them in person for the first time and to show our gratitude. We had a great time and I learned that there’s actually a part of my family that I fit in with.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and got back on the road. What a relief. Julian let us know that he arrived with the moving trailer to Jake’s grandparent’s house in one piece, taking a huge amount of worry off of our shoulders.

We drove up through North Carolina, Richmond, VA, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, Delaware, and finally South Jersey. The rest of our drive went smoothly, arriving to Jake’s grandparents house on Monday night.