So how did this adventure start?
This all began when we met in Brazil, about two years ago. We were having a conversation and somehow the subject of living in a van came up, according to Valine that was her dream since she was a teenager. I had dreamed about it myself, but never really took any action.
2 years later I was in Buenos Aires and we got in touch again via internet. We agreed to meet in Berlin. Once there, Valine again brought the subject up of living and travelling in a minivan. Her only concern was the money issue. Since she did not know anything about car mechanics, she thought it was best to spend some more money and get a car in perfect condition. She was under the impression that she would need at least €8.000 and she would never have that amount of money. I told her that I don’t have any money either, but I do have some knowledge on car engines and mechanics. So this way we can look at cheaper cars, maybe even half of the price you have in mind. I can keep it running.
She said: “yeah that is ok but how are we going to get 4.000 euros?” I replied: “Just mentalize it and the universe will provide”. The very next day I noticed an envelope laying on the doormat. I asked her what it was and she said that it’s just some bank letter they send all the time. I asked her to open it to see what it says. Well it was a letter from the bank offering her a €5.000 loan. I said: “There we go, the universe is providing!” So we immediately started to look on the internet to find the perfect van.
It was really a interesting process: every time we saw a nice van, she went straight to looking at the photos while I only wanted to read the specs. She was totally interested on the looks of our new car and I was really interested on the technical details.
After a few days of online search we finally narrowed it down to 3 interesting vans within our price range, none of which were in Berlin. A Mercedes, a Fiat Ducato and the last one was a my favorite: a red Volkswagen T3. We called all three of the sellers, and the guy from the T3 was the most flexible guy. He invited us to come take a look, so we did. The next morning we went to Nürnberg, which is 450 kilometers from Berlin.
Valine excited at the car dealer
When we saw the car, we were in love with it right away. Of course we had to take it for a short test drive and it just felt good. We talked about it for 5 minutes and decided to just do it. We just had to close the deal with the car boss. Once the boss was there, he made very clear that there was no warranty and he only accepted cash. He litteraly said: “Of course, only cash. I am Turkish!!” Now for most people this would be a huge red flag, but not for me. I said: “This is he way to do business. I feel even better now. Let’s just get it.” Valine looked at me and said: “Are you sure?” and I said: “yes!”
So, we did a down payment, signed the contract and went back to Berlin to arrange the registration and the insurance. Box was almost officially ours!
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