There is a popular saying among the Paises in Medellin ...
¨No hay un problema que no se solucione con un aguacate¨
which translated means:
¨There is no problem that cannot be solved with an avocado¨
Well, I am glad that they practically ¨give¨ avocados away here in Medellin, because about a month ago, we knew that we were going to need a cart-load of avocados in order to help us figure out ¨Plan B¨.
 |
| I had confidence that Doug, my superhero, would come through once again! |
As you may recall, we sold the Wildebeest in December before we came to Medellin for four months. Because we did not want to be homeless once we return to Florida in early May, we put money down on a smaller Class B camper van ... the Hymer Aktiv. After Doug´s extensive research, we made our choice based on the quality, layout, lithium battery system, and price of the Aktiv. It felt good to know that we could pick up our new ¨home¨ soon after returning to the US in May.
Well, in January the North American Division of the Erwin Hymer Company was in the news ...
... and in mid February, we heard the official news. Erwin Hymer North America filed for receivership and was out of business. Since we had put a $5000 deposit down, Doug contacted our sales person at General RV in Ocala, Florida about getting our money back. Well, he responded back that our new RV had just arrived. That´s strange ... we had specifically asked them to arrange for the delivery of our RV just before we returned in May. And now with the new developments, we really did not want to buy a new RV without a warranty ... or a company to back it up. After a couple of weeks of getting the ¨run-around¨, General RV finally refunded our deposit.
Time to start figuring out ¨Plan B¨!
Doug embraced this new task with the same gusto that he puts into other projects. He came up with a few options for us:
1. Try to find a ¨good deal¨ on new or slightly used Hymer Aktiv as we still really like the layout, and hopefully we won´t have any warranty-related issues, because there is no warranty.
2. Buy a basic cargo van and outfit it ourselves over the next few months to create the living space that is best for us.
3. Search ¨RV Trader¨ and ¨Craigslist¨ to find a different model new or used Class B camper van that might work for us.
4. Stay longer in Colombia and possibly travel to another Central or South American country until we figure out our ¨homeless¨ situation.
Or if all else fails ...
Doug spent many hours researching the new and used van market and watching ¨do-it-yourself¨ You Tube videos on van conversions. While we could get a very cool customized living space if we did it ourselves, we really don´t want to give up our ability to travel while we were outfitting our own van.
 |
| There are too many colorful lands to explore! |
Late last week Doug found a good deal on a 2019 Winnebago Travato 59 GL located in Florida. We had seriously looked at this model in the past, and while the floor plan is not perfect, it does come with the lithium electrical system that interested us. The lithium system would allow us travel ¨off grid¨ while still having power for our electronics, appliances, and air conditioning. And also important to us, it is backed by Winnebago, a reputable company that (we hope) will be around for years to come. Today Doug negotiated with the salesman, and by this evening, I am happy to say that we have our ¨Plan B¨ in place ...
 |
| ... and we won´t have to try to make a living as Colombian performers! |
Hasta luego ... Trust in the Best Plan for Your Life ... and enjoy the adventures in your life!
Print this post
No comments:
Post a Comment