We Bought Our First Car From A Vending Machine?!

Carvana in Nashville is a little spaceshippy – do we look excited?

I know exactly the moment that we decided to buy a car. Even though we live in a car-centric city, Ron and I were holding off on taking the big plunge in hopes of saving enough money for a significant down payment. We’d have frustrating times when we’d need to get something done and it wasn’t possible without wheels but we’d say to ourselves, “let’s wait just a little longer.”

Untillllllllll June started to get really hot, hotter and more humid than we’d ever experienced before and we would wait until 10 pm to walk to get our groceries. If we didn’t, everything would be warm and melted by the time we got home, not to mention the sweat that starts the second we step outside. It was a swampy, hard to breathe outside night. We were locked out of our apartment complex because we didn’t realize the entrance was only accessible to drivers after a certain, constantly changing hour. It was that moment of choosing to hop the gate with our bags or walk on the dark parkway for a kilometer to get in on the other side (maybe) that finally triggered our change of heart. Three days later we were on the road to Nashville – to buy our new car from Carvana’s ridiculous and cool car vending machine.

We filmed the trip and reviewed our Carvana experience, skip down to the bottom for our vlog if you want to go straight to our video.

It’s novelty coin time, about to get our car!

Some fact-y info about Carvana and why we chose to buy our car from there:

• It’s relatively new and flashy, it opened in 2013
• They have about ten locations across the U.S.
• But only Atlanta and Nashville house their trademark car vending machine (for now)
• Their stock is listed online with a ton of cars going up all the time. They have a 3D overview of each car with all of the details you’d need to know like the mileage, rating, shots of the interior, etc.
• Our favourite was the big, novelty coin you get to put in the slot to retrieve your car from the machine. Watch our video to see if we got to keep it or not!
• You basically buy your car online, they ship it to you for free if you live in a certain radius of the nearest city – I think it’s 100 miles. We live about 200 miles from their Nashville location and were quoted $600 for delivery. Unsure if we were even going to keep it, we rented a car and drove there to pick it up ourselves, costing us only $100!
• They are able to charge less than their competitors because they have a smaller overhead with online sales
• They have in-house financing (more on this below)
• You get to drive your car for a seven day test period and you can change your mind at any time up to that point and get a different car or cancel your purchase

We could see our car in the machine from a mile away! I love how obviously excited Ron is.

Being Canadians in the U.S., there were a few extra hoops and shitty things we had to go through in order to get this car. It took a bit more time and effort on our part to make sure all of our ducks were in a row before we could finally go all in.

First off, Ron needed to get a Tennessee driver’s license. By law, that needed to happen within thirty days of our moving here regardless of us buying a car or not. The process can vary by state but he had to show up at the DMV with all of his id, including his Ontario Driver’s License, of course. He also had to bring a printout of his three year abstract (this is his Ontario driving record) which you can order online and it’s emailed to you right away. It cost $12 and if you find yourself in a similar situation, you can get yours here. We initially thought that Ron was going to have to re-take all of the tests to be licensed but with the abstract in-hand he only had to take a new photo and the cost of his state license was just $28.

Next, we were reminded of the harsh reality that our Canadian credit rating does not matter here. Even in opening an American bank account we could only get a credit card with a $1000 maximum at first. We’re not big on shopping sprees, but we were expecting a bit more so we’d have an emergency buffer. So it goes. The same went for our financing, which Carvana will give you an online quote for your interest rate if you choose to finance through them. Despite having a decent annual income and pay stubs to back it up, we were still quoted at a 14% interest rate which, after looking around, seemed pretty standard (and stressful.)

The race is on for us to further master the art of budgeting (having a hybrid car helps in that department too) and pay off our tangerine beauty as fast as we possibly can. We are sacrificing taking a holiday this year and will do a few day drives instead. Everything in Tennessee is new to us, and we have a car now, so there is nothing to complain about.

Please enjoy our road trip vlog and Carvana review below, and as always let us know if you have any questions about purchasing a used car, being a Canadian in the U.S., or anything at all.

We’ll be back in two weeks with a report on our Alabama road trip and the Tiny House Roadshow!

Thanks for watching,

xoxo Amarina

An Epic Road Trip On The Cheap – Part Two

For #ThrowbackThursday yesterday, I posted the first of this two part series I wrote for Fat Girl Food Squad last year, offering money saving tips for road tripping around Southern California and beyond. We’ve just arrived in Joshua Tree and if you’ve spent any time in our social media, you know it’s our be all, end all. Onward to sound baths, mystical hikes and romantic sunsets!

Inside our adorable Airbnb apartment/Outside of The End Vintage in Yucca Valley

Don’t miss part one, which left off with Ron and I not dying in the middle of the desert at night, and actually arriving at our Yucca Valley Airbnb in one piece.

The first time we stayed in this area we had the most delightful time living out of an artist’s goat farm, feeding the cuties hard boiled eggs and chasing them around the property was absolutely the best. This time however, we needed something quick and cheap and lucked the heck out on this one bedroom apartment. Built and operated by the owner of The End vintage clothing store, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t booked. This place was about $100/night and we had a full kitchen, bathroom, a little deck, free parking, and free wi-fi. It was so close to everything and we popped over to the local grocery store and bought groceries to make all of our meals while we were out there. I wanted to move in and never leave, it was heaven!

Hiking in Joshua Tree National Park/The magical Integratron

A lot of our favourite activities in this area happen to be almost free. We spent a whole day hiking in Joshua Tree National Park and the only money we spent was the $10 park fee at the front gates. As the ranger handed us the payment receipt to tape to the windshield he said “you’ve got seven days to find your way out” like we were all in an expensive miniseries and Ron and I were driving to certain death. I felt like Indiana Jones.

Maybe that adventurous energy stirred something inside of me because I had an explosion of inner joy and body love, resulting in me doing a touch of topless hiking among the joshua trees. As Ron was taking a picture, the largest hare I have ever seen in my life jumped from a bush that was too close to us and bee-bopped over a hill. It was bigger than a medium-size dog. It was magic.

Next up: The Integratron. Speaking of magic, this is the part of the trip when the stars aligned and we somehow got an appointment at the coolest place ever, which usually books up months in advance. We first visited the Integratron two years ago and it’s safe to say that it changed our lives. Built in the 50s on a geomagnetic field, it was intended to be a vessel for communicating with aliens and also time travel. Currently it’s being used for sound therapy, ideal in the perfect acoustics on the second floor. The last time we were here we went for a private sound bath (DO IT) which for the two of us cost $250 for one hour. To us, it was worth it and we actually brought our rolled coins from home to the bank before we left so we’d have a chunk of money to spend on this experience guilt-free. To our disappointment we didn’t have enough time to book a spot, but were directed to a group pop-up session that was happening while we were in the area. It cost us ONLY $25 each and it was still soul-nourishing plus we got to meet some fun new weirdos and have a bit of extra dough for later. WIN WIN WIN.

Giant hunk at Giant Rock, Yucca Valley

I also want to quickly mention that if you’re out here and you are in a rental car with all of the insurance, please drive very slowly and with incredible caution off-road to the sacred Giant Rock, the Integratron folks with tell you how to get there. It is the largest free-standing boulder in the world, people think it’s an alien hot spot, and it’s the most rewarding feeling to reach this amazing mass after a lengthy patch of driving where you’re convinced the wheels are going to fall off your vehicle. If you’re driving a Jeep or truck or something, you can remove pure terror from the experience because you’ll probably be fine.

Salvation Mountain in all it’s religiousy, folk arty glory

After saying a dramatic and reluctant goodbye to Yucca Valley, we hit the desert roads again with one mission: don’t stop until we get to Salvation Mountain. It’s been a dream of mine to visit this place for over a decade, even though I’m not a religious person. The sheer amount of creative force and dedication that went into this place is awe-inspiring, and it comes as no surprise that people have likened a visit to this place as a sort of pilgrimage.

Perpetually in a dust stormy state, it was a real Mad Max scene out here. Salvation Mountain is in a lawless area known as Slab City, “the last free place on earth” where you will 100% see things that you have not seen before. As we were driving we caught a glimpse of a small group of people building what looked like a space ship out of maybe a shed and pieces of a trailer. They were living around the structure in tents, some of which were blowing away and no one cared. I still can’t believe we finally made it out there and it was maybe my favourite day of the whole trip.

It’s absolutely free to go there and walk around inside the mountain, you can even bring a small trinket or a memento to leave inside. The place was full of visitors, including a couple from Japan who were getting married at the top of the mountain as we walked up to it.

A heads up that there is a U.S. check point when you’re driving out of here, you have to stop and show your passport and maybe answer a few questions. And as always, gas up, bring some food and a ton of water, just in case.

We always check in on The Salton Sea

No matter which route you take to Salvation Mountain you’ll probably have to drive past the Salton Sea. Please take a moment to check out this strange and wonderful (and maybe a little stinky) place. Decades ago it was going to be the next Palm Springs but an environmental disaster poisoned the human-made body of water and the resort town imploded. Some people never left and efforts are being made to salvage this place but there are still a ton of abandoned hotels and intriguing places to look at. I highly recommend checking out this documentary narrated by John Waters(!) that tells the Salton Sea’s wild story.

Donut Dreamz

After being relatively off the grid for a while it felt really foreign and weird and actually a bit wrong driving into L.A. It was nice to be greeted with a friendly face as we met up with one of my favourite Instagram buds, who recommended that we eat some California Donuts in Koreatown. My matcha green tea donut was out of this world, and the never ending late night line up is a testament to the deliciousness of these sweet treats. No excuses for not visiting if you’re in the area, this place is open 24 hours and I think my donut was under $1.50.

The elephant seals of San Simeon/Majestic sunset in Big Sur

We spent way too much money on a crappy hotel in L.A. because we didn’t have enough time to book something decent, so we threw some more money into the fire and had breakfast at IHOP before hitting the road again. It was obviously great.

The next leg of the trip was the prettiest. We drove straight up Highway 1 to my dad’s place in Santa Cruz, stopping to blow kisses at the elephant seals in San Simeon and skipping the Hearst Castle (it’s expensive to get in but there’s a free and  cool museum that you can stop at plus bonus clean washrooms) to get to our dreamiest destination in time: Big Sur at sunset. It got cheesy. We had been upgraded at no cost in Vegas to this Mustang convertible and we put the top down and slow danced to Will Sprott on the edge of the continent and I will remember that forever.

Trader Joe’s picnic in Big Basin National Park/Celebrating our ninth anniversary at Half Moon Bay!

The final week of the trip was spent with family before we headed up to grab our flight home in San Francisco. Ron and I took the red eye because it was the cheapest and to be honest, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be even though I didn’t sleep a wink.

A final money saving tip: we did this whole three week trip with one small suitcase, only a size up from what you can take as a carry-on. Notoriously an over-packer who preps for every possible disaster scenario, it was so worth it to get over the anxiety of living with almost nothing and go for it. Ron and I packed clothes that we both could wear, like a hoodie, some basic tees, and a cardigan. Even with the few clothes we brought there was still stuff that never came out of the suitcase and we only did a small load of laundry once. We saved a ton of money on baggage fees and the stuff that would have put our bag overweight at the airport we shipped back to ourselves using USPS. It was like opening a little treasure chest when it finally arrived.

Hope this was helpful, I think the best way to save moolah while on the road is avoiding restaurant eating and being smart about where you stay. California is so gorgeous you hardly need to spend a cent on touristy things, the environment is vast and diverse and gorgeous all on it’s own. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions about our California road trip, I’d be happy to answer!

xo Amarina

*This post first appeared on FatGirlFoodSquad.com, you can see the original post here.

An Epic Road Trip On The Cheap

For #ThrowbackThursday, I thought it would be fun to revisit a two-part piece I wrote for Fat Girl Food Squad last year. 

Ron and I spontaneously decided to take three weeks and drive though Nevada, Arizona, and California. We didn’t have a lot of money but that wasn’t going to stop us! This was the trip that I’ve already blabbed so much about on here – the catalyst that shifted all of our decision making towards being more adventurous and embracing our unconventional goals for the future.

This is part one of two, check back for the second half tomorrow.

It didn’t take much (or any) persuasion to jump on an opportunity to leave this for a while.

It all happened very quickly. February had just begun and it seemed as if there was no light left in the dark hellscape of Canadian winter. 

I was checking my email when I noticed a major flight sale from my preferred airline, tickets to Vegas were going for less than $200 a pop. The catch was that you had to be wheels up within the next fourteen days. The plan came together easily, my partner Ron and I would fly to Vegas, visit the Grand Canyon, drive through the Mojave Desert to Joshua Tree National Park, visit buds in L.A., and then take Highway 1 up the coast until we hit my dad’s place in Santa Cruz. We would fly back from San Francisco after three weeks on the road and we were going to do it on the cheap.

To me, vacations don’t get any better than this. I want to share a few neato places we visited, plus some dollar-saving ideas because there was no time to budget properly.  

Hit up Pinches Tacos if you like food that tastes amazing and won’t cost you a ton. Also a fire-spitting mantis!

First Stop: Vegas

FGFS babe Aviva gave me a heads up that the Golden Nugget Hotel/Casino not only had a killer brunch buffet but also the heated pool has a three storey shark tank in the middle of it. PLUS there’s a water slide that goes through that damn tank. Right. Through. It. We stayed on the off days (Sunday-Tuesday) and our room was only $49 a night. The hotel wi-fi was outrageously priced so we found it for free in a small cafe on the old strip and that became our little social media hub while we were there.

I had never been to Las Vegas before but I had an idea of what it would be like based on the gazillion Facebook photos I’ve seen from buds who visited, plus a myriad of pop culture references over the years. Straight up, I had a suspicion that this would not be the place for us (we’re not super into gambling or drinking) and it took a while for the charm to set in.

We found Container Park on the second afternoon and I had no idea that it even existed. By this time we had started posting pictures on Instagram and some American babes gave us pro tips on what to check out off the strip. This place was GREAT. A small community of indie businesses, all of them running out of storage containers and most without the tourist trap prices. We went for the tacos (you really want to go for the tacos, trust) and we stayed for the atmosphere.

Revealing naiveté – I didn’t realize that it snowed in Arizona. Like A LOT

Round Two: Grand Canyon National Park

Ron and I grabbed our rental car and went straight to Trader Joe’s for road trip food. Before we left Toronto I picked up a $3 cooler that went flat in our suitcase and did a fine job of preventing us from getting food poisoning. We loaded up on fruit and veg, yogurt and scones for breakfast, some pre-made salads, tea, and the best cheesy snack ever ever ever.

You can look at the drive on a map or even street view it on Google and you won’t be prepared for how gorgeous it is this time of year. We drove through a rainbow, which I thought was impossible and the weather was like nothing we’ve ever seen before. It was a cornucopia of rain, sunny skies, hail the size of gumballs, more sunny skies, that rainbow and a blizzard. It was stressful and magical.

The woman at the park gates warned us that there was low visibility of the canyon itself but we paid the ten bucks or whatever and went in. It didn’t take long to realize that we had planned our visit on the off-est time of the off-season, evidenced by the small handful of cars in the parking lot.

Even though you couldn’t see much, it was still completely breathtaking and more than worth the four hour drive to get there. Snow, so clean it was almost blue, blanketed the park and we hung out with a pack of wild deer like it was a Disney movie. The one person we did see maybe didn’t make it out alive. He was climbing down INTO THE CANYON on icy terrain, propping his phone in snowbanks to get that perfect selfie at dusk. It was hella dangerous. Bring a selfie stick, people!

A misguided selfie-focused tourist might be found at the bottom of this snowy vista

Overall it was cheaper for two people to rent a car instead of buying a pre-packaged bus tour where you have no control over your visit and you have to purchase an expensive (probably crappy) lunch. Don’t count on having access to the internets out there (plus it can be super expensive) so ask for a free map from one of the car rental joints that are in every hotel and hit the road!

Chapter Three: Driving to Joshua Tree National Park

Up to this point, Ron and I were on a more traditional vacation trajectory but this was our fourth West Coast road trip and we wanted off the beaten path. Let’s get weird.

First things first, some practical road trip advice from a paranoid navigator — gas up before you leave Las Vegas, because it’s a no man’s land the second you leave the city limits. The pumps are expensive, few and far between, and not exactly places I would want to stop on my own, even in the day time. It should go without saying but drive safe and watch your speed, there are state troopers pulling cars over EVERYWHERE. You don’t want to cut into your travel budget paying off a ticket. Bring lots of water too, just in case.

Despite attempts to get tourists to drop tons of mons on shooting ranges, steak dinners, and sporadic casinos, there are some great fun sights along the way that won’t cost you a cent unless you want to buy a cheap souvenir. On a pretty baron stretch of road you start to see the signs for Baker, California long before you get there. It’s an odd, hyper-isolated tourist hub that includes an alien-themed convenience store, complete with an animatronic family of extraterrestrials out front. Their biggest draw is a ridiculous selection of jerky but I recommend throwing a few coins in the Alien Psychic machine and taking a selfie with one of the life-size cardboard Star Trek characters in the back. Across the street is the world’s biggest thermometer, a digital reminder that you’re in the desert and it’s hot.

Drive a few miles down the highway for a cheap and terrible meal at the legendary Peggy Sue’s Diner. They’re not trying to impress you with their culinary skills but it’s a fun stop and they have plastered the walls with real and fake movie memorabilia, photos of celebs who have eaten there and don’t miss the metal dinosaur sculptures behind the restaurant.

Watching the sun set on the open road, not knowing I was about to convince myself that we were going to be murdered in the middle of nowhere

From here Ron and I made the somewhat terrifying drive to Yucca Valley. It was night at this point, you drive for miles without seeing anyone or anything, there are no street lights and the few locals that we saw were seemingly up to no good. One car drove past us at 150 km+/hour in the pitch black with no lights on and even though we were in the desert, some of the roads had been flooded out. So again: gas up, bring water, and make sure you know exactly where you’re going.

That night we arrived at our Airbnb in Yucca Valley safe and sound. It was absolute heaven.

Keep an eye out for part two of our journey tomorrow, when I decide to go hiking topless in the desert.

xo Amarina

*This post first appeared on FatGirlFoodSquad.com, you can see the original post here.