MQ #2: How are we going to get there?

N and I talked over some options concerning this question. There seemed to be 3 different choices:

1) Rent a car/truck, pile as much of our stuff into it as possible, and make a cross-country road-trip of it

Pluses: We could keep a lot of our current stuff and do a long roadtrip together, which we've always wanted to do

Minuses: Buying GAS, being constantly afraid that someone's going to break into the truck overnight and steal all of our stuff (it's almost happened to me before), combining the stresses/costs of being on vacation smashed into a small space and staying at random motels along the way with moving

2) Buy a car here, pile as much of our stuff into it as possible, and make a cross-country road-trip of it

Pluses: We'd have a car the second we'd arrive in LA, so that would be one large stressor out of the way, we could keep some of our current stuff

Minuses: Buying GAS, putting tons of miles onto a vehicle we just acquired, getting car insurance in NY, the risk of breaking down in the middle of the desert (we've been in NYC too long--we're no longer car people!), ditto to the rest of the minuses mentioned in #1

3) Sell 90% of our current stuff, mail the other 8%, take a plane with the rest of the 2%

Pluses: We'd get there in 5 hours instead of 2 weeks

Minuses: We'd have to sell 90% of our stuff

And the winner is--#3. Yes, a roadtrip would be really fun, but vacations always have their own stress that come with them, and I don't want to combine that stress with moving. And will I really be able to kick back and enjoy myself when I'm really just trying to get to LA to start a new life? I don't think so.

#1 would be the most expensive in the end. The money spent on a rental would just be money thrown on the window. #2 would be more feasible than #1, but we'd still blow hundreds on gas. And at a time when we're trying to budget to pay for a move, will we really have money to pay for several hotel rooms along the way, along with food and stuff, all in the name of vacation? Nah.

Now it's time to think about the cost of plane tickets...