Travelling is funny. Sometimes, everything just seems to go right, it all falls into place, and nothing affects you adversely. Then suddenly it can all change, and you are faced with a brick wall of problems that seem to have no solution.
I am having some frustrations here in Toronto. I had considered all transport options for travelling across the States and Canada. Do I rent a car, or possibly a campervan (an RV here in North America)? Do I stick with public transport, such as trains and Greyhound buses? Or do I buy a vehicle, and then sell it at the end of the trip, as I have done several times in Australia?
My final decision was to buy an RV, therby save on accomodation costs, and be free to drive whenever and wherever I want. So while with Linda in New Jersey, I started to look into the possibility and logistics of doing so.
Apparently, since 2001, the US is now very security conscious, and with good reason, of course. Unfortunately, one of the results of this is that in New Jersey, in order to be able to register a vehicle, you have to have a New Jersey driving licence. And to get a NJ licence you need to be able to prove you live in NJ, with addressed material such as utility bills, etc.
So I gave up in NJ, and hoped that Canada would be much easier. So far, I have discovered that it is possible to transfer a vehicle, and it doesn’t matter what licence I have. However, to be able to make this transfer, I need to show proof of insurance. Easy, I thought! Oh no, there doesn’t seem to be an insurance company in Canada that will insure someone unless they have a Canadian driving licence! Hmmm.
So I am stumped again. Today I am going to see if I can get US insurance that will cover me in Canada too, therefore meaning that I could buy and register a vehicle in Ontario. Alternatively, I may just take the bus to Chicago, and see if I can do anything there.
Surely it should be pretty straightforward. After all, all I want to do is buy and drive a vehicle. All very frustrating. It has always been so easy in Australia. You can simply buy a car, use a backpackers hostel as your address, pay the transfer fee, and off you go.
So I am up early again today, and am trying to find an answer to my issues. As I got up I opened the curtains in the backpacker dormitory room, and was greeted by a spectacular view. The CN Tower is right there outside the window, and the rising sun was directly behind it, silhouetting the tower. Very nice, it’s not all bad!
