Brasil in lieu of a car

A couple of days ago I had a decision to make. It wasn't really all that pressing, but it was important that I make it. I had decided a few months ago that I would save some money to buy a car, then hopefully have enough to cover a trip to Brasil and save a bit in the bank. Well, recently I thought about how stupid buying a car right now would be. The only way I could make the original plan work would be to buy a POS car, which isn't really my cup of tea.


So the new dilemma was between purchasing a car or going to Brasil. On the one hand, a car would be nice to have because I could then go farther distances in a shorter amount of time. However, at the same time, gas is costing on average $4 a gallon and to be honest, I'd rather not have to pay another insurance bill and maintenance on an old clunker. And then I thought, "Wait a minute, I have a bike." Now, the bike is a BMX bike, not the all so popular mountain bike, but if I got it some new tubes, a new chain, cleaned the rust off and got a new comfy seat, it'd be fine for local travel. So that's exactly what I did. So all of a sudden, there was really no reason to get a car. I still have a little bit of school left, so I don't have a high-paying career yet, so the more I can put away the better.


This brings me to Brasil. The cost of my trip to Brasil would be only half that of buying a car, and I could pocket the rest. Not only that, but I've been telling my Brasilian friends for years now (3 as of yesterday) that I would come back down and visit them. So I thought it was about time to unravel the tapestry of excuses, hop on a plane for the first two weeks of August, and say hello. So the game plan is to work out in Provo until the 30th of July, get on a plane to DC (because if I leave from DC it costs me half as much in airfare), then on the 1st of August get on a plane bound for Sao Paulo, switch planes there and head to Maceio for the next two weeks. When I get back, my brother will just be getting back from Haiti, and we can either drive or fly up to Boston for a friend's wedding on the 23rd. Good plan? I think so. But certainly a busy one.