...or knows someone who is...across the US, no less ;)

In any case, it begins to look like I might be - even if it means crossing the country on my own. Turns out, as great as getting my education for free feels, studying abroad, even when all expenses are covered, still does not come without great headache. The name to this headache is money, which - and it should not come as a surprise if one remembers my tendency to splurge on unnecessary expensive things and general stupidity when my finances are involved - begins to look more and more like an issue. The sad truth is that after living in the US for almost 5 years and having moderate, but consistent income, for the past three and a half, today I have exactly as much spendable resources as when I boarded a plane in Borispol in 2006, which is five hundred dollars and change.

In the ideal case scenario, I could have slightly corrected the situation by tightening my belt during this summer, but, unfortunately, things aint always go the way you expect them, and it has turned out that this year Chad is going to be with his mom for a month and than another week away with his dad - the time, for which I am getting paid only half my wages. All in all, when all the unavoidable expenses are accounted for, I can hope to save another $1000 dollars tops, which, if nothing goes wrong (as it usually does when I am concerned), will bring me to the total of $1,500 - the number that hardly put my mind to rest. It might not sound too terrible considering that I will have a free roof over my head and won't have to worry about feeding myself, but, if I don't find a job soon enough, this money won't last me long. This brings me to the most important issue of the day: I need a car.

Don't you already have one? you might think. I most certainly do, but bringing along the tin can I am driving right now is definitely out of the question. Moreover, after suffering with this piece of junk for three years, buying another super cheap used one, or any used one for any of that matter, simply makes me shiver. Since car loan feels like too much of a commitment, short-term lease appears to be the best option. Fortunately, I do have what is considered to be good credit score and can expect to get affordable monthly payments, but that covers only the tip of the iceberg. First of all, if I were to attempt leasing a car in LA, I would have to deal with a bunch of prior expenses, such as paying around $80 for taxi from LAX to Occidental and than who knows how much for a rental that I will need to get everything finalized. Another, and much more important issue, is that lease application asks for the name of employer, which, in my case, threatens to become a catch-22: I won't find a job without a car and I won't get a car without a job.

Having considered all that, as well as a bunch general expenses associated with the traditional move (which come out to cost about the same as paying for over 90 gallons of gas required to cross about 2,700 miles from Sparta to LA and spending a few nights in motels), I've concluded that leasing a car in NJ and than driving it across the country, as scary as it sounds, is the best solution. At the moment, I am 99% sure that this is exactly what I am going to do, so few days ago I've begun to put together a metal draft of how the whole thing is going to work out, which just now got me thinking, "Are there any other crazy persons out there whose bucket lists include a cross-country trip?" It would definitely be a much more pleasant ride if somebody (or few somebodies) came along and helped me turned exhausting 40+ hours drive into a real roadtrip, which, of the top of my head, could include Niagra falls, Chicago, Mount Rushmore, Colorado, Grand Canyon, Santa Fe, San Diego, and a few days in the city of angel to finish the whole thing up. I don't really put any hope into it, but if you ever thought of traveling across the country or know of someone on the east coast who did, let me know, and maybe we can work something out.