Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Screwed...

Well...the financial woes are beginning. I'm in a hostel in London still and plan to stay with Hannah and Linda's (the brit twins in Austin for those who know) sister Helen here in town tonight. That's the good news....free lodging tonight.

My moto is in London at the airport, but I'm still waiting on my title and paperwork that was supposed to be sent to me here last week. Four phone calls later I'm handed off to some outside company that says I will need to spend over $400 more dollars to temporarily import this bike into the country and over $1000 if I intend to keep it here permanently. Of course the research I did and the shipping company I used didn't show this....I was told it would be less than half that before. Regardless.....I'm screwed....or at least it appears that way. They are also charging me $55 a day to store the bike until customs paperwork is handled AND my bags are costing me $20 a day to store. SCREWED!

This is already making me feel that I made a mistake with bringing the bike....but that was a BIG part of the point of this trip....to have the freedom to go and do at my pace.

So....I'm waiting to hear from the shipping company in NY and should know something by later this afternoon. Wish me luck.....update to follow.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor Bear...I am so sorry you are enduring all of these surprises...Life is full of surprises. Some are good...some are not. I wish that weren't the case. You asked me why I had no desire to travel abroad. I can't imagine being in another country & having to deal with red tape and being a "foreigner." I do hope you will find time to explore the countryside you went there to experience...and put the stress aside.

Keeley said...

Oh, ouch!!!! That's for the #$%@*! Having lived over there for a year, I unfortunately, can believe it. Yet, there's gotta be a way and, knowing you, you'll find it. 'Hold your head high', no matter what you end up doing.