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Wandering Frenchie news

Bebop

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2013
Messages
2,153
Hi guys,

I'm going to make it short, but here is a little recap of my situation :

My contract is finished at the end of this week.
I managed to find and sign for a job in Southern Indiana.
It's a great position, moving my career forward and keeping me in an industry I like (I'm an automotive engineer) in a great company.

I'm very happy ! 8)

Now, for the less fun and scary part :

I am in the process to get a new visa. I cannot renew the one I have RN, I need a new one.
To do so, I need to leave the country, go back to France, apply there, pass the character interview again and come back.
This process can take 3 days to 3 months or more and there is no guaranty of a positive outcome. I might very well be denied (happened to the person who was supposed to replace me at work) and no reason why will ever be disclosed.

Sooooo I've got two choices :

1) Sell everything, move back to France, get a visa and move back to the US. In case I don't get a visa, no big deal, all my stuff is already in France. But moving overseas twice is extremely expensive (around 15k$)
2) Pack all my stuff in a storage unit, go back to France, get a visa and come back with everything here waiting for me. If everything works out like it's supposed to, I'll save a lot of $ by doing so. But if I can't get a visa, I'm basically hosed as I can't access my possessions again.

I'm a positive person, and will go out on a limb and take the option 2. But I'm of course worried about the outcome of all of this.

Now, I have 3 weeks of vacation before my visa expires (end of April), and I'll try to use them to cross items of my bucket list.

I want to go to EJS. It's in one week, I've got nothing planned, IDK how I'll go, nor sleep, nor ride over there, but I really want to see Moab.
I want to rent a Jeep and drive the Rubicon.
And last but not least, I want to see and hike the Grand Canyon.

#mylife

It ended up being way longer than I wanted to type but now you got the full picture.
Hopefully I get this new visa and can come back to continue living in this great country and finally start a buggy build :smoke:
 
Good luck bud, hope it works out for you.

I didn't get to meet you, but stories like yours make me even more thankful that I was born in the USA and have to desire to do more than visit anywhere else in the world. thumb.gif
 
Access your possessions? I will fly over with them (for the unpack) for I am not riding a boat over. Our community will come together to get everything handled if you don't get to come back. But, I will cross my fingers and say a prayer. You need to stay long enough to buy a rig and wheel every weekend instead of hanging outs behind the lens.
 
paradisepwoffrd said:
Is your new company not sponsoring your visa? Have you started on citizenship paperwork yet?

kmcminn said:
Is dual citizenship an option?

My new company is sponsoring me indeed.
In order to qualify for citizenship, I need to live legally in the States for 5 years. I'm not up there yet.

lowbudgetjunk said:
Access your possessions? I will fly over with them (for the unpack) for I am not riding a boat over. Our community will come together to get everything handled if you don't get to come back. But, I will cross my fingers and say a prayer. You need to stay long enough to buy a rig and wheel every weekend instead of hanging outs behind the lens.

I'll bring back in France the essentials with me. Camera gear, laptop, papers and some clothes is all I actually need to live. All this fits in a suitcase and won't be a problem.
But I have a vehicle, some furniture, plenty of buggy parts etc I'll need to sell in case I don't get approved. Hopefully it'll never come to this point, but in case it does, I know I can count on the awesome support the Hardliners gave me since day one.

When I come back, I want to ride, that's for damn sure !

Thanks again.
 
Dang wish I had the space to store stuff for you then if option 2 ended up happening I'm sure the group here would be willing to help liquidate everything and get the money to you.
 
lowbudgetjunk said:
Access your possessions? I will fly over with them (for the unpack) for I am not riding a boat over. Our community will come together to get everything handled if you don't get to come back. But, I will cross my fingers and say a prayer. You need to stay long enough to buy a rig and wheel every weekend instead of hanging outs behind the lens.


X2 I could not fly over but willing to help any way I can! :dblthumb: Good luck Enzo!!!
 
Can you pile all your stuff in a container? You could have it shipped back if you don't get to stay, and just store it here until you find out if you stay or go.
 
Moab is awesome!! EJS is too!

In 2010 I was a frequent user of Jeepforum.com (before they went to ****) and was posting about EJS with some people on there. Guy who lived in Moab said anyone who wanted could camp on their property. One guy posting was from Germany and was asking for a ride with someone. One thing led to another and came to find out 2 guys 5 miles from me were wanting to go and we road tripped out there 24 hours, camped and met up with the guy from Germany who we all gave a seat to and had an awesome time. Been buddies with them ever since. German guy, ironically named Enzo too, even came back 3 months later for several weeks to wheel with us in our neck of the woods. He came back in 2013 and we went to Moab again!

My wife couldn't believe that he would fly over, not knowing a single person other than a user name on a website for several weeks, to meet them for a off road trip. I told her that the off road community overall seems to be a very family oriented trusting group. I feel proud to be part of a hobby that welcomes everyone and is willing to help others in any situation.

You got a good group to help you out in any way you need and you can trust them to be honest. As you have probably seen on here if someone does another wrong it unleashes a fury of backlash. Good luck with your venture and hope to meet you in person one day :dblthumb:
 
Enzo you know I'll help any way I can. That being said, my axles aren't going to France with you.... lol
 
Good luck Frenchie, hope plan A is the only option you'll need. Hurry up and get you're ass back in the states.
 
I would look into storing your items with a moving company and they can go ahead and crate the shipment for overseas transport so you are covered depending on the outcome of your visa, A good company is https://www.crownrelo.com , I am in the moving business and use them for all of our overseas shipments without issue. If you would like any help finding a reputable agent in your market just let me know.

Lucas
 
Glad to hear some good news on your Visa etc. Depending on how much stuff you've got, I can store most of that at my house 1.5 hours away from you in Murfreesboro. Just let me know if I can be of any assistance.
 
Let's put a dress on Casey and you can marry him her and then you'll be legal. (might just work) Hmmmm Just thinking out of the box here.
 
Re: Re: Wandering Frenchie news

CHASMAN9 said:
Let's put a dress on Casey and you can marry him her and then you'll be legal. (might just work) Hmmmm Just thinking out of the box here.
This guys a problem solver!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
j-mox said:
Moab is awesome!! EJS is too!

In 2010 I was a frequent user of Jeepforum.com (before they went to ****) and was posting about EJS with some people on there. Guy who lived in Moab said anyone who wanted could camp on their property. One guy posting was from Germany and was asking for a ride with someone. One thing led to another and came to find out 2 guys 5 miles from me were wanting to go and we road tripped out there 24 hours, camped and met up with the guy from Germany who we all gave a seat to and had an awesome time. Been buddies with them ever since. German guy, ironically named Enzo too, even came back 3 months later for several weeks to wheel with us in our neck of the woods. He came back in 2013 and we went to Moab again!

My wife couldn't believe that he would fly over, not knowing a single person other than a user name on a website for several weeks, to meet them for a off road trip. I told her that the off road community overall seems to be a very family oriented trusting group. I feel proud to be part of a hobby that welcomes everyone and is willing to help others in any situation.

You got a good group to help you out in any way you need and you can trust them to be honest. As you have probably seen on here if someone does another wrong it unleashes a fury of backlash. Good luck with your venture and hope to meet you in person one day :dblthumb:

That's a very cool story, love to hear stuff like that :)

grcthird said:
Can you pile all your stuff in a container? You could have it shipped back if you don't get to stay, and just store it here until you find out if you stay or go.

I thought about that but in case I come back, I'll have a big container to dispose of and that would be a major pita.

GIZMO1 said:
I would look into storing your items with a moving company and they can go ahead and crate the shipment for overseas transport so you are covered depending on the outcome of your visa, A good company is https://www.crownrelo.com , I am in the moving business and use them for all of our overseas shipments without issue. If you would like any help finding a reputable agent in your market just let me know.

Lucas

Thanks Lucas, Crown relo has been recommended to me multiple times, I just can't seem to get a pricing from them. I'll send you a PM this evening with some more info. I really appreciate any help on this particular topic. Thanks

ridered3 said:
Glad to hear some good news on your Visa etc. Depending on how much stuff you've got, I can store most of that at my house 1.5 hours away from you in Murfreesboro. Just let me know if I can be of any assistance.

Good to know, thank you :)

CHASMAN9 said:
Let's put a dress on Casey and you can marry him her and then you'll be legal. (might just work) Hmmmm Just thinking out of the box here.

:D
I'd get half of the Jeep when we divorce :stir:
 
Bebop said:
That's a very cool story, love to hear stuff like that :)

I thought about that but in case I come back, I'll have a big container to dispose of and that would be a major pita.

Thanks Lucas, Crown relo has been recommended to me multiple times, I just can't seem to get a pricing from them. I'll send you a PM this evening with some more info. I really appreciate any help on this particular topic. Thanks

Good to know, thank you :)

:D
I'd get half of the Jeep when we divorce
:stir:

That's all he could get finished anyways. Looks like you'll be staying then. :drinkers: :drinkers:
 

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