What’s in a Car?

Submitted by Anashe Barton on 13/02/2020

I always thought that you could tell a lot about someone based on their car. Some cars are stubby and short, other cars are tall and lean. Other cars look like tanks while some look like bugs. Some cars have brand new powerful engines, and others still find the strength to sputter along. So, it’s safe to say that there are a lot of different types of cars and many more people who sit in them every day to get to work, school, the grocery store, and home. In the United States, we take pride in our cars. We are a country of family road trips, questionable gas stations, beautiful national parks, and cheesy camp bus-ride songs. All my favorite memories were created in the car: my friends and I yelling Taylor Swift lyrics to the top of our lungs, rushing to the hospital to be in time for my nephew’s birth, driving back home after my last final exam of college...A car is much more than just an inanimate object. It’s a temporary home that shuttles us back and forth. It’s a vessel that carries us in our highest points, our weakest moments, the times we break down crying and the times we break out laughing. Essentially, a car is so much more than a car. We name them, we customize them, we even mark our scent in them. They represent so much of who we are.

When I decided on a whim to apply to my dream graduate school in The Netherlands, I had no idea I would actually be accepted. It was a total chance. And now that I am preparing my travel itinerary and packing list, I can hardly believe it. But, one thing above all stressed me out: what would I do with my car? I had nowhere to leave it in the States and knew I would be returning within a couple of years so I did not want to sell it. I wanted to be able to drive my car throughout the continent. I had envisioned extravagant road trips along the French Riviera in the summer and throughout the Swiss Alps in the spring.

Before companies like A-1 Auto Transport perfected their international and cross country shipping business, the task of picking up and taking everything you owned to another state or across the world was daunting, if not impossible. With over 30 years of experience, A-1 Auto Transport has perfected its service of helping people transition and move on with their lives. Their services provide the quality and assurance that people can ease into their new lives with the comfort of their homes with them.

In our modern economy, many people work internationally and even more work cross-nationally. Each day families relocate to a different city in a new state. According to the staffing firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, over 10% of job-seekers in the first six months of 2018 relocated to for work. As labor and real-estate markets tighten, it is more difficult than ever to push people to pursue different job opportunities cross-nationally. Companies like A-1 Auto Transport take the burden and tediousness off the hands of job-seekers and families by helping them move into their next role smoothly.

That’s where A-1 Auto Transport became my saving grace. Like so many of these job seekers and international transplants, I felt feelings of frustration before my big move. For an

affordable price, they helped me navigate complicated foreign import laws and regulations. I was able to change my license plates to European Union ones. And, I even got guidance on how to change my headlights to fit European regulations! Their customer service was understanding and helped accomodate me when I had questions about everything. As a recent college graduate with a lot of student debt and tenuous finances, A-1 Auto Transport helped me navigate my move seamlessly and really attuned their service to meet my needs. Just as easily as I had first phoned A-1, I was waiting at the pick up location ready to drive my now European car to my new home. What could have been an impossibly difficult and undeniably stressful became much more feasible.

As I finish settling in a new country with so many places to explore, I feel assured that carving out a home here will be so much easier thanks to A-1 Auto Transport. I am able to cover so much land, unreachable by the train system. And when things seem too new or even scary, I get to take a little bit of home with me to keep me grounded. I can invite the same friends I shared so many memories with in my car all the way across the world to go on adventures with me in the very same vehicle. But more importantly, I can establish relationships by making new friends and inviting them on trips.

So, what is a car? A car is freedom, choice, and flexibility. Having my car with me allows me the option to go for a long road trip if I feel the stress of school become too overwhelming. It gives me the ability to carve out my own schedule and helps me to not be tied to one city if I feel the need to leave. A car is liberating. It allows me to express myself as I sing out loud--something I could never do on public transportation. It allows me to process the day and prepare myself for a brand new day as I shuffle between work and school. A car is a piece of us. When I feel homesick and miss my family and friends, I look at the car around me and I remember all the beautiful afternoons I spent shuttling my friends here and there. I remember the memories that I made with so many people and the deep conversations that I had with my loved ones. So when someone says that a car is an inanimate object, I shake my head. Because a car is so much more...a car is home.

Submitted by Anashe Barton on 13/02/2020