Roadtrip Part XIII - Montreal / Voulez vous coucher avec moi?

June 22-28, 2018 We made our way through the state of New York, heading north, closer to the Canadian border, getting closer to our final destination: Montreal! The last big ride on our trusty steed Jim-Bob. We enjoyed the drive, especially because the northeastern states of the USA were much more scenic. Of course, you can find untouched nature in many states. But apart from Montana, Colorado, and Mississippi/Alabama, we hadn't discovered much exciting stuff on our trip. But here we were in for a treat. The roads meandered through valleys and over hills and mountains. There was a lot of forest and wild rivers. And suddenly we were at the border to Canada. Only a sign a few miles earlier alerted us that this was our last chance to exit the highway before reaching the Canadian border. Otherwise, there hadn't been many indications. We only had to wait a few minutes before it was our turn. The border officer asked us a few questions with a French accent, for example, why we were in the USA and at which Canadian address we could currently be found. After we could answer the questions more or less satisfactorily, we were allowed to pass. So we continued towards Montreal. It took us about 30 minutes from the border to the first suburbs of the city. It was another good half hour to our Airbnb in the Maisonneuve district. When we arrived at our place, the landlord was already waiting for us. We got a tour of the apartment and had a brief conversation with Martin. When we mentioned that we would soon be returning to Germany and would have to sell our truck, he made us the offer to take Jim-Bob off our hands in case we couldn't find a buyer. We were actually supposed to come back a few days later.

We settled in and unpacked all the boxes from our truck. After all, we didn't want to sell everything with the truck. And we still had some food in the car waiting to be eaten. After realizing with shock that our bed was only 1.35m wide, we went to a nearby restaurant to celebrate the last days on North American soil. We enjoyed pasta with seafood and took a stroll through the neighborhood after this excellent meal. However, we didn't end up staying out late that evening. The 8-hour drive had taken its toll.

The second day in Montreal, a Saturday on a long weekend because Monday was some French holiday in Quebec, started with a meeting with a potential buyer for our truck. Then we went on a search for workshops that could perform the required out-of-province inspection. Of course, we were very lucky, and all the relevant workshops were already closed. So we had no choice but to wait until the following Tuesday, June 26th. Two days before our flight back to Berlin. But hey, it wouldn't be fun without a little excitement. We spent the rest of the day in a bar watching the group stage match between Germany and Sweden. All the French were naturally against Germany. So it was all the more satisfying to see their long faces. Afterward, we strolled through the old town, took many photos, and did some shopping in a rockabilly store. And just like that, the day was over.

On Sunday, we stayed at our apartment all day as we had to pack our thousand suitcases. Plus, it was raining the whole time. Sometimes it's nice to just stay at home.

On Monday, St. Jean Baptiste Day, the weather was a bit friendlier to us again. We took the opportunity to explore more of Old Montreal. We drove to the city center. Narrow streets, historic marketplaces, old buildings, and small cafes awaited us. We noticed right away: It was much more European here than we had expected. Instead of big pickups and SUVs, there were many small and compact cars driving around. There were many street cafes and restaurants, just like in Europe. But we also noticed: The travel strains of the past weeks had made us tired. Our enthusiasm to discover new things and soak up as much as possible had almost disappeared. This was particularly evident in the number of photos we took. While during our adventures in and around Victoria and at the beginning of our trip, we took 100 to 150 pictures each, now it was only about 30. In hindsight, this is very annoying, but at the time, we simply didn't feel like looking at old buildings, rare plant species, or tourist attractions.

On Tuesday, we finally had the chance to take care of Jim Bob. We found a workshop that could perform the out-of-province inspection without an appointment. Of course, there was something that needed to be fixed. So we quickly found another workshop that could fix the issues at a reasonable cost. We left the truck at the workshop and were kindly provided with a replacement vehicle. When we got home, we promoted our car again to the backpacker community, as we still hadn't found a buyer. After a few hours, we were able to pick up Jim Bob I again. Everything necessary had been done, and we quickly went back to the workshop where we had done the inspection that morning. Fortunately, we were allowed to present our car again. This time there was nothing to complain about, and we got the hoped-for out-of-province inspection. At the same time, a potential buyer contacted us about our advertisement. The German backpacker wanted to take a look at our truck, but he was very tired from work (what a slacker) and wanted to schedule a viewing for the next day. After a little persuasion, we managed to convince him to arrange a viewing for Tuesday evening. So we got back in Jim Bob and headed towards downtown. After a short tour and a few explanations from me, he was impressed by Jim Bob (who wouldn't have been). We sealed the deal with a handshake. Finally, we had a new owner for our truck. Just in time.

Before meeting the new owner on the following day (Wednesday), our last full day in Montreal, to have the purchase agreement confirmed by the Quebec registration authority and, of course, to pay some taxes to the state (which only concerned the buyer), we had to take care of a few organizational matters. First, we visited Virgin Mobile because they seemed to have forgotten about Bella's cancellation six weeks ago and continued to send bills. Second, we had to close our bank accounts, which turned out to be a longer process than we had anticipated. We had to wait in line at the regular counter, which was very busy at lunchtime. And since our issue couldn't be resolved in 5 minutes but rather took 25 minutes, the line behind us and the faces of the people got longer and longer. Instead of transferring us to an employee in a separate office, who didn't seem very busy anyway, we were at the regular counter. However, we were only able to close our account, not our credit cards. For that, we had to call the credit card company. Since we no longer had working phones, we were loaned the CIBC's phone. After 30 minutes on hold and 10 minutes of explaining that we really really really really really didn't need the credit card anymore and didn't want to give it to friends, the credit cards were also canceled. Wow! So we picked up the guy and drove to the registration authority together.

After that was taken care of and the old license plates were replaced with the new ones, it was time: We had to say goodbye to our faithful companion, our pack mule, who had taken us through Victoria and the surrounding area, from Victoria across the Rockies to the southern USA, along the Gulf Coast, up the Atlantic Coast to Washington DC, New York, and Montreal. Our iron pig that had taken us nearly 10,000 km over rough terrain, highways, and country roads. On whose back we slept and with whose help we crossed 3 Canadian provinces and 16 US states. It was hard for us to say goodbye accordingly. We would have loved to take Jim Bob with us. But we were out of money, broke, and wouldn't have had much use for a 5.30m long, 2m high, and 2m wide vehicle in Berlin anyway. After the new owner drove off with our truck, we walked slowly towards our Airbnb. Slowly, it dawned on us that our Canadian adventure would soon come to an end. In less than 24 hours, we would be sitting on the plane heading home. As much time as we had invested in preparation and planning before our flight to Canada, to be as well prepared as possible, we were unprepared in some situations, and time passed by quickly as well. 6 months felt like 6 weeks. Were we looking forward to Berlin, our friends, and family? Absolutely! Did we wish we could just stay in Canada and drive around in the car? Definitely! We were torn as we arrived at our apartment, had something to eat, and reflected on the past few months.

On August 28th, a Thursday, we had a taxi pick us up around noon and take us to the airport. But it took more than an hour until it happened because the taxi company didn't send a taxi at the agreed time. Since we didn't have a working phone number, our order was apparently canceled without us being notified. However, the money was deducted from our account. That's what I call fair. Fortunately, our Airbnb host helped us and contacted the taxi company so that a taxi eventually came to pick us up and drop us off at the airport. We just had to spend 5 more hours at the airport before saying goodbye to Canada. Unfortunately, the two flights themselves weren't the most enjoyable as we always had to deal with people in front of us who were of the opinion that they needed to push the seat back very far or perform a short exercise session. But those were just minor distractions. Because we had quit our jobs in Germany and had been traveling in Canada and the USA for 6 months. We tried to be part of Canadian society. We made experiences that 95% of people will never make. We saw the multifaceted face of the North American continent to some extent. And we met great people along the way.

There is still one last question to be answered: Would we do it again? The answer can only be: Definitely!