Parked
For the last few days I’ve felt more like a Skinny Jim customer than owner. I’ve been parked up in London, in a UK Jimny, waiting on our roof racks to arrive from New Zealand. Eagerly.
This is the start of a road trip my partner (Gabi) and I have been planning for ages. UK > France > Spain > Portugal > Spain > Morocco. Tracking nice and close to the Atlantic coastline, with our surfboards on the roof. Now we’re doing it in a Skinny Jim sponsored Jimny.
Probably seems like an extravagant way to launch a business. Truth is we’ve been honing and refining (also procrastinating) Skinny Jim a long time, so long that our launch date has collided with mine and Gabi’s trip.
This was all feeling pretty inconvenient, until we decided to combine the two. Jimny x Europe. Launch Skinny Jim on the road, with Paul and team holding things down in New Zealand.
Felt like a fun idea, but it’s come with its challenges. To list a few…
Getting Gabi on board with the concept. Difficulty rating: 1.5/10 (thanks Gabs!)
Teaching Gabi how to drive manual. Difficulty rating: 6.75/10 (relationship still intact)
Buying a Jimny in the UK, and within budget. Difficulty rating: 8/10
Getting said Jimny insured for UK and Europe with a NZ licence. Absolute nightmare. Difficulty rating: 9/10
Getting our roof racks fully complete, packaged and sent to London in time for our France leave date. Difficulty rating 7/10 (shout out to Paul and FedEx)
And here we are, racks arrived, ready to roll – off to France tomorrow by train (Jimny included). Hopefully all that sweaty admin makes the South of France all the sunnier. Will keep you posted.
Stay Skinny,
SJ