Getting an M550i?

Thinking hard about this one. pic.twitter.com/BfgxJ4JPe4

— Tamerlane's Thoughts (@TamerlaneBlog) May 30, 2023

Many of you know that I had been obsessed with getting an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. When a new one finally arrived at a dealer after a year's wait, I got to test drive it. It was beyond incredible. But because of its terrible resale value, the monthly lease payments are $500 a month more than a similarly priced BMW M550i. With either car, our insurance premium would double. Sadly, I had to say no to the Alfa.

I test drove an M550i xDrive last month. Its twin turbo V8 produces 529 horsepower. It was so effortlessly fast. But the one I drove had $8,000 in options I didn't want. And it's gray with a black interior. Not exciting.

I hemmed and hawed and after I got back from French Guiana, I decided to pull the trigger. I put in an order for a base M550i, blue with cognac interior and wood trim. The next day, I got an email from the dealership. BMW stopped taking orders for 2023 models. The 2024s will be a new generation. The new 5-Series will not come with a V8. The new 5-Series will not have buttons inside. Fuck!

Then, I got another email. The M550i I test drove, which was still sitting in the lot over a month after I test drove it, will have an $8,000 discount over Memorial Day weekend. If I can overcome the gray exterior and black interior, I think I'll get it.

My next solo trip will be to Little Diomede

I am back from French Guiana! I will be posting about my experience shortly. Of course, as soon as I returned, I started thinking about my next trip. I was thinking Marquesas in the South Pacific, Paraguay, the Aleutian Islands....

Over the Memorial Day long weekend, I rewatched Michael Palin's Full Circle on YouTube. The 1997 series had him traveling around the edge of the Pacific. He started at Little Diomede Island. It's in the Bering Strait and two miles away from Big Diomede, which is Russian. Also, the International Date Line separates the two islands.

The plan will be to fly to Nome on an Alaskan Airlines 737. This will be the easy part. Then, I will have to take a Pathfinder helicopter to the Little Diomede. I love trip planning.