[brshap]

Millennial here. I bought my FJ40 sight unseen in a rural part of Alabama. My brother and I flew out from New York with plans to meet the seller at the bank, sign the check, and road trip back home. the only problem? Neither of us had ever driven a car with a stick (well, to be fair one of my buddies in college did let me take his mustang around the block once). Before leaving I watched a few youtube videos, read a bunch of tips on various forums, got the plane and hoped for the best.

As soon as the check was signed the seller takes off and says good luck. So there we are in the middle of nowhere with a mustard yellow glorified tractor. Being 1200 miles away from home with no other way to get back is a strong motivator. Took a few runs around the parking lot and stayed on some country roads to practice for an hour then off we went back to New York. We couldn't take any of the interstates because the truck isn't really fast enough to do more than 55/60. 4 days later we arrived safely back home and by then I was pretty handy with the stick. There's no better way to learn then when you don't have any other choice.