NFA Finance

When somebody asks, “What’s the longest trip you’ve ever taken?” they usually expect an answer from the past.

They expect you to name a destination, count the miles, or tell them how many days you were gone.

But my honest answer is different.

The longest trip I’ve ever taken hasn’t happened yet.

It’s coming in 2027.

I’m planning an entire year on the road built around cars, content, business, and freedom. Not a two-week vacation where I escape my real life and then come home wishing I didn’t have to return.

I want to build a life that can move with me.

The plan is to travel across the country chasing the biggest automotive events, the best stories, and the most interesting people I can find. Mecum Kissimmee. Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale. The Detroit Auto Show. LS Fest. Power Tour. Woodward Dream Cruise. Tail of the Dragon. Bowling Green. Bike Week. And probably a whole lot of places I haven’t even thought of yet.

Some nights might be spent in hotels. Some mornings might begin in a different state than the one where the previous video ended. There will be cars breaking, plans changing, unexpected people showing up, and opportunities I couldn’t possibly schedule in advance.

That’s the point.

I don’t want every mile planned perfectly. I want enough structure to keep moving and enough freedom to follow the story wherever it goes.

The Chevelle should be part of it too.

That car won’t just be another finished project sitting in a garage. I want it to become part of the journey—a real driver that gets used, filmed, enjoyed, and remembered. Anybody can build something and park it. I want to build something and create a life around it.

This trip will also be different because I won’t be waiting until everything is perfect.

I’m 47 years old. I’ve spent more than 25 years in the car business. I’ve made money, lost money, built businesses, watched things fall apart, and started over more than once. I’ve learned that “someday” is one of the most dangerous words in the English language.

Someday, when there’s more money.

Someday, when there’s less responsibility.

Someday, when business slows down.

Someday, when the timing is perfect.

Perfect timing never arrives. You either create the opportunity or watch another year disappear.

That is what 2027 represents to me.

It isn’t just a road trip. It’s a deadline.

Everything I’m doing now is preparing me for it. Building Modern Day Dealer. Growing the YouTube channel. Creating long-form videos. Going live every week. Building NFA Finance. Getting 7101 Motors off the ground. Selling the house and redeploying the capital. Putting the right vehicles together. Becoming strong enough financially and disciplined enough personally to live and work from the road.

The trip is the reward, but it’s also the business plan.

Every stop becomes content. Every event becomes an opportunity. Every conversation could become a story. The road itself becomes the studio.

One night, I could be broadcasting live from outside an auction in Arizona. A week later, I could be walking through a small-town dealership in Michigan. Then I might be filming a car I found sitting behind somebody’s barn, talking to a stranger with an unbelievable story, or driving the Chevelle through a stretch of America I’ve never seen before.

I want the audience to feel like they are riding along with me.

That might be the part I’m most excited about.

For most of my life, a long trip meant leaving my work behind. This time, the trip and the work will be the same thing. I’ll be building the business, growing the channel, finding cars, meeting people, and documenting the entire experience while it is happening.

There will eventually need to be a camera guy traveling with me because one person can only drive, talk, film, edit, go live, and run a business for so long before the whole thing becomes chaos.

But honestly, a little chaos will probably make it better.

I don’t expect every day to be glamorous. Road life gets expensive. Cars break. Weather changes. Events get canceled. You get tired. Hotels look better online than they do when you arrive at midnight.

There will be difficult days.

But difficult doesn’t scare me nearly as much as wasted time.

I would rather deal with a breakdown somewhere in Tennessee while building something I believe in than sit safely in one place wondering what the trip could have been.

So, what is the longest trip I’ve ever taken?

Ask me again at the end of 2027.

By then, I should have a real answer measured in thousands of miles, dozens of cities, hundreds of videos, and more memories than I could ever fit into one blog post.

Until then, I’m still building the machine that will make it possible.

The trip hasn’t started yet.

But in my mind, I’m already on the road.

— Nicholas Francis
Modern Day Dealer