<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <keyword id="10590960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="2020-genesis-g90">2020 Genesis G90</keyword> is the executive luxury sedan designed to compete against the Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series.</li><li>The rear seats recline and offer first-class levels of legroom.</li><li>My loaner had a base MSRP of $72,200 and cost $73,195 after destination fees.</li></ul><p>Chauffeuring executives around used to be a job for the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2021-mercedes-benz-s-class-sedan-debut-specs-horsepower-dealerships-2020-9">Mercedes-Benz S-Class</a>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bmws-7-series-high-tech-surprises-2015-6">BMW 7 Series</a>, and Lincoln Town Car. </p><p>But now that <keyword id="596" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Hyundai">Hyundai</keyword>'s new(ish) luxury brand, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/genesis-quest-to-win-buyers-from-mercedes-benz-and-bmw-2020-10">Genesis</a>, is more firmly than ever on the radar, the full-size G90 sedan wants to give buyers a plush alternative - and it certainly looks the part. </p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_21" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253301" hostid="261"></div>A limo needs to fulfill a few things; namely, have understated but executive looks and a sophisticated interior. The G90 embodies these traits exactly right, leading me to spend my weekend with it driving family around. <p>By the end of it, I kind of wished I'd been the one in the back seat.</p><h2><strong>The 2020 <keyword id="3911399" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Genesis-G90">Genesis G90</keyword>: It looks better now</strong></h2><p>This is the only generation of the <keyword id="9952" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Genesis">Genesis</keyword> G90 so far and it's been in the United States <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/genesis-g90-hyundai-drive-2016-8">since 2016</a>. When unveiled, it was reasonably nice inside, if not a little bland on the outside. With a 2018 face-lift, the G90 now wears Genesis' striking corporate face that you can also find on <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/2021-genesis-gv80-review-price-specs-horsepower-interior-hyundai-suv-2020-10">the GV80 SUV</a>.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_19" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253303" hostid="261"></div>How that horizontally themed face will age remains to be seen, but as such, Genesis managed to pull off a big, modern-looking sedan that makes everyone around it feel like they'd find someone important in the back seat. <p>As an added bonus, my loaner came in a gorgeous and sparkly deep plum color and an ivory-toned interior.</p><h2><strong>Details and safety ratings: A Top Safety Pick Plus winner</strong></h2><p>The face-lifted G90 comes with two engine options: either a 3.3-liter, twin-turbocharged V6, good for <a href="https://media.genesis.com/NEWS/2020-genesis-g90--a-full-model-change-at-mid-cycle/s/56e82b9a-8680-49f4-9168-0aab4a79d68c">a claimed</a> 365 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque, or a 5.0-liter V8, good for a claimed 420 horsepower and 383 pound-feet of torque. </p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_48" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253306" hostid="261"></div>Rear-wheel drive is available as standard but all-wheel drive is an option. All G90s are fitted with an eight-speed automatic transmission.<p>The car is 17 feet long, 6.3 feet wide, and 4.9 feet tall. It has 15.7 cubic feet of cargo room. Fuel economy for the V6 is an estimated 17 mpg in the city, 25 mpg on the highway, and 20 mpg combined.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_16" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253308" hostid="261"></div>Though it's not yet been rated for crashworthiness by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the 2020 G90 earned a Top Safety Pick Plus award from the <a href="https://www.iihs.org/ratings/vehicle/genesis/g90-4-door-sedan/2020">Insurance Institute for Highway Safety</a> - the agency's highest safety award.<h2><strong>What stands out: Legroom for days</strong></h2><p>Peer at the G90's backseat and the first thing you'll notice is how much legroom there is. It's first-class legroom! Like, first class on international flights. The <em>good</em> first class, not just the one that's glorified economy. </p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_41" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253313" hostid="261"></div>The seats just don't fold down flat, though they do recline. Sitting back there, I had no problem crossing and uncrossing my legs and without worrying about whether I'd kick the front seat. <p>I put taller people back there, too. They also remarked on the expansive legroom.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_33" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253316" hostid="261"></div>As a final test, I was able to fit a whole wedding cake - in its box - snugly in the rear footwell. The cake was delicious, in case anyone was wondering.<div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90." height="3333" width="2500" msid="80253319" hostid="261"></div><p>The rest of the car's interior quality impressed as well. Soft leathers, brushed aluminum switches, and open-pore wood all added to the cabin's sense of unobtrusive serenity. Within and without, the G90 wore interesting patterns and textures on every surface that it could, including its speaker design and daytime running lights.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—kristen  (@KristenLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1349043063897915392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2021</a></blockquote><p>It was even aurally pleasing. Every time you turned the car on or off, the action was followed by a charming little musical chime. We should style all waiting rooms after the inside of the G90.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_31" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253321" hostid="261"></div>Tranquility is the top priority here. That much is obvious. Climbing into the G90 is like walking into a spa, unbothered by uncivil potholes or cracked pavement thanks to the G90's superior suspension. <p>Even on the most pockmarked of Manhattan cobblestone streets, the system soaked up road imperfections like a sponge. Like they weren't even there. Like magic. </p><h2><strong>What falls short: Needs rear-axle steering</strong></h2><p>I couldn't understand why the G90, of all cars, came with a sport mode - especially when said sport mode made no discernible difference to the way the car drove. </p><p>The steering became just a smidge more weighted, but it was already fine to begin with. The mode just seemed so at odds with a car that was decidedly against sporty driving.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_40" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253323" hostid="261"></div><p>There's also no getting around the fact that the G90 is a large car, and large cars can be a pain to navigate around tight parking lots. Thousand-point turns, cutting the wheel back and forth hundreds of times, the works. </p><p>Here, the Genesis could have really benefited from rear-axle steering. Rear-axle steering works wonders to tighten turning radiuses of large cars, making them feel much smaller than they are. It made even the gargantuan <a href="https://jalopnik.com/the-2019-mercedes-amg-gt-63-s-is-a-panserbjorn-1840346130">Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S feel petite</a>.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_38" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253324" hostid="261"></div>Finally, half of the passengers I chauffeured reported feeling slightly carsick after experiencing the G90's floaty ride quality. While I'll admit that motion-sickness does run in my family, I've also heard no such complaints when shuttling them around in other cars. <h2><strong>How the G90 compares to its competitors: Thousands of dollars cheaper</strong></h2><p>Prices for the 2020 G90 start at $72,200, and the 2021 model will cost you $72,950. My loaner (which was incredibly well optioned just with its standard features) came to $73,195 after a $995 destination and delivery fee.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_34" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253329" hostid="261"></div>It's not a particularly cheap car, but you do get an awful lot of car for the money.<p>The G90's competitors include the Audi A8 (<a href="https://www.audiusa.com/us/web/en/models.html?bytype=Sedans%20and%20Sportbacks">$86,500</a>), BMW 7 Series (<a href="https://www.bmwusa.com/vehicles/7-series/sedan/pricing-features.html">$86,800</a>), Mercedes-Benz S-Class (<a href="https://www.mbusa.com/en/vehicles/class/s-class/sedan#models">$94,250</a>), Lexus LS (<a href="https://www.lexus.com/models/LS">$76,000</a>), and Acura RLX (<a href="https://www.acura.com/rlx">$54,900</a>). </p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_43" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253331" hostid="261"></div>Save for the Acura, the Genesis undercuts all of its competition by thousands of dollars (and in some cases, tens of thousands of dollars). On top of that, Acura has plans to <a href="https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a32494052/acura-rlx-discontinued-killed/">cancel the RLX after the 2020 model year due to poor sales</a>, so it won't be a competitor for much longer.<p>There's no denying that big, executive sedans don't sell like SUVs and crossovers, but for certain buyers who prefer to outsource the driving, they're perfect. And as long as you're in the market for one, why not consider the Genesis and save a little money?</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_9" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253333" hostid="261"></div>I wouldn't call the G90 a super direct BMW, Audi, or Mercedes competitor, though. <p>The European sedans have always exuded a sense of sportiness beneath their luxurious exteriors. The Genesis rides much more softly. It's not wanting for more power, but also, power isn't the point. </p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_22" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253336" hostid="261"></div>If you want a heavyweight engine in a dignified suit that'll outrun small planes taking off, look elsewhere. The svelte G90 is more concerned with delivering a ride that won't upset your drink onto your lap.<h2><strong>Our impressions: Better to be driven in than to drive</strong></h2><p>It was abundantly clear that the focus here, above all else, was smoothness. Everything about the G90 was smooth as oiled glass. Or butter. </p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_27" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253337" hostid="261"></div>The steering is consistently weighted throughout turns and across all speeds. You can barely feel the transmission shifting. The brakes don't grab rudely at the beginning of the pedal travel. The acceleration, though present, pulls the car up to speed in a completely drama-free manner.<p>And that floaty suspension, man. I couldn't get over that. It worked miracles over crappy pavement.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_50" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253342" hostid="261"></div>But it was also the only time a suspension system has ever made me quite that aware of my own driving. I found myself looking even further ahead in traffic, trying to anticipate my next move more than usual, because any sudden movement - a jab of the brakes, a jerk of the steering wheel - was amplified throughout the rest of the car, sort of like rolling around on a water bed.<p>As a car for the driver, the G90 didn't do it for me. The front row materials were just as nice as the ones found in the back row, but it's not like I can fully appreciate them while I'm driving. I didn't particularly appreciate how even the smallest sudden movement resulted in body wobble. I felt bad that my family got carsick.</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_4" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253344" hostid="261"></div>Or maybe I'm just a terrible chauffeur! There's a high likelihood that this is the case.<p>Regardless, I envied my family in the back of the G90, and wished to be there as well - rear seats reclined and privacy shades pulled up. The back of the car is calm. It encourages relaxation. You feel important back there. </p><p>Genesis put most of the G90's focus on the rear seat, making it <em>the</em> place to be. But for the love of the driver - whether they be paid or volunteer - it could have used a bit more engagement in its step.</p><p style="text-align: center;">♦♦♦</p><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_52" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253346" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_26" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253351" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_6" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253352" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_47" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253353" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_32" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253354" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_42" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253355" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_1" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253356" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_20" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253359" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_3" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253360" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_15" height="1666" width="2500" msid="80253361" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_13" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253363" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_36" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253365" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_28" height="1667" width="2500" msid="80253444" hostid="261"></div><div type="image" title="2020 Genesis G90_KL_56" height="3750" width="2500" msid="80253447" hostid="261"></div>

REVIEW: The $73,000 Genesis G90 is such a plush chauffeur car that driving it only made me want to be driven

<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52a5e85d6bb3f7af0c327d91-472-354/rumpl.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="rumpl" width="480" /><p class="source">Courtesy of Rumpl</p></div><p></p></div>The blanket-buying experience sucks, according to San Franciscans Nick Polinko and Wylie Robinson, who are working to bring a new breed of blanket to market.</span></p>
<p>"There was a gap in the blanket spectrum," Robinson told Business Insider. "There were lots of options for really expensive bedding with high thread counts, and lots of options for really cheap full bed sets, but they're boring. There was nothing really in the middle."</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Their solution: the </span><a href="http://www.gorumpl.com/">Rumpl</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, a new "niche blanket" made with materials common to outerwear, like </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">ultra-fine 20D Ripstop nylon and DWR coating to repel water and stains. The Rumpl can be used on a bed or couch, but works just as easily on the go, and folds up small enough to fit in a purse.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> It looks like a sleeping bag minus the zipper, and has garnered some comparisons to the Snuggie, though that seems a bit odd since the Rumpl lacks sleeves and looks less ridiculous when worn in public.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"Our blanket is inspired by an active lifestyle, where the Snuggie is about maximum laziness," Polinko said.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"I like to think the Rumpl is the Snuggie who went abroad for a year, and returned with a taste for fine wine. It's the grown up Snuggie," Robinson added</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/52a5e88feab8ea8c4c327d93-466-350/rumpl-1.jpg" border="0" alt="rumpl" /><p class="source">Courtesy of Rumpl</p></div><p></p></div></div>Polinko and Robinson thought of making a blanket using outerwear materials on their way home from a camping trip. The two got stranded along the side of a road outside the Eastern Sierra Mountains for nearly a day in -17 degree weather. The chill froze Polinko's engine solid, but inside, the two friends had never been cozier, hanging out in their winter coats and sleeping bags.   </span></p>
<p>So far, the Rumpl has been <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">a smashing success on </span><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gorumpl/rumpl-the-worlds-best-blanket">Kickstarter</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, where the duo raised $24,000 in the first 24 hours the project was online. Their blanket now has nearly 400 backers with a total pledge of $46,000 (blowing their original goal of $15,000 out of the water). The project will continue taking funding through January.</span></p>
<p>By early spring, backers who pledged enough for a Rumpl reward will receive their blankets, which range from throw-sized to king-sized. Soon after, anyone will be able to buy the blankets from <a href="http://www.gorumpl.com/">Rumpl's website</a>, where they will retail between $<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">89.99 and 179.99</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. The blanket comes in four colors ,with stitching that matches wavy designs found in nature.  </span></p>
<p>"We're not trying to be the warmest, most extreme blanket," Polinko said. "It's about how when you put on a winter jacket, you get this cozy, silky smooth feeling, and it's that familiar feeling you get when you touch our blanket."</p>

This Sleeping Bag-Inspired Blanket Is Even Better Than The Snuggie

<p><em>Editor's note: Two years ago, <a href="http://kurtvarner.com/">a Silicon Valley product designer named Kurt Varner</a> saved a ton of money and learned a lot about life by living in his car for four months. </em></p>
<p><em>Varner <a href="http://www.quora.com/Would-becoming-homeless-be-a-good-strategy-to-cut-costs-1">wrote about his experiences on Quora</a> in March 2013. Recently, he provided Business Insider with an introduction to that Quora post explaining what he's been doing since he stopped calling his 2004 Honda Civic home.</em></p>
<p>Two years ago, I jumped head-first into the Silicon Valley tech world. Armed with little more than a dream, I drove to Palo Alto with a car, but nowhere to live. For four months, I lived from my car, relying on pragmatism, creativity and the kindness of the community. Today, I have my own version of the Silicon Valley dream - My wife and I reside in Mountain View (not in a car), and I have a job as a Senior Product Designer at the on demand shipping startup, Shyp.</p>
<p>Beyond the obvious cost savings, I gained perspective on what really matters, including compassion for others less fortunate and the focus to pursue his true passion of design. Wondering if extreme minimalism is right for you? Here is the story of how I spent a summer homeless, on a $219 per month budget, to join the tech revolution.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p><strong>I recently concluded a 4 month adventure of living from my car in Silicon Valley.</strong><span> Don't listen to the naysayers. It can be done, and it will save you a ton of money. I did this out of choice, also while bootstrapping my startup.</span><br><br><span>Here's what Inc. Magazine had to say about it: </span><span class="qlink_container"><a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/201207/leigh-buchanan/the-leanest-startup-kurt-varner-dailytoaster.html" target="_blank" class="external_link">http://www.inc.com/magazine/2012...</a></span><br><br><strong>My monthly costs were a grand total of $219</strong><span>. $100 for a 24/7 co-working membership, $39 for a 24/7 gym membership, and $80 at the grocery store. Here's how the logistics of it all worked...</span></br></br></br></br></p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Car: </strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If you don't have a car, get one. It is key to making this lifestyle work. You don't need to worry about a homeless shelter, and you can store all your possessions in it (all I had was a duffle bag, my laptop, sleeping stuff, and food). It's the one consistent place you can depend on. You'll be able to buy a cheap one for less than a month's rent in the Bay Area. I had a 2004 Honda Civic.</span></p>
<p><span><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f621096bb3f7fd08f34f7a-488-361/1car.png" border="0" alt="Car Kurt Varner"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.quora.com/Would-becoming-homeless-be-a-good-strategy-to-cut-costs-1">Kurt Varner</a></span></p><p class="caption">Kurt Varner and his former home</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>Sleeping: </strong>Sleeping is obviously super important if you expect to be in good mental standing everyday. I made it work by folding down the rear seats and laying a 3" foam mattress pad from the truck to the rear of the interior. I'm 6 feet tall and I could almost stretch out entirely while laying down. It's not as comfortable as a bed, but surprisingly, it's not as bad as you'd think. I slept fully through the nights.</p>
<p><strong>Showering: </strong>I bought a 24 Hour Fitness membership to take care of my hygienic needs. Every morning I'd wake up and drive to the gym to take a shower. Then, like every other normal person, I'd head off to work. I found that having 24/7 access was really nice in case I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I'd always park within a few miles (and many times as close as the parking lot). If you're looking for a less expensive option, there are some gyms that are as low as $15/mo.</p>
<p><strong>Working and free time: </strong>I signed up for a Hacker Dojo co-working membership. This is primarily where I spent all my time. They provide fast internet, a microwave, coffee, water, couches, community, etc. For only $100/mo, it's a no brainer. **Do not abuse their space. Don't use it to sleep in or steal from. Just common sense.</p>
<p><strong>Eating: </strong><span>I stored almost all my food in my car. The small amount of perishable food I did have, I used the Hacker Dojo refrigerators. These are communal, so I chose not to store much in them. However, I would use their microwave everyday to heat my meals. I wrote a short post about what I ate: </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://blog.kurtvarner.com/post/19746428985/what-im-eating" target="_blank" class="external_link">http://blog.kurtvarner.com/post/...</a></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">. Mainly, just get stuff that doesn't need to be refrigerated. However, it is definitely a challenge to eat healthy, as high sodium is going to be prevalent in nearly all canned foods. Just be cautious.</span></p>
<p><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/53f621a3ecad047255f34f7c-485-360/car interior.png" border="0" alt="Car Interior Kurt Varner"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.quora.com/Would-becoming-homeless-be-a-good-strategy-to-cut-costs-1">Kurt Varner</a></span></p><p class="caption">The interior of Varner's car/home</p></img></div><p></p></div></div>Parking: </strong><span>Technically, Palo Alto is the only Bay Area city where it's legal to live from a vehicle. That said, I parked more nights in Mountain View over the course of the 4 months. I was only slightly disturbed once when a police officer spotlighted my car. I sat up from my back seat, looked at him, and then he simply drove away.</span><br><br>When looking for locations to park, my focus was on being unnoticed. Anywhere with little foot traffic is best. Not sure where you're located, but here are a few places that worked well for me: <span class="qlink_container"><a href="https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=212128009401748027666.0004c85a46b60ba1c9485&amp;msa=0&amp;ll=37.4138,-122.102222&amp;spn=0.096669,0.181789" target="_blank" class="external_link">https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?...</a>. There are countless other places that will work well. I found these by taking an afternoon to just randomly drive around.</span><br><br><strong>Privacy</strong></br></br></br></br></p>
<p><strong>Tint your windows: </strong>If you want your privacy, tint your windows. This was one of the best decisions I made, as it really helped me to fly under the radar. I went with a 23% tint that cost about $120 professionally installed. It wasn't pitch black, but it was dark enough where you couldn't see in during the night, and made you and your possessions not obvious during the day.</p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Sun shade: </strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Get a $5 sun shade to put in the windshield while you sleep.</span></p>
<p><strong>Rear screen: </strong><span>Do the same with a mesh screen for the rear window.</span><br><span>----</span><br><span>Here are two videos of my set up. It may help the reality of the situation set in a bit.</span></br></br></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RPddnGwInaM"></iframe></p>
<p><strong>Video of waking up in my car: </strong><span>I may regret posting this one, but here's to transparency <iframe width="420" height="315" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vAvIGwodKPg"></iframe>:</span><span>)</span><br><span>Overall, this lifestyle begins to feel fairly normal. Admittedly, it's nicer to be living in an apartment, but if you're in desperate need to cut costs, a car will be your best friend.</span><br><br><span>On a side note, there's another fantastic benefit that comes from living like this - </span><strong>embracing a minimalistic perspective on life</strong>. Before these 4 months, everyday I took for granted things like a warm bed, shower, home cooked meals, etc. It's easy to lose sight of how privileged the majority of us are, but there are many, many people without these basic things. I realized that even the simple things in life could bring me more happiness than a world of possessions.<br><br><span>Since starting my journey, I've heard a lot of encouragement from the startup community, but also quite a bit of hatred. You have to take the negativity with a grain of salt. You know your situation better than anyone, so just trust yourself.</span></br></br></br></br></br></p>
<p><span><strong>You are not alone. </strong><span>During my experience I saw many other people living from vehicles. It's strange that most people are oblivious to it. There are even several other entrepreneurs I know that are taking to the streets to cut costs here in the Valley.</span><br><br><span>I'd be more than happy to offer any other advice to you. There's so much more that could be said, but I'm sparing some details for the sake of time. Connect with me if you'd like to meet up or get on a call.<br><br>You can read more about my story at <a href="http://blog.kurtvarner.com/" target="_blank" class="external_link">http://blog.kurtvarner.com</a>.<br /></br></br></span></br></br></span></p>

I Lived Out Of My Car For Four Months To Join The Tech Revolution

<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542184786da811ba37d1903a-1200-900/img_3351-2.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_3351.JPG">On Jan. 2, 2008, I sat in the common room of All Saints Hospital watching the local TV news, still in shock and trying to process the devastation of the day before. No amount of anxiety medication they gave me seemed to be enough. The anchor was describing a double murder. On the evening of Jan. 1, the bodies of Sarah and Amina Said, sisters aged 17 and 18, had been found in the back of a taxicab in a hotel parking lot in Irving, Texas. Their father, Yaser Abdel Said, had not been heard from since and was considered a prime suspect.</img></span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Some sources were speculating it was an "honor killing," which Amina had chillingly predicted to me in private. Such crimes, which are tragically common in other parts of the world, typically involve the murders of female family members considered to have disgraced the family name, either by having a relationship the family disapproves of, spurning an arranged marriage, disobeying, or even being a victim of rape. According to the U.N. there are 5,000 such crimes each year around the world - a vast underestimate in the view of many international women's-rights groups, who believe it could be four times that.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina was my girlfriend. And the supposed family honor she'd placed at risk? We'd done it together, simply by falling in love.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218e45ecad04201e226e4e-1192-800/amina%20and%20sarah.jpg" border="0" alt="Amina and Sarah.JPG">I'd barely spoken a word to anyone since my mother had awoken me the morning following the murder. With tears in her eyes she told me something awful had happened. My reaction on hearing the news was to punch the headboard of my bed or a wall. I'm still not sure. I lost it. I'd planned to spend the rest of my life with Amina, and everything I'd hoped for had suddenly come to an end. I was completely numb. I can hardly remember sitting with the ER physician as my mother signed the paperwork to have me admitted to the mental ward, but I know I didn't fight the idea. What else could we do?</img></p>
<p dir="ltr">I was 15 when Amina and I first met, at the Excel Academy of Tae Kwon Do in a strip mall in Bedford, Texas. Amina walked in one afternoon in 2004 with her sister, Sarah, and brother, Islam, and I was smitten by her almost immediately.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina was beautiful. She had the most amazing green eyes I had ever seen. She was fiercely intelligent and full of spirit, and she always seemed to be smiling.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It wasn't long before Sarah and Islam both gave up on the class. Their hearts weren't in it. But Amina, who had recently gotten her driver's license and a vehicle, was allowed to continue. She stuck with the class, and we developed a mutual crush.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Before long, we were both taking lessons three or four days a week, and not just because we loved martial arts. We went to different high schools and Amina wasn't allowed to date. A lot of our relationship played out at the tae kwon do studio, in the beginning. We'd steal a few minutes to talk outside before or after class. She'd ask that we position ourselves between the martial arts storefront and an adjacent building so we couldn't be spotted from the street in case her dad drove by. I'd later find out the gravity of this request.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Our instructor could see sparks were flying between us, and sometimes, with a sort of devilish look in his eye, he'd assign us to spar with each other. It made for a pretty tame matchup. The instructor used to bust Amina's chops for not attacking aggressively enough. And I could never bring myself to be aggressive toward her at all. We both went easy on each other, but that wasn't to say we didn't love every second of it.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218f1a6da8115973d19038-579-699/screen%20shot%202014-09-22%20at%204.05.55%20pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2014 09 22 at 4.05.55 PM" width="800">While Amina wasn't an aggressive person, she was not shy. She loved to joke around, and she freely spoke her mind. That usually resulted in our instructor issuing a reprimand for "talking out of turn" and demanding multiple sets of pushups, but that still never deterred her from saying whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to. That was Amina.</img></p>
<p dir="ltr">One day, as we were taking off our shoes and socks and getting ready for class, she saw me slip my cellphone into my sneaker. "Oh, you have a phone?" she asked. "Give me your number so I can bother you."<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">I received her first message a few minutes after we left class, and we ended up texting back and forth all that night - the beginning of our becoming girlfriend and boyfriend.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was puppy love, in the sense that it was innocent and sweet and went no further than a flurry of passed notes, some furtive hand-holding, and an occasional stolen kiss. But that doesn't do justice to how deep it became.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote float_right">It was puppy love, in the sense that it was innocent and sweet and went no further than a flurry of passed notes, some furtive hand-holding, and an occasional stolen kiss. But that doesn't do justice to how deep it became.</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">That first text was the beginning of a four-year relationship. We planned a whole life together, spending hours on the phone fantasizing about marriage and kids.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We promised to learn more about each other's heritage - she was picking up Spanish and I planned to study Arabic with her.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina always seemed to be in a playful mood, teasing and messing with me. Whatever frame of mind I was in, she always found a way to make me smile. She brought out the best in me and made me genuinely want to accomplish things. She inspired me.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gradually, she began to let on that her home life was troubled, but even then she tended to keep things vague. Her demeanor was so upbeat and positive; no one would ever have imagined what kind of hell she was living through at home.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina's father, Yaser, was from Egypt, and although he'd married an American woman - Amina's mother, Patricia - he had some very traditional notions about gender relations. He viewed himself as the family patriarch and demanded total obedience. Yaser's obsessive need to control his daughters went way beyond the usual overprotectiveness many parents feel toward their children. He forbade them to date and kept tabs on them virtually at all times, often video- or audio-taping them without their knowledge. His plan was to bring them back to Egypt, where they'd be forced into arranged marriages with older men, for a price. I later found out he'd been abusive to the girls - both physically and sexually - since they were little.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218f7569bedd5b78133453-1171-741/last%20picture%20taken%20of%20yaser%20and%20amina.jpg" border="0" alt="Last picture taken of Yaser and Amina">Given the circumstances, dating was tricky, and we had to be careful. We knew that if Yaser found out, it would be bad news for us. One time, when Yaser was out of the country, Amina was able to come out with my family and me to a church function. Amina often imagined him spying on her with a pair of binoculars. It may seem paranoid, but the threat was genuine; she knew if she broke the rules, he'd hurt her badly. Once, when Sarah got an after-school job working in a store, he spied on her at work and punished her for smiling too much at the customers.</img></p>
<p dir="ltr">Despite all that, Amina was always the picture of calm. When she became concerned that her father might look through her cellphone for information about what she was up to, she suggested we use a secret code that sounded like something an intelligence agent would dream up. A text of the number 7 meant that her father was planning to confiscate her phone and that no matter what texts I received after that, I should not reply.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It seemed like overkill at first, but then one night my phone buzzed with the agreed on code: 7. Not long after, another text came in. "Hey what's up?" it read. "Can u call me?" I ignored the message just like she'd warned me, and in class the next day Amina confirmed that Yaser had taken her phone. He had apparently spent the evening driving around in his cab, texting her contacts at random, trying to prove she was deceiving him.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote">Eventually, Yaser found a note Amina had written to me and demanded to know who she was communicating with. She lied and told him she'd written it to an imaginary boyfriend.</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Shortly after that, we gave up on phones altogether and began passing a notebook back and forth, taking turns pouring our hearts onto the lined pages, or swapping folded notes at class. It seemed like a safer approach, but as we later found out, it wasn't nearly safe enough.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Eventually, Yaser found a note Amina had written to me and demanded to know who she was communicating with. She lied and told him she'd written it to an imaginary boyfriend. She was always determined to protect me from the horrors she was enduring.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Apparently he didn't buy the story. A few days later, Amina failed to show up for class. She didn't come to the next session either, or the one after that. Months went by without a word. She'd vanished. With no possibility of getting hold of her, I imagined the worst. Eventually, though, Amina reached out to our tae kwon do instructor with a message for me: Yaser had secretly bought a house in Lewisville, on the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, 60 miles away, and, overnight, he'd moved the whole family.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218fee69bedd3d7913344c-800-600/yaser-islam-sarah-and-amina.jpg" border="0" alt="Yaser, Islam, Sarah and Amina">There was essentially no way we could see each other after that, but before long, Amina got a secret phone - a "burner" - allowing us to plot an escape. The plan was to make Yaser believe we'd really broken up so that when she ran away, he wouldn't go looking for me. She had a friend from school help her with this.</img></p>
<p dir="ltr">We were going to get married. We'd already exchanged rings, little rubber ones that were part of a punk-style bracelet set she'd bought at Hot Topic. I had to leave mine out in the sun to stretch it out. The rings were cheap but the meaning was real. As soon as we graduated, we promised we'd run away to Vegas, get married, and just split - get to somewhere safe and start a new life. She even started a list of what she was going to bring.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote float_right">Yaser was talking about bringing Sarah (who also had a secret American boyfriend) and Amina back to Egypt and forcing them into marriages.</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">We knew the plan would take money, so in 2007 I quit high school, quickly got a GED, and found a job working</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">in a factory fabricating water- and air-pressure hoses for aerospace companies. The job paid good money, $15 an hour, and I saved every penny for the trip and our future.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Toward the end of the year, it became clear we'd have to move more quickly than we'd planned. Yaser was talking about bringing Sarah (who also had a secret American boyfriend) and Amina back to Egypt and forcing them into marriages. He regularly threatened to kill Amina, and she knew he meant it. I didn't know this until much later, but at one point after they moved to Lewisville, he beat her brutally and demanded to know who she was seeing. Amina was the strongest and bravest person I have ever met, and she refused to tell him my name. She always wanted to keep me safe from him, knowing that if he'd found me, he would have killed me too. But I wouldn't have cared if she had told him. The only thing that mattered was our being together.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Right after dinner, Christmas day, I received a text from Amina. "We did it," she wrote. "We left." It turned out her mother had taken her and Sarah, hopped in the car, and just taken off.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"I'll come to you," I told her. "Where are you?"</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was too soon, she said, refusing even to tell me what city they'd gone to. Yaser and various family members were calling her mother nonstop, begging her to return, and Amina wasn't confident their troubles were really over yet.</p>
<p dir="ltr">She was right. A few days later, they all returned home. It was a trap. Her mom apparently buckled under the pressure and tricked the girls into going back. Shortly after, on New Year's Day, Yaser allegedly murdered both of his beautiful daughters and fled into the night.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5421907c6da8110a74d1903c-1200-667/screen%20shot%202014-09-22%20at%204.02.25%20pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2014 09 22 at 4.02.25 PM">More than six years later, he still hasn't been caught. While there's solid evidence that family members helped him hide and he may still even be in Texas, the local law enforcement authorities - who bungled the case from the beginning - seem to have mostly given up the hunt.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></img></p>
<p style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">* &#xa0;* &#xa0;*</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">The last time I saw Amina it was summer. She'd told her family she was going to Six Flags with some friends. She didn't mention that I was one of them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We spent all day in the park - the most time we'd ever been together. Resolving not to talk about anything scary or difficult, we devoted the day purely to having fun. Losing ourselves in the massive crowds, we held hands nonstop. It was the only time we ever got to do that without worrying about the consequences.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Of course Amina wanted to go on the Titan roller coaster, one of the most hard-core thrill rides at the park. It's pretty intense. People in line in front of us bailed at the last minute. But Amina didn't seem worried. She insisted on waiting a few extra minutes so we could ride in the very front car. "It will be fun," she promised. It was.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As we crested the 245-foot hill and began to speed downward, she threw her arms in the air, and I looked over at her. She was grinning, the biggest, most gorgeous smile I have ever seen. She wasn't scared at all.&#xa0;</p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><em style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com">The Price of Honor</a>, a new documentary about the lives and murders of Amina and Sarah Said, is screening soon in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York and at film festivals worldwide. The filmmakers have also <a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com/#!catchyasernow/c17j8">launched an effort</a> to bring Yaser Said to justice. Follow the progress at <a href="https://twitter.com/tpohfilm"></a><a href="https://twitter.com/catchyasernow">@catchyasernow</a>.&#xa0;</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">&#xa0;</p>
<div><div>
 <iframe width="800" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/htEjUeXIdyQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"><em><br>Story by Joseph Moreno, as told to Aaron Gell.</br></em></p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><em><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/longform" target="_blank"><strong>Read more of Business Insider's long-form features »</strong></a><span><br><br /></br></span></em></p>

My Teenage Sweetheart Was Killed To Preserve Her Family's 'Honor'

<p dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div>
<div class="image on-image">
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/542184786da811ba37d1903a-1200-900/img_3351-2.jpg" border="0" alt="IMG_3351.JPG"><p class="source"><span>Joseph Moreno</span></p>
</img></div>
<p></p>
</div></div>On Jan. 2, 2008, I sat in the common room of All Saints hospital watching the local TV news, still in shock and trying to process the devastation of the day before. No amount of anxiety medication they gave me seemed to be enough. The anchor was describing a double murder. On the evening of Jan. 1, the bodies of Sarah and Amina Said, sisters aged 17 and 18, had been found in the back of a taxicab in a hotel parking lot in Irving, Texas. Their father, Yaser Abdel Said, had not been heard from since and was considered a prime suspect.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Some sources were speculating it was an "honor killing," which Amina had chillingly predicted to me in private. Such crimes, which are tragically common in other parts of the world, typically involve the murders of female family members considered to have disgraced the family name, either by having a relationship the family disapproves of, spurning an arranged marriage, disobeying, or even being a victim of rape. According to the U.N. there are 5,000 such crimes each year around the world - a vast underestimate in the view of many international women's-rights groups, who believe it could be four times that.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina was my girlfriend. And the supposed family honor she'd placed at risk? We'd done it together, simply by falling in love.</p>
<p dir="ltr"></p>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div>
<div class="image on-image">
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218e45ecad04201e226e4e-1192-800/amina%20and%20sarah.jpg" border="0" alt="Amina and Sarah.JPG"><p class="source"><span>The Price of Honor</span></p>
<p class="caption">Amina and Sarah Said in an undated photo.</p>
</img></div>
<p></p>
</div></div>I'd barely spoken a word to anyone since my mother had awoken me the morning following the murder. With tears in her eyes she told me something awful had happened. My reaction on hearing the news was to punch the headboard of my bed or a wall. I'm still not sure. I lost it. I'd planned to spend the rest of my life with Amina, and everything I'd hoped for had suddenly come to an end. I was completely numb. I can hardly remember sitting with the ER physician as my mother signed the paperwork to have me admitted to the mental ward, but I know I didn't fight the idea. What else could we do?
<p dir="ltr">I was 15 when Amina and I first met, at the Excel Academy of Tae Kwon Do in a strip mall in Bedford, Texas. Amina walked in one afternoon in 2004 with her sister, Sarah, and brother, Islam, and I was smitten by her almost immediately.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina was beautiful. She had the most amazing green eyes I had ever seen. She was fiercely intelligent and full of spirit, and she always seemed to be smiling.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It wasn't long before Sarah and Islam both gave up on the class. Their hearts weren't in it. But Amina, who had recently gotten her driver's license and a vehicle, was allowed to continue. She stuck with the class, and we developed a mutual crush.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Before long, we were both taking lessons three or four days a week, and not just because we loved martial arts. We went to different high schools and Amina wasn't allowed to date. A lot of our relationship played out at the tae kwon do studio, in the beginning. We'd steal a few minutes to talk outside before or after class. She'd ask that we position ourselves between the martial arts storefront and an adjacent building so we couldn't be spotted from the street in case her dad drove by. I'd later find out the gravity of this request.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Our instructor could see sparks were flying between us, and sometimes, with a sort of devilish look in his eye, he'd assign us to spar with each other. It made for a pretty tame matchup. The instructor used to bust Amina's chops for not attacking aggressively enough. And I could never bring myself to be aggressive toward her at all. We both went easy on each other, but that wasn't to say we didn't love every second of it.</p>
<p dir="ltr"></p>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container">
<div class="image on-image">
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218f1a6da8115973d19038-579-699/screen%20shot%202014-09-22%20at%204.05.55%20pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2014 09 22 at 4.05.55 PM" width="800"><p class="source"><span>The Price of Honor</span></p>
<p class="caption">Amina Said was a typical Texas teenager before her father allegedly shot her to preserve the family's honor.</p>
</img></div>
<p></p>
</div>While Amina wasn't an aggressive person, she was not shy. She loved to joke around, and she freely spoke her mind. That usually resulted in our instructor issuing a reprimand for "talking out of turn" and demanding multiple sets of pushups, but that still never deterred her from saying whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to. That was Amina.
<p dir="ltr">One day, as we were taking off our shoes and socks and getting ready for class, she saw me slip my cellphone into my sneaker. "Oh, you have a phone?" she asked. "Give me your number so I can bother you."<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">I received her first message a few minutes after we left class, and we ended up texting back and forth all that night - the beginning of our becoming girlfriend and boyfriend.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was puppy love, in the sense that it was innocent and sweet and went no further than a flurry of passed notes, some furtive hand-holding, and an occasional stolen kiss. But that doesn't do justice to how deep it became.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote float_right">It was puppy love, in the sense that it was innocent and sweet and went no further than a flurry of passed notes, some furtive hand-holding, and an occasional stolen kiss. But that doesn't do justice to how deep it became.</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">That first text was the beginning of a four-year relationship. We planned a whole life together, spending hours on the phone fantasizing about marriage and kids.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We promised to learn more about each other's heritage - she was picking up Spanish and I planned to study Arabic with her.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina always seemed to be in a playful mood, teasing and messing with me. Whatever frame of mind I was in, she always found a way to make me smile. She brought out the best in me and made me genuinely want to accomplish things. She inspired me.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gradually, she began to let on that her home life was troubled, but even then she tended to keep things vague. Her demeanor was so upbeat and positive; no one would ever have imagined what kind of hell she was living through at home.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">Amina's father, Yaser, was from Egypt, and although he'd married an American woman - Amina's mother, Patricia - he had some very traditional notions about gender relations. He viewed himself as the family patriarch and demanded total obedience. Yaser's obsessive need to control his daughters went way beyond the usual overprotectiveness many parents feel toward their children. He forbade them to date and kept tabs on them virtually at all times, often video- or audio-taping them without their knowledge. His plan was to bring them back to Egypt, where they'd be forced into arranged marriages with older men, for a price. I later found out he'd been abusive to the girls - both physically and sexually - since they were little.</p>
<p dir="ltr"></p>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div>
<div class="image on-image">
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218f7569bedd5b78133453-1171-741/last%20picture%20taken%20of%20yaser%20and%20amina.jpg" border="0" alt="Last picture taken of Yaser and Amina"><p class="source"><span>The Price of Honor</span></p>
<p class="caption">Yaser Said and his daughter, Amina, not long before he allegedly murdered her.</p>
</img></div>
<p></p>
</div></div>Given the circumstances, dating was tricky, and we had to be careful. We knew that if Yaser found out, it would be bad news for us. One time, when Yaser was out of the country, Amina was able to come out with my family and me to a church function. Amina often imagined him spying on her with a pair of binoculars. It may seem paranoid, but the threat was genuine; she knew if she broke the rules, he'd hurt her badly. Once, when Sarah got an after-school job working in a store, he spied on her at work and punished her for smiling too much at the customers.
<p dir="ltr">Despite all that, Amina was always the picture of calm. When she became concerned that her father might look through her cellphone for information about what she was up to, she suggested we use a secret code that sounded like something an intelligence agent would dream up. A text of the number 7 meant that her father was planning to confiscate her phone and that no matter what texts I received after that, I should not reply.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It seemed like overkill at first, but then one night my phone buzzed with the agreed on code: 7. Not long after, another text came in. "Hey what's up?" it read. "Can u call me?" I ignored the message just like she'd warned me, and in class the next day Amina confirmed that Yaser had taken her phone. He had apparently spent the evening driving around in his cab, texting her contacts at random, trying to prove she was deceiving him.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote">Eventually, Yaser found a note Amina had written to me and demanded to know who she was communicating with. She lied and told him she'd written it to an imaginary boyfriend.</blockquote>
<p>&#xa0;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shortly after that, we gave up on phones altogether and began passing a notebook back and forth, taking turns pouring our hearts onto the lined pages, or swapping folded notes at class. It seemed like a safer approach, but as we later found out, it wasn't nearly safe enough.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Eventually, Yaser found a note Amina had written to me and demanded to know who she was communicating with. She lied and told him she'd written it to an imaginary boyfriend.She was always determined to protect me from the horrors she was enduring.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Apparently he didn't buy the story. A few days later, Amina failed to show up for class. She didn't come to the next session either, or the one after that. Months went by without a word. She'd vanished. With no possibility of getting hold of her, I imagined the worst. Eventually, though, Amina reached out to our tae kwon do instructor with a message for me: Yaser had secretly bought a house in Lewisville, on the other side of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, 60 miles away, and, overnight, he'd moved the whole family.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"></p>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div>
<div class="image on-image">
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54218fee69bedd3d7913344c-800-600/yaser-islam-sarah-and-amina.jpg" border="0" alt="Yaser, Islam, Sarah and Amina"><p class="source"><span>The Price of Honor</span></p>
<p class="caption">Yaser Said and his children, Islam, Sarah and Amina.</p>
</img></div>
<p></p>
</div></div>There was essentially no way we could see each other after that, but before long, Amina got a secret phone - a "burner" - allowing us to plot an escape. The plan was to make Yaser believe we'd really broken up so that when she ran away, he wouldn't go looking for me. She had a friend from school help her with this.
<p dir="ltr">We were going to get married. We'd already exchanged rings, little rubber ones that were part of a punk-style bracelet set she'd bought at Hot Topic. I had to leave mine out in the sun to stretch it out. The rings were cheap but the meaning was real. As soon as we graduated, we promised we'd run away to Vegas, get married, and just split - get to somewhere safe and start a new life. She even started a list of what she was going to bring.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote float_right">Yaser was talking about bringing Sarah (who also had a secret American boyfriend) and Amina back to Egypt and forcing them into marriages.</blockquote>
<p>&#xa0;</p>
<p dir="ltr">We knew the plan would take money, so in 2007 I quit high school, quickly got a GED, and found a job working</p>
<p dir="ltr">in a factory fabricating water- and air-pressure hoses for aerospace companies. The job paid good money, $15 an hour, and I saved every penny for the trip and our future.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Toward the end of the year, it became clear we'd have to move more quickly than we'd planned. Yaser was talking about bringing Sarah (who also had a secret American boyfriend) and Amina back to Egypt and forcing them into marriages.He regularly threatened to kill Amina, and she knew he meant it. I didn't know this until much later, but at one point after they moved to Lewisville, he beat her brutally and demanded to know who she was seeing. Amina was the strongest and bravest person I have ever met, and she refused to tell him my name. She always wanted to keep me safe from him, knowing that if he'd found me, he would have killed me too. But I wouldn't have cared if she had told him. The only thing that mattered was our being together.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Right after dinner, Christmas day, I received a text from Amina. "We did it," she wrote. "We left." It turned out her mother had taken her and Sarah, hopped in the car, and just taken off.</p>
<p dir="ltr">"I'll come to you," I told her. "Where are you?"</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was too soon, she said, refusing even to tell me what city they'd gone to. Yaser and various family members were calling her mother nonstop, begging her to return, and Amina wasn't confident their troubles were really over yet.</p>
<p dir="ltr">She was right. A few days later, they all returned home. It was a trap. Her mom apparently buckled under the pressure and tricked the girls into going back. Shortly after, on New Year's Day, Yaser allegedly murdered both of his beautiful daughters and fled into the night.</p>
<p dir="ltr"></p>
<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div>
<div class="image">
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5421907c6da8110a74d1903c-1200-667/screen%20shot%202014-09-22%20at%204.02.25%20pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2014 09 22 at 4.02.25 PM"><p class="source"><span>The Price of Honor</span></p>
<p class="caption">Yaser Said's wanted poster. </p>
</img></div>
<p></p>
</div></div>More than six years later, he still hasn't been caught. While there's solid evidence that family members helped him hide and he may still even be in Texas, the local <keyword id="6355470" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Law">law</keyword> enforcement authorities - who bungled the case from the beginning - seem to have mostly given up the hunt.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&#xa0;</span>
<p style="text-align: center;" dir="ltr"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">* &#xa0;* &#xa0;*</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">The last time I saw Amina it was summer. She'd told her family she was going to Six Flags with some friends. She didn't mention that I was one of them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">We spent all day in the park - the most time we'd ever been together. Resolving not to talk about anything scary or difficult, we devoted the day purely to having fun. Losing ourselves in the massive crowds, we held hands nonstop. It was the only time we ever got to do that without worrying about the consequences.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Of course Amina wanted to go on the Titan roller coaster, one of the most hard-core thrill rides at the park. It's pretty intense. People in line in front of us bailed at the last minute. But Amina didn't seem worried. She insisted on waiting a few extra minutes so we could ride in the very front car. "It will be fun," she promised. It was.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As we crested the 245-foot hill and began to speed downward, she threw her arms in the air, and I looked over at her. She was grinning, the biggest, most gorgeous smile I have ever seen. She wasn't scared at all.&#xa0;</p>
<p class="embed-spacer"><em style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com">The Price of Honor</a>, a new documentary about the lives and murders of Amina and Sarah Said, is screening soon in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and New York and at film festivals worldwide. The filmmakers have also <a href="http://www.thepriceofhonorfilm.com/#!catchyasernow/c17j8">launched an effort</a> to bring Yaser Said to justice. Follow the progress at <a href="https://twitter.com/tpohfilm"></a><a href="https://twitter.com/catchyasernow">@catchyasernow</a>.&#xa0;</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">&#xa0;</p>
<div><div>
 <iframe width="800" height="450" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/htEjUeXIdyQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"><em><br>Story by Joseph Moreno, as told to Aaron Gell.</br></em></p>

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