A Week In

It's been exactly one week since I signed over the title on my car.  The next day I boarded a plane for Sacramento, California, where I have been since. So while I can say that the first week has been incredibly easy to be without a car, it hasn't really been a fair start.

I have had a chance to use Zipcar a couple of times. Once here and I also checked out a car to take a quick side trip with my team to Davis, home of my alma mater UC Davis, and a city considered to be one of the most bicycle-friendly in the U.S.  I have found it to be incredibly easy to use.

I think the hardest element is transportation to/from the airport. Every city I travel to allows easy (and cost-effective) access via transit to the airport, except all three airports in this region.  In Sacramento, it cost $2 to ride from the airport to downtown -- a 20-mile trip. Even in Los Angeles, I can take an express bus for $7. It costs exponentially more locally as our only option is a car service--a true monopoly at work.  I would love to be among the catalysts to get that changed.

And So It Begins

The transition period for my endeavor to own no car ended abruptly today. I was hoping to eek out a couple more trips, but that was not to be. The irony is the car broke down on my way to a workshop on getting the most out of federal funding for active transportation in the Tidewater region.

So the car is gone. But I have my Zipcar membership, I have my bikes and my shoes. (Clearly, this is simplified living.) In reality, there's no reason I still can't go where I need to go, but yet, it feels so different. I found myself thinking earlier this week that the whole idea of transitioning was tough because it's just too easy to use the car when it's sitting in the driveway. Took care of that issue. 

I called my insurance company to cancel my auto insurance, and the agent asked when I would be replacing the car. There was a very long pause when I said I wouldn't. When I explained my plan, she sounded a bit skeptical, but at least she didn't laugh at me. 

The responses from friends and acquaintances has been fun. Those who know me aren't surprised at all, but I find it fascinating to watch them start to mull over the full scope of this plan, and then start to offer suggestions or assistance -- all of which is appreciated. I tend to brush aside assistance reactively and unconsciously, and another outcome of this experiment may have to be learning to rely on others a bit more.  Just not too much.

Why I Can

There are a number of reasons why I think this experiment to live without a car is doable. I realize that not everyone is in a similar position, and I imagine you may not necessarily want to be, but this is why I can even consider it:

1. I work in a home office. It is a game changer from the start. If I had any type of commute, this experiment would most likely not be happening.
2. I live in a walkable and bikeable part of my community. I can easily get to the post office, restaurants, farmer's market and the bank with a short walk. My daughter and I can walk to her school. I can bike to a grocery store and pharmacy. I made the choice to live in town so that I can reach these destinations without a car.
3. I have access to transit, and for a small community, I think the transit system is relatively robust. I'm about to become much more savvy about it.
4. The College of William & Mary has Zipcar, and as a member, I have access to those vehicles. I'll admit that I can't be car-free in Williamsburg. I am aiming to be free from owning a car.  Whether it's shuttling my daughter (and her stuff) to her dad's every other week or visiting friends, there are destinations where I will need a car. Conveniently, I'll be able to use them. But it will require more planning and forethought about the reasons for the car. 

This whole effort is designed to eliminate spontaneous driving and be more purposeful in my travels. And that's where I think the change for me lies, and I think some important lessons, in general, are inevitable. Perhaps you, dear readers, might learn something, too.

Becoming Car-Free

I am an active transportation advocate. What does that mean? The really short answer is that I promote walking and bicycling. The longer answer is that I believe that people should have a choice in how they choose to move around their community, their city, their region... you get the picture.  I might even admit that it's downright libertarian of me to resent the fact that we have made this country so dependent upon cars. There are options. And I take great joy in seeing how that sentiment is gripping growing segments of the American population.

As a result there are growing options to automobile ownership. I won't get too technical in this blog, but many researchers believe that, as a country, the number of miles driven annually--the VMT--may have peaked several years ago. And I love the fact that our current generation of teens and young adults are taking longer to get their drivers licenses and are choosing other ways to navigate their world than by car.  (I personally think it's a backlash to being schlepped around in a car or minivan constantly as children, but the research bears out a myriad of reasons at this point. Time will tell.)

I'm not anti-car. My daughter and I just took a 5,000 road trip in 14 days this summer, and I had no problem sitting behind the wheel of my car, ticking away miles on the Interstate.  I clearly don't eschew cars.  I just don't want to HAVE to have one to go anywhere. And I am fully cognizant that not everyone can have a car -- amazing as that may seem to many.

So what?

Well, as of yesterday, I decided that I am in the process of becoming car-free. Yes, it will be a process. I'm not going cold turkey.

I love my car. It's 17 years-old, and it has fulfilled every synonym I can think of for dependable. When I think of all the miles that car has traveled--and it's closing in on 200k--I am amazed at how flawless it has been.  But it is broken, and the cost to repair it to safe working condition far exceeds its value at this point. And so, I am facing the fact that I have to say goodbye soon.  Not only am I not anti-car, I'm ridiculously anthropomorphic about mine.

And, so I have been faced with figuring out the next step.  A number of friends have just purchased brand new cars, and I'll admit that it's tempting to want to follow suit. Irrational, illogical, but tempting nonetheless.  When I actually think about it, I abhor the idea of purchasing a car and having car payments.

What's my option? With the tepid support of my daughter, we will be embarking on a car-free existence. I am banking on my car lasting at least through August, giving me a chance to fully assess how this will work, but I'm optimistic that by the time fall arrives in earnest, I will no longer own an automobile. And I will record my journey--and all that it entails--here.

Transitions

It's been a while.  Ok, it's been a really long while. I'm actually shocked to see the date of my last post.

Suffice to say that the scuffle mentioned in that post served as the proverbial tip of the iceberg. It certainly was not the last run-in to be had with the offending couple, and it became so tenuous that my daughter feared staying with me. That was the clincher. Our great village experiment ended in February.

We moved into a wonderful little house near campus and a mile from the heart of Williamsburg's historic district. We're also a mere mile from my daughter's school so we can walk or bicycle again.  The neighborhood is predominantly comprised of upper-class families, most of whom have grown children, but it is a neighborhood in transition, and there are several families here with children still in elementary and secondary school. It's the first such neighborhood we've lived in, but it's still noticeable how little the children play in the streets.  And then, there is our little house, small and eccentric but bursting with its own story. And it's home, at least through next June.

We continue to live relatively simply. That is my goal, and it's partly my ideological philosophies, but there is a hefty dose of financial constraints guiding this lifestyle, too. Of course, if I were to have more disposable income, I gather I would gravitate toward another bike or a spending spree at Title Nine.

One of the biggest changes we're looking at is our transportation situation, and I think that will be the emphasis of this blog henceforth. There is no need to change the name. I'm just transitioning subjects.