Since my last post, I did actually sell my car. The process was relatively simple. This is not to say that going without a car has been all cherries and roses. I've had my fair share of feeling too lazy to walk from a bus stop to a friend's house on more than one occassion, but all in all, I feel great about not having the extra burden of car payments, parking fees, maintenance costs, and the like each month.
Yesterday, in particular, was a moment of truth for me. I was to meet a friend at a location in the city that was not readily accessible by public transportation. I had agreed to do it, and I knew in advance that it would require me to walk about a full mile. I was up for it...until I actually started walking.
My trip was set for midday, at the peak of high summer temperatures and high weekend traffic on city streets not designed for pedestrians. As I walked, I thought about how much faster I'd have gotten to my destination if only I had driven a car. I doubted for a moment whether selling my car was actually the right thing. I complained internally about the heat, about the food I was carrying that had to be refridgerated, about the sweat dripping down my back, about how terribly foolish I must have been to sell my car. I could have avoided all the discomfort and worry if only I were driving.
When I spotted a 7-Eleven, I went in for a Slurpee. Then I realized that I was at a crossroads. I was at a six-way intersection and I didn't know which way to turn. I was lost in a way. I knew the street I wanted was just one block away, but I didn't know which one to take.
My thinking about how I sold my car was like being at that crossroads. I had two options:
--Accept and embrace my decision to sell my car.
--Fret and go back into debt to buy another car.
I knew I did not want to go back into debt, so I just accepted what lay before me. I embraced my decision and came out on the other side of that day alright. I made it to my friend without any trouble (using my GPS) and I freed myself from having to feel any regret.
After having lived through the process of selling a car and continuing to live by that decision today, I wholly recommend going carless to everyone who lives in an area with good public transportation. I'm living the life to tell you about it...with no regrets.
I don't have a car, either. Two years ago, when my daughter and son-in-law were going to move, I realized I was keeping the car mostly so that they would have reliable transportation (both of them have chronic illnesses). So I gave them the car, asking only that they remember this when they're picking out my nursing home. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky to live in a city with decent public transit and within 1.3 miles of everything I need: library, post office, bank, supermarket, drugstore, etc. Not everyone's that lucky, but being car-free CAN be done by quite a few if they really set their minds to it.