My Journey in Car-Free Living
I had just turned sixteen. iPod Nanos were all the rage and cell phones still had physical buttons. Over the last year, I had been putting in a ton of hours preparing for my drivers' test. I had enrolled in drivers Ed, took the written test, admittedly more than once, and braved my way through the maze of Christmas shoppers at our mall parking lot. All while driving a stick which included quite a few stalling sessions and some angry motorists. Now my day had finally come, my drivers' test. I had a lot riding on this day (bad pun I know) at least in my mind. I was just finishing my first year of auto shop class and my top priority was being able to drive my car to school and work on it. I was a little nervous but confident as my instructor took me through the drive. I passed! I was so excited, I now have freedom! Or so I thought. [more on that later] As time moved forward, I enjoyed many years of driving my own personal vehicle as well as a couple delivery driving jobs.
But something happened that would change the way I see cars and transportation in general. I found a bicycle. Now I had always had a relationship with the bicycle ever since I was a kid, but as I grew up cars became more and more appealing and my bike went by the wayside. It wasn’t until I found my Dad’s old bike from the 80’s hanging out in the attic that things changed and I fell in love with the bicycle. Again.
About this same time I started getting into sustainability and environmental studies. I started to realize just how taxing a vehicle is on not only my wallet but our earth. This got me thinking, what if I could use my bike as my main form of transport. Is it possible? How long will I be able to do this for? I wanted to find out. So I garaged my car and started using my bike for everything, going to the grocery store, to go hang with friends, etc. etc. I even took a week and bike toured across my state with some friends.
Fast forward to today about four years later, I’m still riding just about everywhere and have no plans of stopping. What has kept me on two wheels? One word, freedom. In my opinion, nothing else gives you the feeling of adventure, accomplishment and all around good vibes that cycling does. Every time I get on the saddle, those feelings come rushing back and I can’t help but smile. This is something I rarely get with a car and with traffic and congestion piling up all around the world, I find it more and more frustrating to drive.
My thoughts have changed a lot about cars since I first started driving. Cars have their pros and cons, just like anything but for me right now, the cons outweigh the pros. Does this mean I will never own a car again? Probably not, but I will think long and hard about what role a new vehicle will play in my life. For now, my two wheels are just fine.