Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Carless and Carefree

3 years ago I asked myself if I could live without a car and decided that I wasn't ready to give it up. I did want to work towards breaking the habit so I decided to downsize my car. I looked into the Prius hybrid but the battery technology was still unproven, not to mention that it was a butt-ugly car. The Smart Car seemed pretty stupid when it came to storage space - it would be like having a motorcycle with a side-car. I ended up choosing the car that had the best combination of performance and prettiness that still qualified as an ultra-low emission vehicle. So this might seemed somewhat spoiled but I chose the BMW320i.

The lease runs out in 2 weeks and I find myself asking again if I can live without a car. I've been taking transit and walking a lot lately and really enjoying it, and I got my bike tuned-up and ready for summer. My lifestyle today is decidedly more relaxed and I just might be able to break the habit this time around. I'm going to experiment this summer living without a car in my life for the first time since I was 15 (I saved up and bought my first car before I even got my license). Sometime before it starts to snow again I will compare the ultra-small, ultra-efficient Toyota Yaris to the larger but even more efficient Toyota Camry Hybrid but hopefully by then I will learn to be carless and carefree.

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