I have never had my license.
I have no desire to drive.
Rob has his license.
Rob has never lost his license.
There is no secret story behind this decision.
Rob can drive, and does when we need to. (rental)
Mostly we walk. We don’t like driving.
We do like hiking, walking, meeting new people, saving money, etc.
We walk or take the bus to work and because we don’t have a car payment, insurance, and gas to pay for we have extra money to pay someone else for their time (and gas).
I know it has been difficult for people to see the reasons, but lately, it seems more and more people understand our choice and they are choosing to sell their cars and opt for public transportation instead. Undriving is one of these groups.
I have also been reading about Minimalism here: The Minimalists and Becoming Minimalist and living with less – and I see now that we will never own a car. It’s okay. We live within walking distance of our jobs and near bus routes. When we need to get somewhere – we pay someone who already drives (for their job) and support the local economy by hiring them.
“How do you eat?” is my favorite question from someone who found out we didn’t have a car. We have our food delivered through Peapod right now. It is quite amazing how much money you can save when you don’t get to the store to be marketed to. In the future, I would like to be part of the Massachusetts food co-op and get what can’t be grown in our garden from them.
This is all a great adventure and the best thing about it – we can be creative! Today all of this works and tomorrow it may not, but we will find another way if that happens. Why reinvent the wheel when so many people work so hard at providing access to quality, local food? I don’t need to make cheese and butcher my own meats – we have so many great farms in this state that we can support for the things we cannot do for ourselves.
Each day is a step forward and a change for the better. However, better (for us), does not include more. In fact, even though I am just at the beginning of this gardening, sustainable, paring down life…the value is so clear…
Without a lot of stuff, without a car, without a huge house…I can sit quite happily in my garden and watch things grow…this is one thing that I know for sure speaks to my soul.
What speaks to your soul?
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| Mammoth Sunflower |