I have been wondering if I should buy a car or not for two years. I have never had my own car. I regularly check the websites, looking for the best deal on a used car. You know, not too old, with not too many kilometers, clean and cheap. Twice I was about to buy one.
Why I didn't? Buying a car is a dilemma for me. It's not that I'm afraid of driving - in fact I really enjoy it. But I also love to find other ways to travel, by train, carpooling, buses, bike... And for ecological reasons I'm pretty proud of how I was able to find other solutions to travel during the last years. But at the same time, I found myself in tricky situations several times, being very limited to find a place to stay in small cities for example. I'm often on the move and I like to have some personnal belongings with me (at least my guitar and a sewing machine). The main reason why I end up not buying the car each time is that I'm afraid of getting lazy. Lazy to look for more ecological ways to move because I will want to use the car.
(But of course, if I really really need it for my job or other reasons, I surely will buy one!)
You have done very well so far to avoid buying a car! Well done for finding so many alternatives.
Is there a car sharing service where you live, where you can rent cars by the hour or even a day? We have used Zipcar in the US sometimes when we just need one. I love to take public transportation as much as possible! No need to find parking, paying insurance and upkeep, gas, etc. Good luck!
Nice post. Now you've got me wondering how to say, "I'm on the move" in French. :)
Yes, there are! But mostly in big cities. Where I live now, there isn't, or it isn't practical. So I'm riding my bike most of the time. Otherwise I use blablacar which is a good carpooling service in France and Europe. And this year I used a service for the first time, it's called driiveme. For 1€ you get a car that people want you to repatriate to a particular place. If it's where you want to go, you're lucky! (of course you need to be more flexible)
I remember being in Hungary for a semester and learning how to move around without my car, and that was a really fun experience! I also liked walking a lot, so I miss that here in the States. I tried walking home once from downtown, and it took me an hour! In my car, it only takes seven minutes. I miss the walkability of Europe.