Filed under: Lifestyle

I read about, and was really impressed by, Sarah's family's decision to go carless.

Recently, my husband's car broke down, and fixing it right away is not in our budget. Well, I thought, maybe we can live with just one car. It's nicer to the planet, and think of the money we'd save!

In order to make it work, I'd have to drive John to work and pick him up everyday. Public transit is out, since his workplace is up one windy mountain highway and then further up a tiny winding mountain road. No buses run there, and I really don't want him biking; it's too dangerous. I need the minivan during the day to get the kids to and from schools and doctor visits and the occasional fun outing.

We started the experiment Tuesday, and I am already crying uncle. Getting everyone out of the house together in the morning was a pain, but I expected that. What I didn't consider was that my five year old would have to make both trips with me, putting her in the car for a minimum of two hours each day. On the way to get Papa in the late afternoon, she and her brother both got queasy. Winding mountain roads, you know. Nobody wanted to go anywhere when 4:40 rolled around, so besides the carsickness there was nearly a mutiny!

All during the drive I found myself thinking creatively about our finances. Would the mechanic be interested in trading work for babysitting?

Could you live without your car? Or with just one car to share with your partner?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 31st, 2006 at 11:30 am and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.