Living Car Free...The reality.
 

In a little less than a month I'm going to make 1200 mile journey from the Midwest to Colorado and then back. I'm taking a one week vacation from work with a friend. This is a fishing vacation where there will be some camping involved and few nights in a motel. By the time it is all done, I will probably have put 3000+ miles on my truck going there and back plus driving to different public access points on the river to fish. Some of which take a 4 x 4 to get to.

I have 9 days to get this all done. I will be hauling 2 coolers, 2 tents, a camp stove, lanterns, fishing gear, change of clothes etc. The back of my full size truck will be more or less 3/4 packed full with our gear.

If I was living car free, how would I accomplish this journey in 9 days and carry all the gear I need for my vacation?

Renting a car/truck isn't an option. Their business hours of operation don't work with my schedule.

Are you really asking a question here, or just pointing out how your choice and their choice have differences that must be dealt with? I mean, don't you already KNOW the answer to this "postulation"?

If you were LIving Car Free, you would be doing a different vacation...D'uh.

But I like trout fishing and camping in the western states. That is vacation to me. Since I don't live there I need a feasible way to get there and back to do that which I like to do within a 9 day period.

IMO, it would go something like this, then. This is assuming you are actually car free, have a bike you wish to take.

Ask your work friend if he has a car he is willing to take. Next, look into train/bus to the location you want to go and consider a central camping spot that you can ride from and back to every day. I would probably consider ditching some of the equipment in that case.
Theoretically you could look into a "service" like entity to take you there and pick you up. Enterprise and some taxi/limo services offer things like this, but am sure the cost over that distance would be pretty obscene.
Rent a u-haul one way, twice, or a car.

These above recommendations (once again) go on the assumption that you own a bike and have some experience at carrying goods with you. With a bit of slimming down and creative thinking about the "cooler" situation (or a trailer), the rest could be packed on racks and panniers.

I'm not car free.

He does have a car, but this year it's my turn to drive. He drove last year.

There is no train / bus service to my destination. The town that is my jump off point nearest the area I plan to fish has a population of about 500 people. The closest bus station is 130 miles away up and over the mountains. I need all of the equipment I'm taking.

Doesn't exist where I am going. If it did...yes the cost would be obscene.

I need a high clearance 4 x 4 truck to get where I'm going. U-haul won't cut. A car won't cut it. And as I stated earlier...the rent a car options business hours aren't operational at the time I want to leave and the time I want to return the vehicle.

I own 4 bikes. But all of my equipment I need for this trip wouldn't fit on racks and panniers. Plus a bike can't cover the distance in the 9 days I have to do this. I have 1 full of day of driving on each of end of this trip to get there and back. The in-between days are spent recreating.

So there are some things people want/like to do that are not practical without a car.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2VoGNpTNXCc/hqdefault.jpg

Perhaps car free is not for you.

/thread

You are catching on quickly. :)

Correct. But there is a segment of the population that thinks you should be able to do everything and go everywhere car free and don't see things from any other perspective.

Hmmm...too bad about the lack of car rental agencies.

I've always rented a big SUV for trips like that. The same was true when my family owned a vehicle.

So, I'm not sure what this has to do with LCF or the stated subforum topic. Arguably road trips are neither everyday activities nor are possible without a vehicle.

fify

I don't know of anyone who's car free that thinks that everyone else should also go car free. It's a personal choice they make for themselves. We get it, you chose differently. Good for you.

I have 4 car rental agencies nearby. For this trip I leave at 5am on Saturday and return home sometime late afternoon the following Sunday. That is outside of their normal business hours of operation.

I have never encountered that segment. Instead, I have encountered people who have sacrificed being able to do certain things and/or do certain things in certain ways in return for a car-free existence.

I have taken numerous cycling trips out west where the only car usage was for grand transportation (taxis and shuttles) to and from airports. (One time I actually walked 3+ miles with all my gear to the airport when I couldn't get a cab early a.m.) My longest vacation was nearly 4 months. It started with a car ride of a few miles to a train station (toting lots of baggage) and ended when I pushed my bike up my mom's front lawn after having bicycled across the country and then some.

No need to antagonize the LCF though some of them can be a little preachy though not as bad as the A&S crowd imo. If you wanted to LCF you would certainly need to make some adjustments I hesitate to say sacrifices. You could take a very fine fishing trip car free on a bicycle. Follow some river or canal and fish daily. Rivers tend to be flat along river valleys which is nice. You'd not only be car free you'd be living off the land which would be kinda cool and something some aspire to. You could otherwise get a folding bike and train or fly to your destination and make do with less stuff which is honorable. Nitpicking about the hours of rental places is very low honor and the hardcore lcf dont rent cars anyway, it negates the whole thing. Otherwise for back country stuff you'd need a mtn bike. No need to be angry about other peoples choices or take too seriously the few who criticize you for driving a gas guzzling truck and needing 2 tons of gear for a couple of days in the woods.

I suspect that there millions of business and vacation trips monthly, in the U.S. that do not utilize a privately owned motor vehicle except perhaps for a cab, bus, car or shuttle ride to/from an airport or train station at the home and vacation destination. Probably most, if not all overseas trips too. Predilection for "living car free" or being a bicycle/walking enthusiast probably does not factor much in setting out most of such itineraries.

Sure. Maybe from my house to a local stream within 30 miles for a day trip only. I'm talking about a 3000+ mile round trip.

Not always the case. This spot here that I fished last year has zero roads along the river valley. It has one public access point that dead ends at the river. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...448a9c3782.jpg

Start the rental on Friday, return it Monday. It will cost you an extra 2 days rental fee. Rental agencies near me have after hours drop off, you may still be able to return the call on Sunday using something like that. I'm willing to bet the car rental agency will even work with you for both the pickup and drop off for very little extra.

I am by no means car free, but this seemed like the simplest idea.

Yes - this is what we do when we rent vehicles for work trips (company policy is to rent from our contracted vendor - they will no longer reimburse mileage for personal vehicles.) For Saturday returns (they are closed on Sunday), they will accommodate vehicles that are returned for a $10 fee rather than charging the whole rental fee for Sunday. This is obviously a possibility for those who do not own cars...as well as the majority of my company's employees who do.

To each their own, but I'm beginning to think that this thread is really a topic for Foo, rather than LCF?

There is no such segment, and certainly not in this forum.

If you are insecure about your lifestyle and are seeking validation, I am sure you can find plenty of support here: https://www.google.ca/search?q=automotive+forums&oq=automotive+forums&aqs=chrome..69i57j69i60l3j0l2.9971j1j7&client=ms-android-motorola&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

You could fly in to SeaTac with your MTBs or touring bikes and your fly gear boxed up, bus to King Station, bus to Issaquah, grab a hotel room there, build your bikes, then hit the trails the next day. Issaquah-Preston Trail, Snoqualmie Valley Trail, Palouse to Cascades trail. The route will take you to lots of great spots on the Middle and South Fork Snoqualmie, the Yakima River and several smaller streams; several of these spots aren't even easily accessible by AWD. Then fly out of Ellensburg on a puddle jumper for connections via Spokane or SeaTac.

Just an option if one was really dedicated to car free fishing trips.

Yes ... very much so.

Oh please... :rolleyes: Rent the truck a day earlier, as others have suggested... How hard is that.? :innocent:

You could move to Colorado.