Alekhine

My pleasure! Crumb is a big favorite of mine too. He touches on quite a few issues I have with the world I was born into and its development, both culturally and aesthetically. And yes, excellent detail artist.

I'd trade places with you aesthetically, I think. Spain has a lot of the same problems, same as most countries these days, but 99% of United States history has been defined and dominated by the post Industrial Revolution world, and it sure shows. Some great bulk of what is considered utterly normal here I consider weird and disturbing, but I try to keep it to myself.

Ekdog

Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! Keeping on your bike as much as possible and out of the car will be good for your matrimony.

Machka 

Speaking of motivation ... an ad just came on TV ...

Check out the first ad in particular.
https://www.findthirty.tas.gov.au/cam...io_advertising


... finding a way to fit into last year's jeans.
... finding time to talk.


[HR][/HR]

In addition to the 3 things I've mentioned that motivated me to be car-free or car-light would be this ... time to think. I really enjoy walking (or cycling) to work because it gives me time to think through what I need to do that day. Same at the end of the day, it gives me a chance to unwind and digest what happened during the day and plan for the next day.

Roody

Same here. When I was quite young, I read that "Life is a journey, not a destination." Ever since, that idea has been a major motivation for me.

Machka 

There are some new people floating around here, so I'll bump this.

cooker

I agree - the impact is mainly on your marginal or discretionary income. But if one was disciplined and invested that after-tax 5-10k, it would have a huge impact by retirement age, so it might well provide more than 50% of your income for those later years.

cooker

I've posted my reasons for bike commuting in a few threads over the years - basically: all of the above. Health, stress-relief, pleasure, independence, finance, environment, and now, habit.

...he said as he headed to the bus stop. Sorry, I don't bike on ice!

wipekitty

Thanks for the bump!

These are my primary motivations for living car-lite or car-free:
1. I just don't like driving, unless it's on a sparsely populated road. I find it really weird to carry a giant machine with me to go short distances.
2. I love riding bikes. In almost any circumstance, I prefer riding my bike to any other mode of transportation. The exception would be the 450 mile trips in either direction to see family - at least for now!
3. I am cheap. I refuse to pay for parking, car payments, or expensive insurance.
4. I need to exercise frequently or else I get really agitated, and I hate gyms. Riding a bike (or walking) allows me to integrate exercise with my daily routine.
5. I like to spend time outside, and not driving allows me to experience all of nature's wonderful (and not so wonderful) patterns.
6. Most of the places I go on a daily basis - universities, downtown areas - are not very convenient by car. Most of the places that are difficult to access without a car - shopping malls, suburbs - are not places I enjoy going, car or not.

I've been thinking about it a lot lately - and have decided to transition to car-free (or maybe you'd call it very car lite) in the near future. The only time I really want a vehicle is for longer trips; given that my vehicle is old and no longer road-trip worthy, it makes more sense to skip the insurance payments and just rent something a few times a year. My partner doesn't have a license and has no interest in getting one, so there's no reason for my household to have a car.

fietsbob

Miserly employment situations - Poverty..
I could survive , marginally, without supporting Owning a Car, and all that .

Machka 

I know what you mean ... driving can actually be quite a hassle.

I work downtown and have had several different appointments in various places downtown ... if I were to drive to my appointments, I'd probably take longer than I would walking because of all the hassle with parking and one-way streets, etc. So much simpler and easier to walk.

Chuchi

I haven't gone car free yet, but I am thinking about it, mainly for financial reasons. But I have questions on how to do it. I live in a big city. How do you keep your bike from being stolen when you leave it outside the store? I have been looking at the fordable bikes, but I kind of doubt if I could get away with bringing them inside and shopping with them. I'm also thinking I would have to make a lot of trips to the store to get groceries, which will be kind of a pain because I buy a lot of cat litter, cat food and bottled water (my apartment has undrinkable water). I do not think I would be able to transport my cats to the vet on a bike, I think I would have to get a ride or take a taxi for that. My other concern is just how scary it is to ride a bike in the horrible traffic here.

memebag

I recommend a water filter. I have a Pur tank in my refrigerator that filters tap water. It's basically the same as what you get in bottled water, but cheaper, more efficient and less wasteful.

Standalone 

Not saying that I'm having a demonstrable or even theoretical impact with my crazed acquisition of bicycles in my garage... but this was the impetus.

A love of bicycles and endorphins also helped:

cooker

I think you should start a thread - you will get lots of excellent advice from very experienced people here.

mconlonx

My car died, my (soon to be ex-) wife works out of the house. On days she requires the car, I ride my bike; on days she doesn't... sometimes I take the car, lots of times I still ride my bike.

Car was leftover from single life. DUI made me find out that I could do without it while living in the city, which is also when I started bike commuting a lot more. And it stuck, even when I moved back to a more rural/suburban setting.

Now that we're splitting, I'd consider going car-free except, at the moment, I'm planning to live in a van.

Chuchi

I have used water filters in the past and drank the tap water. I don't do that here because the taste of the water is horrible at this complex. It often come out brown or yellow, I don't know what the problem is, but I'm not drinking it, filtered or not. I know it's not good for the environment, so I do feel a little guilty.

memebag

Where do you live? If it's in the US and the water isn't drinkable, notify the authorities. We have agencies for that stuff. Just because it is brown or yellow doesn't mean a filter won't make it drinkable -- there's no telling what color the water was before they filtered it to put in those bottles.

Chuchi

I live in Houston. I have a Pur filter on my sink, and I find the taste of the filtered water awful. It may not be technically undrinkable by official standards. I don't know. The complex is shutting the water off, quite often, working on it, so they must be aware there is a problem. Even if they told me it had been tested, I wouldn't trust that. I won't let my cats drink it either. I cook with the bottled water too, just because I'm paranoid of the nasty water here.

Chuchi

OK, sorry for the hijack.

cooker

Sorry, I didn't mean it in a negative way. I think your question is worthy of its own thread

memebag

I live in Houston, too. The water tastes bad out of my tap (too much chlorine, usually, some algae ever since they went to surface water), but it tastes great out of my Pur filter tank. I like it better than Ozarka.

If your water is undrinkable, notify the city. Bottled water is expensive and horrible for the environment.

Roody

Bike lock. And get panniers, a trailer, or a longtail bike for the kitty litter. Easy!

As as for the traffic, that's a more difficult situation:

• Be creative about finding alternative bike-friendly routes.
• Bike maps are available in many areas, so find out about that.
• You could also look for a class or instructor who will teach vehicular cycling skills.
• Get involved with a bike advocacy group to work on pressuring city planners to make streets better for all users (bike lanes and whatnot). This won't help you now, but someday....

Roody

I guess this is a stupid question, but did you try a new filter for the pur water system?

Chuchi

I guess I want specifics about which bike lock to get. I know you can lock them, but the thieves are pretty good at cutting them off or what ever. A trailer sounds too cumbersome. I have to carry my bike down apartment stairs. I don't know what a pannier or a long tail bike are, I'm going to look those up. I'm thinking about getting this bike when I save up enough: https://www.xootr.com/folding-bicycle.html. But it's so expensive, I would die if somebody stole it. Thanks for the advice.

Chuchi

It's not a stupid question, but the Pur I bought was brand new, so the filter was too.