TuckertonRR

Coming up on my 1 year anniversary of being car free! It's been a very interesting journey over this time; I was quite surprised at the mental challenges and overcoming them. From getting groceries, to car free vacations at locations with no public transport, and getting to/from work, the mental hurdles are worse than the actual physical ones.

Rarely have I used a bike - but just happens I can take the train & bus to 90% of the places I need to go. Looking forward to more fun in the future.

CliffordK

Congratulations.

I parked my car in October 2014, so just over 16 months now. I still have it, but not currently driving.

Spring is a good time to start car-free, rather the beginning of the winter

Each person is different. I do 99% of my travels by bike. I did do a train + bike a couple of weeks ago, but only because I had to chaperone my nephew and niece.

Artkansas 

Congratulations!

dksix

I admire those up north doing this. It's not my thing and maybe that makes me see it as even more of an accomplishment.

Machka 

Congratulations!

TuckertonRR

Thanks all!

Also, the initial days/weeks are the worst; after you get through that, things get better. You begin to see you *can* do it, since the car is no longer an *option*, as in - Oh, I'm running late, I'll just drive - that option, no longer being there, forces your mind to say, hey, I've gotta get up sooner, or make sure my backups are ready (spare tube for bike, extra money for bus fare, etc).

I've used a taxi so far 3 times, though I could have been hard - core, at those times, my time was more valuable than my money, so thus opted for the quicker, but pricier option of a taxi service. If you live in a large metro area, there are also car - sharing services, that you have to sign up for/be a member for, but can also work well, depending on your particular needs.

My car - free vacation was interesting, to say the least. I definitely learned a bit more in planning & coordinating transport & stuff to do on vacation. Also, made some mistakes that won't happen again! Without the car, it was one of the more laid - back vacations I've had, without worrying about traffic, or accidents, or whatever else.

Glad I've been able to make car - free living a reality. If I can do it, in a suburb of a large NE city in the USA, than most others should be able to do so as well. Plan things out as best you can, and just go for it.

MikeRides

Congratulations!

This April will mark my 3 year anniversary of being car light, with a 1-year stint of being car free in 2014. I'm a single parent of a ten year old and live out in the country(6-10 MILES from the nearest town) and if I can do it, ANYONE can. Unfortunately with a growing business (ironically in the automotive industry) and a FT job which consists of LOTS of overtime I can't bring myself to give up the car for good but I try to bike as often as possible. For comparison, I only put ~1000 miles on my car and around 5000 (if not more) on my bike last year.

mr geeker

Congrats for staying car free! Hopefully there's many more years of it in your future.

Hovering around 14 years car free personally. I only owned a car for about 3 months back when I was 18 and I've been car free since.

Roody

I definitely agree with this.

If you can maintain a positive attitude, the challenges will become opportunities and the hardships will become pleasures.

I met a couple good friends while riding the bus--never would have happened if I hadn't been carfree. I rode through beautiful misty mornings while the sun was rising--never would have been noticed if I was in a car. I've been enjoying the work of a particular 19th century architect in my town--never would have noticed his buildings if I hadn't been strolling slowly through the neighborhood.

tandempower

Driving is a chore, whether you're on vacation or not. I wouldn't feel like a vacation was really a vacation if I would have to drive and babysit a car the whole time. I also like the challenge of packing light enough to carry everything in a backpack or bike. The extra work of hand-washing garments is far preferable, in my experience, to keeping track of an entire wardrobe and the luggage that goes with it.