I have been conducting the Great Car-Free Experiment for over 2 months now.
During this time I’ve only driven my car once and had disastrous results!! On a stupidly busy day about 2 weeks ago I decided to start up the car and drive over to the store instead of walk. It is about a 30 minute walk from my house to the shopping plaza I was heading to and I normally really love this walk as it takes me along the shores of both Lake Ontario and Martindale Pond, but that day I decided that I just didn’t have time to squeeze in a walk between finalizing my SSHRC application, prepping for class and the other gazillion things I had on my “to do” list. What happened next, I believe, was some sort of intervention by the gods and goddesses of exercise and all things eco — my front tire fell off! Fell right off the car. Wheee…I watched it spring from the car and land about a half a block away on the other side of the road. I’m very glad this happened on the residential street in front of my house and that I was driving very slowly as I was about to turn into my driveway. I don’t even want to think about how this might have played out if I’d been on the highway when the tire came loose.
So, yeah, not keen to get back to driving any time soon!
While there are some annoyances with getting around this region without a car (like the lack of regional transit or the fact that bus service on evenings and weekends is a little sparse), so far it has been going rather well. The cooler autumn weather and the hectic pace of the term means I’m not biking much any more, but the start of the school year means that the buses up to Brock run on a much more frequent basis. I also find that taking the time out to go for a walk to the store or pub or other such location is actually really important for my overall well being. We all know, of course, the benefits of regular exercise, but the catch is trying to fit it in. For me, combining exercise with errand-running is one way of doing this.
I’ve also recently started listening to audiobooks on my iPod. I’ve never been a fan of audiobooks, but I have discovered a narrator that I really like (Scott Brick), and this has helped to change my opinion of audiobooks. Another reason I have not really enjoyed audiobooks to date has been that I’ve always tried to listen to them while doing other things — an absurd idea, really, given that I don’t try and do other things while I read a book. So before I had a hard time following the story because I’d be distracted by all the other things I was doing. Now I use the time that I’m riding the bus to zone out and listen to whatever book I’ve recently downloaded from Audible, and I have to say it is a pretty cool way to start and end the work day. I’ve actually found myself looking forward to the bus ride home so that I can get back to the story.
I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with my car. The CAA tow truck driver that came out to help me after the tire flew off gave me a coupon for a free diagnostic appointment at the CAA car care centre. I might take it there and find out what the scoop is. I’m also eyeing the Retire Your Ride program which appeals to me because of its simplicity – sign a few forms and they take the car away. No fuss, no muss. I need to find out just how much it will cost me to cancel my car insurance before the policy is up for renewal, but I’ve been putting that off.
