One less car

After over a year of talking about it, trying it out in various forms, thinking some more, we've finally gone and done it: we've sold the car. We are now car-less, or car-free.

We were once a happy car-less family, back when our family consisted of three. When we were about to welcome Solanne into the family, I insisted to Derek and I needed a car. I did not want to repeat the long, lonely winter days cooped up in our little apartment alone with Maïa. So we bought a used, old Civic (it was eight years old at the time).

And our little Civic treated us very nicely. Except for a short time of what turned out to be mostly panic on my part, the car was reliable and stable. It got us to where we were going, and we got there all together, dry and warm (or cool, on those very hot summer days).

But we came to rely on the car to get us to places that in the old days we would have walked or cycled to, like the grocery store, church, or the kids' school. It was just easy. And we didn't take it that much, so it was easy to dismiss our use and call it the price of convenience.

About a year and a half ago, Derek and I costed everything out and realised that if we relied on walking, cycling and public transit more, not only would we be more fit (!), but we would save a lot of money–enough to rent cars as needed to visit Nana and Grampa in the country and take road trips to Montreal as much as we wanted, and then some.

So we tried selling the car last fall. The one person interested changed his mind; we didn't renew the ad and kept the car. This spring we decided it really was time and tried a little harder. And we found a buyer: a young supply teacher who gets gigs around town and needed a way to and from jobs. The sale was finalised this morning.

When I told people we were thinking of selling the car, most looked at me like I was crazy. But how are you going to get around? We live in a central neighbourhood, so walking, biking and busing make sense. What about getting to far out places? Buses. What if your kids get sick? Cabs. What if... And I don't know that I have all the answers, and I admit that I am a little nervous about our new lifestyle–because let's be honest, this is what this means. But my parents got along just fine without a car until I was 6 years old. Some good friends of ours live farther out than we do, and they have made the choice to be car-less, and it just involves more planning and in some cases, changing plans.

It is with excitement, and a little trepidation, that I (we) jump into this new way of life. We have some key gear, like two decent bikes, two trail-a-bikes for the girls, and a trailer. We'll need some more, like lights for night riding, cycling clothes, and perhaps a utility bicycle for those times when only one parent needs to get two kids somewhere. But we are well on the road–or path–to leading our new car-free life.