One aspect that I like about my new life is that it affords me the time to walk, bike, and use transit instead of driving. It helps that I usually don't have to be anyplace at a particular time. Some recent examples from the past couple of weeks: I walked to Trader Joe's and the library. I biked to Bookbuyers and also to Santa Clara to meet former coworkers for lunch. I walked and took the bus to get to the Art Song Festival events. For voice lessons, I've been carpooling with Sugar Daddy in the morning, then I walk and take the bus home. Some days, I walk 5-6 miles just doing errands or going places. It's nice to have physical activity just be part of daily life, instead of having to make a special trip to the gym.
Unsurprisingly, my monthly transportation costs have gone way down. As high as gas prices are right now, bus fare for my typical trip is still more expensive per mile than the cost of gas to drive myself. (I don't ride frequently enough to make a monthly pass economical.) However, my occasional bus expenses are more than balanced out because I no longer have a daily commute and because I sometimes walk and bike (which costs me nothing). The only financial downside so far is that, at one point, I didn't drive for so long that my already-ailing car battery died and I had to buy a replacement! We could reduce our transportation costs even more by getting rid of one car, but we're not ready yet to become a one-car household.
I think I've figured out a way to combine my errands requiring a car into one weekly trip, so I'll only drive on Monday evenings. Then I can let Sugar Daddy have our one assigned covered parking space for the other days of the week.
I can't say that I've achieved an environmental coup by driving less, since I'm taking a few more plane trips this year than I usually do. But I can at least enjoy the fresh air, sunshine, and exercise while I'm biking or walking around town. And I don't have to wince at the prices at the pump quite as often.
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Good for you! The same thing happened to me in 2005 when I moved close to work. I started walking and biking for commuting and errand-running, my car usage went from 25K miles per year to about 4K, and my fitness level went up.
It's always sad/funny to ride the bike past the gym near Trader Joe's and see the folks behind glass pedalling stationary bikes after having driven there in their Suburbans. Something is wrong with this picture.
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