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I'm quite careless.
I'm also car-less, well I was until quite recently and then I moved in with the girlfriend as she's got one.
It's as easy or difficult as you want it to be really. If I had a car of my own, I'd probably be a right lazy sod, but since I haven't got a choice (I can't drive), it makes it easier.
As others have highlighted, it just takes a change in your outlook on life.
Or get a motorbike and have fun.
Oh, and like TJ, it is a bit of a chore if you want to go to a trail centre or somewhere, but since I live on the edge of a moor, with the woods 2 minutes from my front door the riding has never been better! 8)
As a small child, I had a friend whose parents didn't (i.e. weren't lincesed to) drive.
I recall listening to my friend's mum moaning to my mother about two car familes. As she accepted a lift in my mum's car....
somehow a 200 mile round trips seems less ridiculous.
That's interesting. It seems to suggest (anecdotally, and based on a sample of one TJ..!) that wihout a car, you measure the worth of one in distance covered, whereas as jack put it, with a car, we measure their value in time.
Not sure if I have a conclusion from that, but it struck me as worth commenting on. As you were.
I'd go car free tomorrow but the missus would kick off 🙂
I'm totally fed up with the whole shooting match, driving, drivers, traffic, the whole lot
As it happens I can't as it's financed from work and used for work and I actually end up in pocket even after my personal mileage
Going to the tip and similar with garden waste is one job I'd struggle with though, my kids are pretty much grown up now so can find their own transport if they were pushed into it
ourmaninthenorth
Its an odd one. I think its mileage / cost or something. £30 a day for the car and 10 p a mile say - so to take a hire care to glentress for the day would be £35 quid. Seems a lot for 3 hrs riding. Whereas to go away for a weekend doing 200 miles is £80 for a weekend in the mountains - seems a lot less somehow 😕
I've puzzled myself now
Our friends, for instance, aren't those who live across the street but those who live across town. Our jobs can be miles away and that's fine, even though such a distance would have been unworkable a few years ago. Our shops aren't down the road, they're miles out of town and they have huge car parks
Well.. in many cases yes but not all. There are places I'd like to live in Cardiff where I could walk to the shops in 2 mins for all my shopping, or to town in 20 mins for bigger stuff/entertainment. Wouldn't me that much of a stretch to find work in town either or down the 'bay.
Our jobs can be miles away and that's fine,
I'm not sure it is though because it's another thing as you say it back us into a corner of needing a car more so. Along with the out of town shopping and one people seem to forget the out of town business parks which apart from being soulless places to work make it it even harder for people to not drive to work!
I don't mean to sound all evangelistic about going car free by the way - I'm the biggest petrol head I know by some margin.
I think there is a difference between loving cars and driving and believing building peoples lives and society around the car is the best solution as it has been promoted over the past few decades.
Good post btw.
That's interesting. It seems to suggest (anecdotally, and based on a sample of one TJ..!) that wihout a car, you measure the worth of one in distance covered, whereas as jack put it, with a car, we measure their value in time.
This is certainly the case for me. At my last job, when asked how far I lived from work, my answer changed from [i]"twenty, twenty five minutes"[/i] when I used to drive in, to [i]"6 miles hilly, 8 flat"[/i] when I started cycling in.
The actual distance was irrelevant to me when I had a diesel engine doing the work. It was all about how long I had to sit at the wheel. Under my own steam I got some context.
What I found more telling was always the astonishment of colleagues upon hearing I cycled 12 miles a day. They'd look at me as if I was some epic endurance athlete, simply because they had no concept of how far a mile actually is.
Something else that sticks in my mind was my dad a few years ago, who once decided to use his work's car park during the weekend to save paying for parking in the town centre. His work was 'about two minutes' out of town.
He'd failed to realise that's by car, along a 40mph dual carriageway. He got demoralised about 20 minutes into his 'two minute' walk when he realised he was still nowhere near town, so called a taxi to take him back to his car.
He'd clearly lost all concept of real distances, despite not getting a driving licence until he was approaching 40. It shows you how worryingly quickly we get used to driving everywhere, and then fail to see how life could ever be lived without doing so.
I've never felt better than when I had no car. Great feeling.
And while I was single it was easy. Two kids & their social/school/clubs etc make it virtually impossible without knocking a lot of stuff on the head.
Too much compromise, so for now the car stays.
Towing a 1500kg caravan is hard work with a bike also.
Towing a 1500kg caravan is hard work with a bike also.
Pah!
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Get a smaller caravan
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A potential alternative to having a dedicated cargo bike could be an [url= http://www.aevon-trailers.com/2009/?lang=en ]Aevon trailer.[/url]
[url= http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3657/3653605831_6617a52497.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/aevon/3653605831/ ]Aevon-Orange-Hope 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/aevon/ ]Aevon[/url], on Flickr
Wonder what would be the potential for fitting an electric assist hub to that rear wheel.
That way you'd have a helping hand when laden, and a normal bike for the rest of the time (except for the 'throttle' control on the handlebar).
Might be a bit awkward to lock up outside the shops I suppose, but then proper cargo bikes aren't exactly tiny. And this would fold/come in half.
Too late for an edit.
Looking at the [url= http://www.aevon-trailers.com/2009/?p=19&lang=en ]video page[/url] it seems the electric motor on the Aevon has already been done.
Like the look of that.
i've not had a car for ~3 years. i miss it as times, but you simply take into consideration the fact that you don't have one.
but i'm in germany where bike infrastructure is generally better than in the UK. but sadly you have to pay extra to take your bike onto a train so this is a pisser (you don't pay if it is boxed, so i have a small box in the cellar if i know i'll be gone for a while and can store it somewhere).
riding into town takes 30 mintues. jumping on the train takes 25 mintues and costs €5 for a round trip. you just have to factor in carrying an extra t-shirt if it's hot.
i've got a BOB Yak which i used to use for beer runs, but now live right beside two supermarkets and a drink wholesalers.
the BOB still gets used but more so for picnics down by the river.
here in germany they have a car-share scheme. if i want/need to travel anywhere of any distance i'll check to see if there is anyone heading that way around the time i want to travel before i look at buying a train ticket.
it usually works out a little cheaper and quicker, but you have to factor in getting to the pick-up point and from your (sometimes inconvinient) drop-off point. and obviously finding someone who is willing to take a bike (even is boxed up) can be a struggle.
come winter i may think of getting a car or van. my (future) work is re-locating. it is currently 11km away, but will be more like 35km and i don't fancy that in the depths of a bavarian winter. most likely we'll move further out of town, too, as i prefer being away from all the concrete of a city. the GF can travel by train if she is working in munich.
i can put car ownership against my tax, which blunts the impact a little.
I'm ditching the company car next month and we will be going down to just one car....which does seem a bit of a cop out considering some of the posts on here but TBH this is worrying me as it is. However for what its worth i do tend to do as much as i can on the bike and quite happily cart the nipper around in the trailer (when i'm not tipping him out!) The decision to go with just one car was made much easier by someone from work moving in round the corner to take the edge off the days when it's sopping wet and commuting is a grim prospect.
I think DONK has hit it on the head - kids.
I take mine most places on this:
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[/IMG]7 miles to tumbletots, and today was the first day in almost 2 months I was taking the car - GRRRR!
I've also done more local mileage on a bike than in my car since I was made redundant 6 weeks ago - delivering kids to nursery etc. - despite sometimes driving a couple of miles to go running on the hills or canoeing on the river. Not sure I'd want to completely live without a car, and I still have the fixed costs of a few hundred a year - but at least I'm saving on fuel and maintenance.
We used to have two cars, I got rid of mine in favour of this baby.
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My wife has the car and uses it a lot ferrying the sprogs, but most weekends we cycle everywhere. I took the car to Morzine and renter her a replacement for £200, not having a 2nd car has saved us an awful lot of money. That I've spent on bikes.
That Aevon trailer is lush, where to buy in the UK?
PS anyone looking for a kids trailer Croozer 725 single seat with all the spare wheels for turning into a pram, infant converter, etc email me, just cleaned it up ready for pics to sell.
That Aevon trailer is lush, where to buy in the UK?
Looks like a decent bit of kit doesn't it. The website says if you're outside Benelux, Germany or France you need to contact them directly. So I guess no dealers over here.
Love the Ute by the way. Really nice.
still not missing my car 🙂 ....... that is all.
I've never owned a car, and it's easy living without one. Living two minutes from a metro station (in Newcastle) makes things a lot simpler as does getting things delivered. I reckon I ride my mountain bike less than i would if i drove, however, as it is harder to get to good spots.
I'm still not missing my car. Been sat on the drive for ages now. Might change my mind when the rain and cold weather starts
Just found this thread after considering the same thing. I've always had a vehicle since i was 17 (now 33.) My current one is a converted t4 camper which i'm now realising I cannot justify. (even though it is the best thing i've ever owned)
I reckon it's costing me £3.5k a year to own and my circumstances have changed a couple of months ago and I now live on my own in a flat and I'm finding the disposable income I used to have has now gone.
I'm lucky in that a lot of friends would drive to places to ride but It might be difficult with races next year. But then again spending £291 a month to have a campervan is a bit crazy right now!