Elsie has a car. Jess doesn't. This is a sort of combined thoughts post.
Cars are a source of freedom. You can go anywhere and take anything with you at any time of the day or night. That is quite wonderful.
But cars are also a burden. You have to carry around a lot of little burdensome thoughts in your head, like *how much petrol have I got left? *where/when can I get the cheapest petrol? *that's a new noise, can it wait till the next service? *should I park nearby and pay?
Without a car, the choices are a lot more limited, but that isn't always a bad thing. Life is simpler if you live within the bus routes. And public transport is slower etc etc, but on the other hand if you go to the CBD or the shops you just hop on a bus, trance out, and then get off and walk away without worrying where you park. So there's a strong argument for the freedom of not having a car as much as you can.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
hello miss :)
ReplyDeleteas someone who lived in an area with no public transport for many years not being able to drive or having a car was sometimes quite a pain, but it also gave people the opportunity to serve me - i really did talk to more people... and ample time on private and public transport to read and observe! :)
I think I learnt patience relying on people with transport.... I'm a bit selfish these days, I come and go as I please!
Cars come with the burden of costs :) ah material possessions can be a burden as well as great for enjoyment!
the cost of a car is monumental also. for me, per year, it is at least the equivalent to 200 taxi rides, not including the time you require to invest into a car. the question almost is, why have a car, when for the same price, i can have at least 200 trips with a personal driver?
ReplyDeleteoh oh oh, and what about the environmental cost of having a car vs public transport...
ReplyDeleteAfter my car dies, I'd be happy to try a car-sharing thing like GoGet, FlexiDrive and CharterDrive (I think that's what they're called).
ReplyDeleteI'd be even happy to give taxis a go, but my family has gotten used to me driving them around, I wonder how they would cope? I do love having a car, but sometimes it is such a pain.
The cost IS such a huge factor. Even, should you buy an old car, and pay for more maintenance, not to mention the unreliability, or put a lot of money out upfront for a new car?
ReplyDeleteCar-sharing is worth looking into.
car sharing is great, and i think it's really useful. my only qualms about it is usually, i don't want a car for the short errands, but for a long trip, say to katoomba for a weekend, and for such long uses, it's better to rent a car from budget or hertz instead of car-sharing.
ReplyDelete