Ode to Chris Balish

I ran across a Planet Green video of Chris Balish showing car-centric LA city dwellers how convenient and doable life without a car can be. Chris Balish's book How Live Well Without Owning a Car was one of the books that started me thinking about relying less on my car and possibly even going car free in the future. I have nothing against cars for certain kinds of use but they can be a real financial drain over time. Before tallying up all the costs related to my car, I had never realized how much my used Honda Civic had really cost me. I was astounded to find out that most people will pay about $150,000 in car related costs over the course of their life time. That is a HOUSE. *gulp*

Since moving to Columbia I rely less and less on my car. I bike many places that I never thought I'd be able to and spend far less on gas and car maintenance than ever before. I am far more aware of how many times a day I am tempted to buy something or go somewhere simply due to the "convenience" of jumping in my car on a whim. While the varying weather here has not made it easy all the time (I still don't care for riding in the rain but do it anyway), I love having more freedom and physical ability due to my bike. I also love saving money and realizing I have driven exactly half the miles than from the previous year. This has resulted in less wear and tear on the car, only one oil change, and only one afternoon wasted as I got the car tires rotated and balanced.

Ride on people! :-D