Transportation

I’ve fallen behind on my 31 days of writing project and find myself WAY past the deadline.  Such is life. As I approach day 90ish, I’ve adjusted my goal with hope to just complete the challenge--whenever that may be.  It’s my experience, right? I will finish when I finish. 

I love the idea of documenting the simple things about life right now and look forward to looking back someday.  While it may only make me feel old, the mundane and boring detail will hopefully provide perspective for my kids.  In moving forward, doesn’t it help to get a glimpse of what’s behind us? There are many instances growing up when I would have benefited from a little more perspective.

At 17, and $1500 later, I was the proud owner of my first car—a silver Dodge Colt. It took every penny to pay for that car and the responsibilities of car ownership quickly began teaching me a thing or two about real life.  I felt myself crossing over from adolescence to adult.  

These days, our dominant mode of transportation is the Chevy Tahoe--looking about as organized as a teenager's bedroom after a month of no parental supervision. Living 10-15 minutes from downtown, we have no choice but to pile in our car if we need to get somewhere.  This is a lot of work with two small kiddos and I find myself being more reclusive because of the hassle.  While I will be making the drive more often as my kids get older, the peaceful green landscape that surrounds us at home is a small price to pay for now.

Living in the country my entire childhood, I never knew anything about the convenience of traveling via bike or on foot. In my former adult life with no kids, we did try the “living in a condo downtown” lifestyle and walked everywhere.  While I don’t miss the early wake up call to crashing garbage cans outside my bedroom window, I do miss the option of traveling everywhere on foot.  It’s such a different way of life.  I found myself more nimble and carefree.  When you have to carry everything, you choose wisely. And on foot, I noticed more about the world around me—not only buildings and businesses, but people.  I found myself more social and inclined to engage in conversation with a complete stranger; a way of life forcing me to slow down and take notice.  This is a side of me I don’t awaken and appreciate often enough.  On my quest to live more simply—this is how I imagine we will travel.