2011 Trips and rides
MJ Keeler got this great shot of us on Mt
Washington in 2008
 We
survived three years without owning a car,
but often rented to get rides some distance away. We managed
to get a tandem inside a small rental car - see the photos
here. We finally decided
that we take enough weekend trips that we should just bite
the bullet and take possession of one full time. After trying
many different cars with our zipcar membership we opted for
the versatility and good fuel economy of the Fit shown in
the article above. It's a shame that fuel economy has stayed
stagnant for 30 years, but hopefully the next time I have
to go through this, things will have improved dramatically.
We will continue to do all the things we have done without
a car - like cycling to work, shopping on bike and foot, and
using bus and subway to get into the city. We will use our
new full time vehicle just like we've used rentals - weekends
away, and the occasional chair purchase! It's sad to say that
one of the issues is lack of good long distance public transit
here. We recently tried to use Amtrak for a trip, and found
the Vermonter has removed their baggage car, so no bikes in
Vermont! If we lived in Europe, we could likely use trains
for many of our weekend trips, where we go travel some distance
for an event. I'm a a bit sad about this turn of events, if
you will. The car salesman could not grasp my struggle with
the whole idea of getting a car. On the other hand, we are
also looking forward to doing spur of the moment mountain
biking this fall and skiing this winter. If you want to read
about where I would NOT recommend one go for a Honda car,
click here.
You
may also want to check out the New
Zealand Diary to see how we spent our mid-career retirement!
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