Neighbors

Being a regular walker on a regular route is a great way to get to know your neighborhood . . . and your neighbors. You may never be able to put a name to a face but at least you begin to recognize the faces you see every morning and evening on your strolls.

I pass two elementary schools on my way to work each morning and there is always plenty of activity as parents are dropping their kids off for a day of learning about the same time that I am heading down to the office for a day of earning. About half the parents walk the kids in and almost all the other half drive them in. There is a very small minority of bikers, including this morning an amusing mother and pre-school son couplet with the youngster safely enhelmeted, but his mother not setting a similarly good example.

The schools are a place of learning for me too. Did you know that almost all the newer mini-vans (whatever vintage is being driven in Santa Monica and newer) have remote control automatic doors these days? I sure didn't. I am also amazed at the high percentage of drivers who use their drive time to talk on their phones. However did we cope before Sprint and Verizon?

The air outside the schools in the morning is thick and polluted with the exhaust of the idling mini-van caravans, much to the annoyance of all the walkers -- the walkers who have business at the school (dropping off the offspring) and the walkers who are just passing through like me.

But I don't waste too much time focusing on the annoying parts of life these days and soon my attention rises to the beautiful gray clouds in the skies, the moist feel of the suddenly humid air in Southern California and the amazing contrasted blue where the clouds are breaking up in the sky to the North and West of where I am.

Our earth is indeed a wonderful and beautiful place and I, for one, consider myself immensely lucky to be here right now!

Zones

There are only so many places I regularly go, so I thought I would divide my small world (places I usually go) up into zones.

First of all, if it's within a half-mile, I'm always going to walk. Lots of the places I go -- Santa Monica Yoga, Bob's Market, The Counter, Mrs. Winston's and my acupuncturist -- are less than a half mile from my front door. It takes less than 10 minutes to walk that far, and by the time you find the keys, start the car, back out into the street, risk your life trying to enter traffic on Ocean Park Boulevard, drive to your destination, park your car and go in, you are probably over 10 minutes or at least it's a wash. So when driving won't save time, and it will increase cost, and the possibility of an accident (have you ever tried to enter Ocean Park Boulevard from one of the minor side streets where parking ALWAYS obstructs your view?), why drive? Walking is best.

Next, for those trips of more than a half mile, and less than a mile, I almost always walk. All the same arguments apply, and the fact that you probably use 10 more minutes walking a mile than driving it does not really weigh heavily in favor of unnecessarily driving. The risks and costs associated with driving simply outweigh the extra 10 or 20 minutes that I might save. If it's pouring rain or something, I might take the car. But even then, umbrellas and macintoshes are not just for school kids. Being outdoors in weather is one of the joys of childhood that adults rarely allow themselves to experience.

Finally, there is the universe out to about 3 miles from the front door -- like my office. Once again, I usually walk. It takes me around 50 minutes to walk a mile, but I am rarely in such a hurry that the extra 35 minutes makes a difference to me. I simply plan ahead and take it easy, making sure that I have enough time to get to where I need to be by taking the natural, walking, route.

More than 3 miles and the combination of time and effort involved gets me looking for a bus schedule. Unless it's a weekend appointment, and I have the leisure to take a long and usually pleasant stroll.

Walking is pleasant, much more so than driving. So I try to relax and enjoy the journey whenever I can.

How it all began . . .

Credit Al Gore with inspiring me. I saw his movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and I was motivated to do something, anything, that I could about the problem of Global Warming. Don't start yelling at me that warming has not been conclusively linked to carbon dioxide emissions. I am not an environmental scientist . . . in fact, I am not really even much of an environmental activist. What I did take from Gore's movie is an understanding that the Earth is warming up . . . for some reason. And, being a "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me" sort of guy, I decided to do whatever I could, by myself, without convincing or motivating anyone else to in anyway change their life, about the problem.

Meanwhile, I had a few other motivations to leave the car parked and walk (or ride) instead. I recently turned 50 and my waist was showing it. I used to run marathons (15 years ago), but my body's vociferous objections to my former training regimen coupled with my "all or nothing" mentality was keeping me flat out sedentary. Finally, I decided that if I couldn't run, at least I could walk. So I started walking the three miles from my house to my office a few mornings each week.

I did what I could at first, but from the beginning my goal was to walk both to and from the office each day for a total of 6 miles daily. This would match my former running program with much less stress, strain and impact on my joints and muscles.

I also had financial motivations. The combination of lease payments, auto insurance and fuel was taking nearly $700/month out of my pocket. Living and working in one of the good weather capitals of the world, Santa Monica California, it seemed a little silly to spend over $20 a day on transportation that wasn't really necessary, nor especially convenient.

A strange thing happened as I began my walking program. I noticed that my mood was amazingly elevated as I stayed out from behind the wheel. I am not sure what the explanation for this is. I know that some people think that exercise floods the body with "feel good" endorphins. But this elevated mood was different from anything I had experienced before. And keep in mind that I had done a lot of heavy duty training as a runner. My current theory is that driving has a negative effect on my mind. Operating the car my mind is constantly "on alert" and aggressively competing with other drivers for space and time. Walking, I have all kinds of time to process information and I also have the sidewalks practically to myself.

Now, I have to admit that there are some things that make my carfree lifestyle easier on me than it might be for some others. First, as already mentioned, my office is only three miles from my home. Second, we are not a carfree family. My wife still has her car, and occasionally she lets me borrow it to run an errand -- mostly going to the grocery store, where I would have quite a heavy load to carry if I were to walk it both ways. Third, I am located in a climate that is often ideal for walking. Santa Monica is almost never hotter than 80 degrees F nor colder than 50. Finally, Santa Monica is home to the Big Blue Bus, one of the finest, nicest and most convenient bus systems on the planet. Almost anywhere I want to go, the Big Blue Bus can take me there and usually it takes only a few more minutes than driving myself.


So . . . as of today (October 25, 2007) I have been living the carfree life for about a month and a week, although my car sits parked in my drive as we attempt to sell it. I am walking (or running) at least 6 miles a day now (with almost no aches or pains) and I usually ride the Big Blue Bus if I need to go somewhere that is too far to walk. Once or twice a week, my wife and I go out somewhere (movies, gatherings of friends, etc.) together, and when we do, I typically drive.

I'm not sure how often I'll post, but I hope to put up two to three updates on the carfree life each week. Most of the posts will be much shorter than this -- just observations or impressions of life without a car. Maybe I'll be more motivated because I am now thinking that I'll train for the 2008 LA Marathon that is run the first Sunday of March each year. Anyway, that's it for now so see you next time on Living the Carfree Life.