Why Melia is glad she doesn't own a car...

1. Driving can be an anxiety-invoking event, depending on the situation
2. Radio commercials are damn annoying
3. The bus is filled with interesting people to observe and eavesdrop on
4. You see more on a bike
5. Getting to work = your morning workout
6. Coming home from work = your evening workout
7. Lugging stuff around is overrated... a bike helps you learn to travel light
8. Parking is a pain in the ass
9. Paying for parking is a pain in the ass
10. You don't notice the weather as much
11. You unconsciously tune out your surroundings
12. The amount you get from the clothes you take the car to resell just barely covers the amount of gas it took you to get there.
13. You think you can live life faster than is necessary
14. You're more often late because you don't take traffic into consideration
15. Oh. And yes, you're contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer, adding to the oil crisis, spewing pollution, and raising the decibel on quiet neighborhood streets.

All in all, I am quite content not to own a car. Yes, it means that I don't get out as spontaneously as I could. Yes, it means compromising the hours in my day and the comfort of controlled temperature. Yes, I don't see as many friends as I could if I had a car to climb the hills with (or maybe that's just my excuse).

The main draw backs include some of the ones above. And the fact that I can't as easily get out into nature (funny how you need a car to get away from other cars...). But as it stands, I'm going to keep my standing bet with myself to see how long I can go in life without owning a car. It's a pretty easy bet when I lack the money to buy one. But in the coming years, it might get a bit harder. However, with ZipCars around the city, a bike at my disposal, a pretty awesome public transport system, and the gumption to do whatever it takes to get to my destination, I have the means to go without for a very long time.

The main obstacles I would see to that would be:
a) if I move to rural Ireland (in which case I'd have the even bigger obstacle of left-hand-side stick shift driving)
b) when kids come into the picture (at which point, hybrids'll be obsolete, and they'll have low-cost, alternative energy vehicles taking over the market... right??)

Okay. Enough on cars. I'm done.