What I like best.

What do I like best so far about my carless commute?

There are lots of things I like…the lack of parking, the time to myself, the money savings, the fact that I have almost finished The Omnivore Dilemma with my time riding the bus, the exercise…

I decided the thing I like BEST is the thing I least expected when I gave up my car, it is the increased sense of being part of the community. Instead of traveling alone, I now travel with others whether I am on my bike or in the bus…the isolation of the car has turned into a family of commuters. I feel as though, instead of stopping my life in terms of interactions during the time between home and work, I am diving in to the community and enriching myself in the process. I am interacting with more people on a daily basis than I ever have in my life, and am experiencing the uncanny diversity in individuals…especially through my time on the bus.

My community now includes the bus drivers and the “regulars” that take the same routes that I do. It includes the elderly gentleman who rides the bus from La Jolla to Carlsbad to play the piano in the senior center, the gaggle of UCSD students on their ongoing migration to and from campus, and even the transient with the electric wheelchair (that he definitely does not need for walking). It also includes the other bikers on the road either commuting or out for a ride, the dog walkers I pass on a regular basis, and the homeless I ride past in PB every morning whose bikes (stacked high with bags of bottles and cans) are not only their transportation, but also their homes and their livelihood.

I like best the sense of community that has grounded me, and I cringe to think of all that I formerly and ignorantly drove past every day without second thought …