Life Without Driving

By Jack Krupansky

Back in the fall of 1994 I moved from Boulder, Colorado to New York City and left my Jeep behind. I quickly got used to life without driving. On trips I might rent a car. When I moved from New York City to Paris, France I didn't drive there either, but I would rent a car on my return trips to the U.S. (Massachusetts and New Hampshire). Even when I moved back to Nashua, New Hampshire, and then to Cambridge, Massachusetts, I still didn't have a car, but I did rent one during that time. Then I moved in Washington, D.C. in August of 1998 and did zero driving. In 1999 I moved back to New York City, but also did okay without any driving, although I did take a couple of trips to Boston and rented a car. Since about May of 2000 I haven't driven a car even once. I did keep my New York driver's license "just in case". I moved back to Boulder, Colorado in September 2004 and have done well without a car. In July of 2005 I officially turned in my New York State driver's license in exchange for a Colorado "ID". Now, driving is no longer even an option for me. Although I could take the bus, I walk an hour each way from my apartment on the western side of Boulder to where I do some consulting work on the eastern side of Boulder.

Part of my theory has always been that if I really needed to drive somewhere, I could take a taxi or hire a car and driver. So far, I haven't needed to do that even once.

Benefits of not driving and not owning a car:

Travel, especially commuting, is more enjoyable.
No car repairs
No car insurance hassles
No oil change hassles
No hassles with tires
No flat tires
No hassles with auto repairs
No hassles with gasoline purchases
No monthly auto expenses
No time wasted looking at or fantasizing about new cars
No need to deal with "road rage"
No conversations that begin with "Officer, ..."
No traffic jams
No auto accidents
and more!

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Updated: January 30, 2006 08:32:52 PM -0500