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I've been slowly working on kicking the habit for 2 years now, and this summer I kicked the habit for 2 weeks straight, in the heat of the summer, largely due to car repair issues. And I was surprised at how well I survived it!
I've got one more year to retire, and starting 2 years ago, I started taking the bus to work 2 out of the 4 nites I work, and am now going to up it to 3 nites a week. With my senior pass, it only costs me $1 a ride, one way. I have to walk 4 long blocks to catch the bus, and 4 blocks back. Good exercise! And, I'm really enjoying the reading time on the buses, as I have various magazine subscriptions.
I work with a stubborn old 60YO nurse who, for years, has refused to deal with car ownership, and she's my inspiration. Shorter than me, she even hauls her groceries from a grocery store 4 blocks away.
And she rewards herself, occasionally, by calling Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which comes to her house to pick her up and take her to the office, and returns her home after she turns the car in! Great idea!
I must be showing my age, but I've lost patience with dealing with car ownership and all that goes with it, all money saved will be spent on treats, like mini-vacations or concerts.
Anyone else thinking about kicking that stressful habit in their retirement years?
I am NOT giving up my car in retirement, even if I move to an area where the public transportation is decent. In most cities, you cannot rely upon public transportation to arrive on time and/ or deliver you where you need to be in a reasonable amount of time. It limits the area of the city that you can visit. It limits the time that you have to get things done to the 10-12 hours that the buses run OR the days you can travel.
For the record, I use public transportation frequently. Also, I take intercity buses - usually Megabus - several times a year.
I must be showing my age, but I've lost patience with dealing with car ownership and all that goes with it, all money saved will be spent on treats, like mini-vacations or concerts.
Anyone else thinking about kicking that stressful habit in their retirement years?
There's no stress for me. I've never been a fearful driver and doubt that I'll become one. I can still drive at 100 mph, react to exigent situations, and enjoy new and varied driving tours. I know that there are people who are scared out of their wits driving. If you're one of them don't drive. Roast at a bus stop; eat melted ice cream.
Have fun on your "mini-vacations" (sic.); say "hi" to the bus driver for me.
......I must be showing my age, but I've lost patience with dealing with car ownership and all that goes with it, all money saved will be spent on treats, like mini-vacations or concerts.
Anyone else thinking about kicking that stressful habit in their retirement years?
I am approaching 70 (and please don't ask from which direction), and I fail to see anything stressful about car ownership and use. In fact, if I ever have to give up driving, that would mean that life as I know it would be over. It would be to face the unthinkable, to cross the divide from living to just hanging on somehow. Now THAT would be stressful.
If you can make living without car ownership work for you, more power to you. But I truly do not understand.
There are really two aspects to this, it seems to me: the financial aspect and everything else. If you are hard-pressed financially, then of course you must seek ways to cut expenses. Not owning a car is one way to cut expenses, especially when you no longer have to be at a job five days a week. But your OP is unclear on whether the financial angle is paramount. If you had said that you find making ends meet is stressful and that not owning a car would reduce that financial stress, I would not have said that I truly do not understand.
So I find your OP to be a very brief outline which needs filling in if it is to be understandable. Apparently there are people who actually get nervous when they have to drive - driving per se makes them uncomfortable. If that's the case you need to say so. I still wouldn't understand how such a thing is possible, but it would MAKE SENSE to me that car ownership is stressful for you and that not driving anymore would constitute a relief of stress.
When I can no longer drive, I'd rather be dead. Driving has always meant freedom to me and I'm not living in some city, just because I can't drive because I don't even like visiting cities.
Now those cars that drive themselves...that's interesting and something I might look into.
"Jumping into the back seat of your car, turning on the TV, and ordering the computer to drive the vehicle to your destination, is more than just a clever advance in technology; it will have massive social and industrial ramifications. The avoidance of accidents will cut insurance costs, while fuel savings from more efficient long-distance cruising and congestion avoidance are big potential pluses. There will be industrial winners too. Software for in-car applications to entertain drivers with new time on their hands will boom. Radio and recorded music businesses will lose a captive audience. Railroad and short-haul airlines will suffer. If you can move from your home to your destination, door-to-door in the comfort of your car, who’s going to take the train or plane?"
I don't think I could stand being without a car. I like to take the country roads, get out and take pictures. I love to drive for miles by the ocean. I love to explore unknown (to me) areas.
I want to go to the grocery store when I want to go, not depend upon the senior bus that goes once a week.
To be fair, there is an up side to using public transport. My husband has been trying it out. It's a 1/4 mile walk to the bus and then 60 cents to get anywhere. He thinks it's fun. If he gets to the train station he can take a train into Boston and go anywhere and come back via the train/bus combo.
So the bus and train are there for a backup and can be different and fun if you are not in a hurry and are just fooling around. I would be spending a lot of money on car rentals when I wanted to go and look at the mountains in Vermont or the picturesque towns of Maine. (I think I'd be renting a car or calling a cab just to get to Staples or Home Deport about once a week--no bus service in that direction.)
Kick the habit? Which one? When I spotted this thread, thought that is was about smoking, or perhaps drinking? Oh yes, driving. Not going to do that, we Californians are too married to our vehicles for that. Have two totally opposite mindsets on driving. Absolutely detest driving in heavy congested city driving, and rapidly become very stressed. On the other hand, do enjoy drives on secondary country roads far from the interstate or a large city. Do not care to drive at night if it can be avoided, even though I am legally entitled to do so.
If one lives in an area where you don't have to deal with the ice/snow and sub temps, then perhaps public transportation may be an option. However, when it's -20 wind chill, the streets are covered in a layer of ice, etc., there is no way a person can walk to the area where a city bus would stop. And as we age, our balance isn't as good as it used to be, and the last thing we need is to fall.
I will continue to drive as long as possible, what will bring that to a halt is my eyesight, which unfortunately is getting worse and there is nothing one can do about it (similar to macular degeneration).
I enjoy the freedom afforded by having a car, even just making short trips to the library.
No way; I consider it like same as when I got first car; a real gain in freedom. My mother in law said losing it was one of greatest freedoms she gave up even with family available much less public transportation with weather and schedules.
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Stressful? How so?
When I spotted this thread, thought that is was about smoking, or perhaps drinking? Oh yes, driving. Not going to do that, we Californians are too married to our vehicles for that. Have two totally opposite mindsets on driving. Absolutely detest driving in heavy congested city driving, and rapidly become very stressed. On the other hand, do enjoy drives on secondary country roads far from the interstate or a large city. Do not care to drive at night if it can be avoided, even though I am legally entitled to do so.
