Miles We've Traveled

I love my car--its a 2000 Toyota Camry and unlike most "American" cars, it was built in America. It gets very good gas mileage, its reliable, comfortable to ride in, and it just hit the 123,456 mile marker last week--see above, I took a picture!

Of course, none of us fitness seekers have worn a pedometer our whole lives (nor should we--creepy to think of really), but it can be estimated that the average person in America walks approximately 115,000 miles in his/her lifetime (probably considerably more in Europe where walking is more a part of everyday life and seriously more in developing countries where you have no choice).

So, my car has already exceeded what I will do over my entire life in its 9 year span thus far (oh, please last at least 5 more years, dear car!)

Once again, I must say, I really appreciate my car, but I also have to say that I am tired of living so dependently on car transportation. I live in a mid-sized city, but I commute to a small town University about 40 minutes back and forth each day. I cannot wait to get a local job!!! I will be trying throughout the spring and summer (though in this economy, I should be thankful I have a job!)

I live near a couple grocery stores, at least one I could ride my bike to if it didn't cross a four-lane mega road. Bike traffic is not kosher for most of my householdy chores (like grocery shopping, going to the post office, etc.) that I would like to do where I currently live. If I lived closer to downtown, this would be more possible--though right downtown, we lack a grocery store. I want to be able to live in a part of town where I feel like I can do more of my errands by foot or bike, but not in a condo or apartment (I have to be able to have a garden!). This is something that will take time to achieve, but like with any major life changes, it will have to be incremental. So, my first start to this less-car dependent lifestyle will be to get a job in the city in which I live. I will need to pay down debt in order to get a more central house (I'm doing that now). Baby steps...