The Object:
The Origin: Grenada, Spain
The Backstory:
You guys? I liked vlogging so much that I’m back for more. That’s right, you don’t get the juicy deets on the tea unless you let me tell you.
[vimeo 44875224]Read the rest of the series here.
The Object:
The Origin: Grenada, Spain
The Backstory:
You guys? I liked vlogging so much that I’m back for more. That’s right, you don’t get the juicy deets on the tea unless you let me tell you.
[vimeo 44875224]Read the rest of the series here.
Will and I are car-less. I haven’t owned a car since 2005 when I handed over my Ford Taurus (the first and only car ever in my name) to my parents.
I live in Chicago, so this isn’t all that remarkable to me (or many people I deal with on a day-to-day basis), but, in America at large, Will and I are odd ducks.
Let’s address some of the common questions people have when they hear I don’t own a vehicle.
How do I get groceries?
Seriously, this is the most-common question I get about my car-lessness. Peopod, people. They deliver. Heck, everyone delivers (and usually for free!). Also, I walk to Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s – both very close – and pick up items needed for that night’s meal.
How do I visit my parents?
Both Will and I have parents who live in the suburbs of Chicago. When we head out to see them, we rent a car by the hour through IGo, a car-sharing service. It’s cheap (-er than owning a car), green, and convenient. The car we use most is stored a few blocks from our condo. We don’t pay for insurance or gas directly (both are included in our membership fee) and we’ve never had an issue getting a car when we need it. Even on Thanksgiving.
How do I go on trips?
Just last weekend Will and I went to North Central Iowa for a wedding. For that – and all trips outside the Chicagoland area – we rent a car through Enterprise. Why Enterprise? They are close to us. Also, they used to have a guy who worked there named Brian Butler and that is almost my Dad’s name, so that was amusing.
IGo cars are meant for smaller trips, so that option isn’t ideal for out-of-state forays. For big, overnight ventures, a “standard” car rental is needed. Sure, this costs money, but far less than owning/maintaining/insuring a car on our own. I believe we’ve rented from Enterprise twice since 2010 (both for out-of-town weddings, by the way).
Additional benefits:
We rent out our parking spot, so yay, money, and we get to feel vaguely green and smug.
(Just kidding about the smugness.)
Obviously, not everyone can get rid of their car. It would be completely impossible in most smaller towns and incredibly difficult in most suburbs. Everywhere I go on a daily basis is either walking distance or accessible via Chicago’s public transportation. This is really not a sacrifice, more of a common bonus to city-living.
Fun Sidenote #1: I rarely drive. Whenever Will and I are in the car together, he’s driving and I’m providing commentary, directions, and general liveliness. I had to rent a car in Houston in 2011 and it was the first time I’d been behind the wheel since 2008. Danger zone. My coworker eventually took over and I resumed my preferred position in the passenger seat.
Fun Sidenote #2: My Dad lives in the suburbs and he and my Mom share one car. She takes it to work everyday and my Dad takes care of all his business on foot. Go, Dad!
The Object:
The Backstory:
My venerable Let’s Go Europe was my first travel book purchase. It’s a decade old this year. It still has tabs marking train maps and ticket information. I remember the day I made the purchase. I went straight from the Barnes and Noble at my local mall to my sister’s high school track meet… where I huddled in the bleachers and read about backpack locks and staying in hostels.
Books on France (and Paris in particular) followed soon after. As I got more confident, I started buying ones written in French.
Let’s Go Europe came out of retirement for trips in 2004 and 2005.
In 2007, my sister and I planned a trip to Ireland and Norway (Random? Perhaps). We used my mom’s travel books from a trip she took with her sister a few years prior to guide us around the Emerald Isle.
We got our own books on Scandinavia (and, in so doing, fell in love with the Lonely Planet series).
These books are out of date. The youngest one was printed in 2006. I can find all the information I need for future trips online. I could do that in 2006 as well, but there’s something comforting about their presence. Thumbing through the newsprint-weight pages of Let’s Go Europe fills me with warm nostalgia.
Traveling through Europe – on my own, with friends – was incredible. Beyond incredible. I recommend studying abroad to every college-aged person who will give me the time of day.
Read the rest of the series here.
I’ve been taking a lot of flights lately to and from LaGuardia. Recently, as I was nestled in a window seat (likely far in the back of the plane, as I’m quite devoid of status despite my frequent time in the air), I had an amazing view of a thunder storm brewing in a cloud as we passed over Michigan. Generally, I’m an aisle-seat girl now, but I was glad to have the window on that trip.
{via Freakland‘s flickr stream}
I’ve spent a lot of time on planes – even before this New York gig. Still, there’s something about the airport that always makes me think of my sister. Perhaps it’s my current nonchalance about window seats – a seat that, in childhood, held a certain premium. Perhaps it’s that we’ve been fantastic travel buddies for the better part of two decades.
I flew alone for the first time at age 11 – Midland, Texas, to Dulles Airport in northern Virgina. While this was back in the day when your parents could escort you right to the gate and watch you board the aircraft, I had to change planes at Dallas-Fort Worth all by myself and felt like quite the adult.*
A few years later, having shown my parents my airport prowess, Kerry and I went together from Rochester, New York, back to visit friends in Midland. Such a journey involved two transfers – one at O’Hare, the other at our old, familiar DFW. We were very diplomatic about who had the (coveted) window sea, switching off with every leg of the trip.
Since that first journey, Kerry and I have flown around the world together: Oslo, Basel, Baltimore, Dublin, London, Asheville, Munich. Bright, plastic Caboodles accompanied us on earlier trips. An unwieldy red rolling duffel (dubbed “Big Red”) came to Switzerland (and was almost left there). We’ve likely spent entire days in Hartfield-Jackson when you add up all the Atlanta-bound layovers.
My sister is my perfect complement – the calm to my manic, the breezy details to my big picture. I’m so lucky to have such a cohort in my family. I’m so lucky that we’ve had such an opportunity to travel together.
*On the way home, Dulles-to-Dallas leg, a flight attendant asked where I was from.
“Miiiidland,” I drawled.
“Finland!” She exclaimed, justifiably impressed at this pint-sized international traveler. She called her co-attendants over to marvel. “This little girl is here all the way from Finland!”
I was too embarrassed to correct her and there were no other Finns aboard the flight to challenge me, so I just went with it.