Saturday, July 07, 2007

Carless in America

Goodybye my lovely little S2KUTE...

picture photograph honda s2000 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
The lease ran out on my beloved car and so I walked out on her. I handed in the keys and turned away without looking back, trying to wish the welling tears away. I am now ready to test America's public transport system and take the train to work. And before you think me too brave, Fred has a car so I can always beg use of his out of work hours.

If you are wondering what on earth this has to do do with food, when this picture was taken, there was actually a picnic of Scharffen Berger-dipped Dirty Girl strawberries, the fixings for homemade bread salad (which don't travel well, by the way), and rosemary and garlic Marin Sun Farm lamb chops sitting in the boot (trunk).

And in Blogosphere news, fellow bloggers and food friends didn't mind S2KUTE either. On one more than one occasion this little car has even managed to ferry three of them at a time across San Francisco. Not bad for a two-seater.




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Carless in America

17 Comments:

  • At 7/7/07 19:03, Blogger San Francisco Photos said…

    I did that in 2001, that is turn away from my car and use public transportation. I think I like not having a car in the city, especially San Francisco so when my friends are looking for parking space I think back and say "God I'm so glad I don't have to do that anymore"!

     
  • At 7/7/07 20:41, Blogger Dagny said…

    OK. So now I hate you. Because that car? My dream car. OK. I really don't hate you. Just an extreme case of the green-eyed monster.

    And although I have a car, I have been known to take public transportation to work. That was one of the key points in renting my apartment -- the close vicinity of public transportation (BART). And since I've moved here, all of my jobs have been BART accessible as well. Except for that one that was walking distance.

     
  • At 7/7/07 22:02, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Excellent!! Nice work, Sam. I'm carfree too, and I don't think I'd like it any other way. That's great to hear we have another person joining the ranks :)

     
  • At 7/7/07 23:27, Blogger Jocelyn:McAuliflower said…

    Been carless for over three years- all in a small town. It's really quite easy. Now being in a larger city- its a piece of cake!

    Though I agree, giving up the cutie sucks.

     
  • At 8/7/07 00:21, Blogger Barbara said…

    Good for you Sam. We started using public transport whenever possible when we realised we happily used it when on holiday overseas so why not at home.

     
  • At 8/7/07 03:33, Blogger Sara, Ms Adventures in Italy said…

    Way to go!

    I've been without a car for four years and luckily Europe (and Italy) is really a friend of a public transportation user, so it's been very nice.

    We're actually considering getting a car, but not to commute, only for the weekends and late nights which can be a pain with public transport and we're missing a lot of the Italian countryside without one!

    Keep us informed! I think there's very little info about getting around the Bay without a car.

     
  • At 8/7/07 03:48, Blogger ChrisB said…

    I'm sad for you and boo hoo I won't get a ride in it now!!

     
  • At 8/7/07 05:00, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    You'll love caltrain, especially if you have a flexible schedule. You'll never know at what time you'll get home.

    See hi on the train. I'm usually on 322/324 in the morning and 373/379 on the way back.

    And 275 is party car on Fridays. http://www.partycar.com/

     
  • At 8/7/07 11:17, Blogger Caffienated Cowgirl said…

    Isn't it funny how fast we can fall in love with a car? So, how are you liking the mass transit? I used to use BART and CalTrain...they weren't bad, but they're not like their European counterparts.

     
  • At 8/7/07 11:24, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I've managed to live here and not own a car for 14 years now. It's not so bad. May I recommend City Car Share and/or Zipcar?

     
  • At 8/7/07 13:17, Blogger cookiecrumb said…

    I am so sad you gave up your cutie. When I first saw you in it, I thought it was so -- I don't know -- Bond Girl!

    However: Years ago, I rode the train to Stanford every day (from San Bruno, eek). It was pretty cool. You can sit "upstairs."

     
  • At 8/7/07 21:48, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    As Sean said, Zipcar is useful, as is Flexcar. Public transit is not quite reliable around here, but it works, more or less. I take the BART, Muni, Caltrain and a shuttle to work from Oakland 3 days a week.

     
  • At 9/7/07 01:59, Blogger Beccy said…

    I'm not sure I could give up a car like that!

     
  • At 9/7/07 07:35, Blogger Alice Q. Foodie said…

    I will consider myself privileged to have been given a ride in it. Cookiecrumb is right - it was very "Bond girl."

     
  • At 9/7/07 09:16, Blogger Petre said…

    go to the recyclery in san rafael and get a bicycle!

     
  • At 9/7/07 20:30, Blogger Sam said…

    SFP - Ii agree - I have cried over parking before now.

    Dagny - You have a car - why don't you change it to one of these?

    Eric - thank you

    Mcauliflower - I think it will be a piece of cake for me but I am lucky as Fred has a car i can use out of work hours if needs be.

    barbara - i am all for it but my other half thinks I am crazy.

    sara - I thnk I will really only be commuting to work. The rest of the time I can actually use Fred's car.
    We live on the new Tline which is useful too.

    Mum - you havent visited me for more than four years. You can't blame me for that - you have always been welcome.

    Ced - the only train of those I would be on is the 379. It has to do with our company shuttle bus. I intend on getting the 379 as much as possible.

    CC - you are right - its not like europe. To match our shuttle and where I live - I have a choice of 3 trains in the morning and 3 in the evening and that is it. it's hardly the tube!

    sean - I have heard those services are great but i think fred might let me use his for free.

    CC - sitting upstairs makes me feel like an excited little child. And I can read books again! At last.

    Shelly - I hope it won't let me down more often than a car commute could.

    Beccy - sometimes there are more important things in life than a nice car.

    Alice - I am glad you had a ride in it too!

    Peter - now how am I going to get to San Rafael without a car - eh? Marin is a place which is definitely not public transport friendly. It's because I worked there for 4 years I had to buy the car in the first place! PLus a bike wouldnt fit in Fred's car and I aint riding back from SR - I can assure you!

     
  • At 13/7/07 08:44, Blogger s'kat said…

    Cute care, but I think you're mostly better off. If it were at all possible, I wouldn't own one myself.

    I enjoy pub transpo, and would ride my bike if that wasn't a death sentence in my locale.

     

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