Don’t tell my son, but there’s a part of me that secretly hopes we don’t get around to replacing our third-string beater that recently bit the dust.
It’s not just the money saved (though there’s a sizeable difference in insurance costs alone between listing a 17-year-old male as a part-time secondary driver rather than as a primary driver on even the crappiest vehicle).
Sharing a vehicle is a hassle, but it’s also somewhat of an intriguing challenge to someone who purports to want to reduce her carbon footprint. Lately I’ve been letting Ben drive his middle sister and all his baseball gear to school most days. If I want or need the car during the day, I just run or ride my bike to pick it up, go do what I gotta do, return the car to the school and then run or ride home again.
I’ve been thinking of it as parking the car at the end of a really long (1.5 miles from our door to the parking space) driveway. Yesterday I used the car to drive Cassie to an orthodontist appointment, then dropped her and the car back at the high school and ran the long way home (4 miles) to avoid traffic and boost my workout. I was going to run or ride back to the school for Colleen’s soccer game, but it turned out my parents went and since they drive right by our house to get there, I hitched a ride with them.
It’s not like this builds in extra exercise. I work out almost every day anyway. But it feels like an interesting little money-saving, calorie-burning game to play until my husband and my son find some “great deal” on a used car they simply can’t resist.
This is a wonderful car-sharing fitness plan. I think you need to give yourself more credit. You are absolutely building in more exercise and your body and brain benefit from it every time. This is the kind of thinking and activity that guarantee your success at weight management. You are thinking and acting in very healthy ways. Keep up the good work! I hope your regular readers appreciate this.
Thanks Tony. I’m definitely having fun with this for the time being.
I am envious that you live close enough to do those things. Very cool.
You would not be envious to live on as busy of a highway as we do. Many times that has worked on my mind to stop me from taking the bike out. But it’s only a mile til I can switch onto backroads (sooner if I’m willing to do it on gravel), and this little project is helping me get over that in a hurry.