Saturday, October 6, 2007

Going Car-Free

Until three years ago, we were your average North American nuclear family: Man and wife with 2 kids, small house, new car, running the hamster wheel.
Then we made the "Decision".
We up and moved to Japan.
We had lots of time to reflect, evaluate and then plan for our future. It was a wonderful Sabbatical.
Now we are back in Canada trying to live out the "future" that we planned...

In a nutshell, while we were in Japan, we came to the conclusion that we had a great "enabler" in our lives. This "enabler" allowed us to get places very fast so we could do many things in a short amount of time. On first reading, that would come across as a good thing, right? We place high value on efficiency in our culture.
Except, we were always tired and run down. Though we were "active", we were gaining weight and feeling unhealthy. Our relationships with others were often shallow and we were lonely although we knew A LOT of people.
So, what would happen if we took the "enabler" out of our lives? Would we slow down? Would we live local and get to really know people around us? Would we get healthier?...Would it even be possible?

So here we are. Back in Canada, and no car. Only bikes and bus passes.

So far, so good. Except it is Thanksgiving weekend (remember, it is Canada. That means the first part of October) and getting rapidly colder. Can we really pull this off all winter with 2 kids in elementary school?

Let's find out.

2 comments:

Snakebite said...

I didn't realize you're not in Japan anymore. When did this happen? I'm so out of the loop on stuff.

K-Mad said...

This summer. We have been back in the country for 2 1/2 months or so.
Still dealing with a bit o' reverse culture shock...especially with no crazy TV games shows...lol