8000km

8000km. As of next Friday, that’s how far I’ll have driven since August 22nd. I purchased a car in September in order to make a number of trips around the maritimes, and stuck reasonably well to my vow to continue commuting by bike. There are no good car rental options for long distance travelling, but perhaps the cost would be cheaper. Perhaps I leapt in to the car buying too quickly. In any case, I don’t enjoy driving, and 8000km of highway driving is 1/2 week behind the wheel. 3.5 days spent doing things other than reading the paper, running, cycling, learning, or resting. When I look at it that way it takes even more joy out of car ownership.

Living in Saint John is tough when one doesn’t own a car. Plus, once I’m back in Halifax I have class on Fridays until after the busses leave. Driving is the only way to make weekend trips home, something I value quite highly. It’s hard -if not impolite – to put a price on spending time with my parents and girlfriend.

Does anyone else have a similar experience with car ownership?