Over the years, I’ve realized that:
I don’t enjoy driving.
I don’t like sharing the roads with dangerous drivers (especially in my area with frequent accidents).
I don’t like the costs and financial burdens associated with owning a car.
Groceries and appointments seem to be my only reason for needing a car, but I feel like I can find ways around these with proper location and route planning. Right now, I currently live in the suburbs where it’s basically essential to own a car.
I’m looking for a way where I can live a life without the need for a car. It seems that by re-locating to a country with a superior transit system, it could be an option. Is this possible or am I being unrealistic? What am I missing?
How big or important of a factor was this for you when going nomad? How does it impact you?
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Car free is a massive QoL downgrade personally. Wasting time waiting for pub transport, inefficient routes. And all the smokers and crazy people
You are on the right track, going car-free is better for you, for the environment, and for society as a whole. There are plenty of cities around the world that offer better public mass transit systems especially in Asia, usually also cheaper cleaner and more efficient than the best ones we have to offer. I was determined to switch to a car free life over a decade ago, it’s not easy to convince others you just have to be focused about all your choices because it will affect every decision you make, but it also leads to a much healthier lifestyle. Not to mention your contribution also helps a cleaner environment and less wasteful spending. One day cars will be better when they’re an all electric fully shared fleet maybe even self-driving then we can say they’re equivalent to a mass transit system but I would still choose to walk the last mile… walking is underrated. But to answer your question, yes, it was a significant factor.
I have. And I did. But… Came back to owning a car.
Your family’s most likely right, and they’re just trying to save you from finding out on your own. Save money and time and blood and sweat and tears and get a car. They probably don’t respect traveling like us, but they’re probably farther ahead than you, listen to em.
I definitely consider not having a car or need to drive as a perk.
I actually like driving. But right now that I’m DN’ing, I enjoy not having to deal with a car. If I was very wealthy, I wouldn’t mind having a trophy car or two back home.
Living in a city with excellent public transit is a plus. Living in a place where you are able to walk to “work”, grocery stores, restaurants, gyms within 5-10 mins is even better.
Live and learn.
I knew that for US people it is frequently hard to impossible to live without a car.
Thats such an interesting and valid reason to go live elsewhere.
Just a side bar. The walkability and public transportation are paid with taxes. So, many DNs who don’t pay local taxes are leeching from the resources paid by the local population.
I know it is not every person’s fault, but those of you who complain of taxes (and this sub is full of tax discussions) are part of the problem.
A point of clarification: the walkability is due to city design, not necessarily taxes. Cities in North America could have been designed with walking in mind and it would have cost the same amount as designing them to prioritize cars.
City design is paid with taxes, changes to increase walkability are paid with taxes, public transit, which is fundamental for walkability are funded through taxes.
I live in Montreal. In recent years there have been substantial expenditures to reduce dependency on the car to the point where having a car makes things harder if you move within the city.
- Created dedicated bike lanes reducing car lanes and sometimes street parking spots.
- Add paid parking. Not expensive enough to break the bank if you need to use it but enough to make you think twice if you want to spend $6 or take the metro.
- Making some streets pedestrian in the summer.
- Creating the REM (metropolitan express network) : which include dedicated bus lanes, suburban light rail, bicycle “highways”, etc.
All that is expensive but necessary.
Honestly, driving to work is a massive negative factor for me. It’s time-consuming, unhealthy, and dangerous compared to other means of transit.
Definitely driving can be stressful in many places.
Here in Dubai it’s legit scary sometimes. Like every trip has a close call.
Where I originated from driving was carefree and pretty fun.
Not NEEDING a car is more the benefit I’d like to have. More options is good.
The trains and buses in my city are dirty, there are a lot of unpleasant people in them, and their service is infrequent. My car has leather seats, premium sound, has a spacious trunk and push button climate control. Plus I can drive my car any time day or night and it takes me where I want to go.
Yes driving is stressful but it is so much better than mass transit.
I’m not a DN so much as just an expat, but going car free was just a glorious side benefit of moving to Singapore and Melbourne. Am in the UK now with a car which I rarely use but would much rather be without one if it was feasible.
I gave up on driving about 10 years ago. I’m terrible at it and it causes me stress. There are many places where you can live a lovely car-free life.
It sounds like you don’t have much experience with this. And that’s ok! Since you have a remote job, you should book yourself a month sometime that’s extremely walkable and has a great metro transit system. This will help you understand what day to day life looks like in a walkable place.
Not sure your country, but if you are in the US, go to NYC and live in a very central neighborhood. In Europe, you could pretty much go to the central area of any capital city for the same experience.
It might be an expensive month, but I guarantee you will have a much better perspective on car free living at the end of the month than you do now.
Driving can be annoying and stressful, but I still keep a car in both HK and Tokyo to make things easier for hauling the kid around(and my golf clubs, scuba gear, grocery shopping, etc). The transit in both of these cities are world class, but you can’t discount the freedom that a car brings to the picture.
This was a huge part of moving abroad for me (granted, not full nomading, but moving every few years). The ability to live in some of the most vibrant cities in the world, and not have to worry about buying and maintaining a message, dangerous piece of heavy machinery is such a mental relief once you’ve done it.
If you want to stay in North America, having a car is a huge perk; you can put all your stuff in it when you move. Would be impossible to own things like skis and be a digital nomad without owning a car