I’ve taken an opportunity to go car free and I feel liberated! Or at least in the two and a half weeks that I have been without my car, things are going well. There’s always a chance that I’ll look back at this in a few months and think how adorable it was that I thought I could live in Kansas City without a car. But for now, it’s been a life improvement. Here are my current top six reasons why living without a car is now the coolest thing I do:

1. I don’t have to wash my car. Duh. But really, the more things we have, the more things we have to take care of. And seemingly the more we have, the more we need. I don’t need to wash my car. I don’t need to rent a parking place. Cha-ching.
2. I am eating more local, organic food. I’ve opted to finally do Door-to-Door Organics. By committing to this food delivery service, I’ve guaranteed that what I’m cooking up will be the best food for me. When shopping at grocery stores previously, I couldn’t always get organic produce.
3. I have increased my urban footprint while decreasing my carbon footprint. You better believe I’m hoofing it when possible. Work (okay, I live a block and a half from work), coffee shops, movies, restaurants…you name it. Some of these places were always walking destinations for me, but I would often convince myself that driving places that were over 10 blocks was much quicker and the best use of my precious time.
4. I’m planning ahead and that makes for a clearer mind. For example, I’m having 95% of my food delivered to me, so that means I have to make sure I plan ahead. Previously, I might go to the store every couple of days or even skip a meal after work because I had nothing at home and was way too zapped to get out to get something. I’m taking a closer look at my calendar and making sure there is ample transition time in case I need to walk or bike or even take advantage of car sharing. The planner in me is smiling.
5. I finally put air in my bike tires. Cycling is one of my favorite things to do and has been since I was a kid. It kind of sounds pathetic, but I live on the 6th floor of a building downtown and getting my bike out to ride in traffic can really be the opposite of motivating. I have now tuned my bike and dusted off my helmet. I’m practicing my safest biking skills to navigate to places that are a little too far to walk. Hello quadriceps.
6. I’ve eliminated the unnecessary. I haven’t done this entirely, but I think I was making a lot of unnecessary last minute runs in my car for really unimportant things. This can only be the path to “harnessing the good energy and blocking the bad.”