First day of my Low-Car Life. So, How did it go?

Today was the official start day of our Low-Car Diet.  I checked the weather twice and three times, making sure I don't need to bring my umbrella with me.  It was gray and chilly outside... I didn't really believe that it was going to be about 70 degrees today.  Nonetheless, I transferred all my essentials into my new "bus commute" bag and walked out of my apartment to attend the kick-off ceremony!

 First off, let me just say... I LOVE the light rail.  I feel very lucky to live within walking distance from one of the stations.  It is clean, relatively comfortable, and on-time.  It reminds me of riding a train in Japan.

The ceremony was held at the Westlake Park in downtown Seattle!  Seeing the green Zipcar signs was pretty exciting! 

  

We were provided with  free lunch from Dog In The Park, and I enjoyed their delicious veggie dog. Yummy~

We had a few inspiring speakers on the subject matter.  One of them being Carla Saulter a.k.a. Bus Chick!  For those of you who don't know who she is, she has been car-free since 2003 and has been blogging about her experience on Seattle PI. She and her husband have three small children and they make it work without a car...!  Amazing!

Star-struck, I approached her afterward and exchanged a few words.  She was very warm and encouraging.  She even let me know I can email her with any questions regarding being car-free...  How generous!  I'm sure I'll be taking up on her offer sometime soon.



Another speaker they had was Seattle Councilmember Mike O'Brien.  He himself was a participant of Low-Car Diet in 2008.  In his speech, he touched on how being car-free is a form of an activism.  He's advocating for improving the public transit system and making our community more bicycle friendly so that people who don't own cars have equal access to things and places that are currently hard to get to.   I say go Mike O'Brien.  That sounds totally awesome to me.

a view from I-90 bridge

As I was riding a bus into Bellevue this afternoon, I got to thinking.   This Low-Car life is already feeling a bit different than my previous No-Car life.  I think it has a lot to do with choice.  Like I mentioned before, I didn't own a car until 7 years ago.  It wasn't really by choice.  I didn't know how to drive until then!  But this time around, I'm making a conscious choice to change my behavior.  I'm feeling more empowered!

going home on 520 bridge 

 

Today was a perfect day to start my Low-Car Life.  I took it slow, and the weather was great.  If it was rainy, cold or windy, my blog post today wouldn't have sounded so positive.

I-5 south

Although taking a bus takes much longer than driving, I felt very relaxed and at peace when I got home.

It gives me extra time to process what's happened in the day, and I find it almost meditative.

When I got home, I even biked to my P-Patch garden to check on the winter crops I just seeded.  I love how it feels in the garden just before dusk.









It was a successful first day!  29 more days to go!