Footprints

Dave and I have been commenting lately about how our carbon footprint from this year will be the lowest in our lives (not counting the airplane trips over and back, of course).  Not having a car, we plan our trips around places within walking distances, unless there is an absolute necessity to go somewhere requiring the use of a taxi.  The lack of ready access to a car has been an adjustment for me.  I have had use of a car my entire life up until now.  I was blessed enough to get my own car when I turned 16, got to take it with me to college, and then purchased my own car after graduation.  I have fortunately never had to think twice about transportation. Before I met Dave and since we have been married, a reliable car has always been at my fingertips.  Now, we have been over here sans car for four months and have already started to notice the advantages that walking has on our bodies.  In addition to our daily running regimes, we probably walk on average four miles each day just for getting Dave to work (Toby and I walk in with him), back again, and then additional Toby walks sprinkled throughout.  If we have meetings throughout the day or errands, the walking mileage only increases.  St. George’s Market, one of our favorite weekend localities, is just under a half hour walk from our house.  If you had told me in the U.S. that I would have to walk a half hour to a destination, my first response would have probably been “Why?” and then my second response would have been to figure out a way to use a car.  But when a car is not a first, second, or even fifth option, one finds oneself using a sturdy pair of hiking shoes on almost a daily basis.  (Our commute to church on Sundays is only a 20 minute walk, however, so more fashionable footwear can suffice.)  Now, I would like to think that after this year of living without a car I can confidently say that I will be returning to The States in January ready to throw away my car keys and turn over a new leaf with my walking shoes.  However, I am fairly certain that will not be the case.  We have been fortunate enough to have a house fairly centrally located to many places within walking distance; things are so spread out in the U.S. that walking everywhere is not always practical.  While it has been a good learning experience to find creative shortcuts on our walking routes (such as was recently the case with our Sunday treks to church), I must say that I also miss the convenience of using a car.  It is nice to not have to think twice about a mode of transportation when the need arises and just go.  That said, I can easily foresee incorporating more walking or biking into my post-international life.  Driving a half mile just to get coffee creamer (yes, I did that) will now be replaced with thinking about it in terms of how long it will take me to walk or ride a bike that half mile.  There are additional benefits to walking everywhere, such as the fact that Dave and I have found ourselves talking to each other more en route to a destination.  Not having to worry about who is cutting us off in traffic or if it's safe to merge lanes has allowed us to have uninterrupted time to just talk with each other as we make our way on our journeys.  Sure we would talk with each other in the car back in the U.S., but it wasn’t the same focus on the conversation when one of us had to have our eyes on the road.  In a strange way, using walking as our primary mode of transportation has brought us closer as a couple.  This year could have a lot of labels associated with it.  One of them could be The Year Without A Car; however, I am starting to think of this as The Year We Learned To Walk Everywhere or, The Year Our Family Got In Better Shape And Grew Closer Through Walking Everywhere.  Living simpler through forgoing the luxury of car ownership has not always been easy, but is has caused our leg muscles and also our minds to strengthen in the miles and discussions we have had on our journeys.  More than learning that we can be self-sufficient in our self-propelled mode of transportation, we are learning that it is truly about the journey and not the destination.