Could you live without your car for an entire week?
By ksquires2005
@ksquires2005 (58)
United States
July 30, 2009 3:36pm CST
I know for some people that their cars are their lives. kinda like me. I'd go nuts if i didn't have my wheels for a week, seeing as I absolutely hate public transportation. no matter if it's the bus, trolley, train, or sub there is always that one person that smells so bad that it makes you want to gag and throw up, and when you get off the smell has attached itself to you so you have to go through your entire day smelling like a homeless person. it's not pleasent. I have two small kids and it's a hassle to get them up and out the door to my own car, which is at the base of my stairs, just think of how it would be having to walk a mile with them to the nearest bus stop, then have to pay to get on get off switch buses, pay another fair and then do it all over again all the while listening to them cry and make a fuss and throw temper tantrums. How about grocery shopping. you'd only be able to buy what you could carry with you at that moment. No one really walks around with all these friends and helps you carry a crap ton of groceries for you 3 miles down the road...maybe in the fantasy world but not in this life time lol.. it's every man for themselves. bet you that gas prices would drop real quick though and after that would shoot up again once that week was over.
So could you survive with out having a car for the entire week??? Think about it.
4 people like this
23 responses
@sid556 (30960)
• United States
4 Aug 09
I went for 4 yrs without a car with 3 small children years ago. reading your post had me reliving the nightmare of it all. I used to walk with them to get groceries and lug them all home. I had a friend who would at times bring me to the grocery store....I doubt she had any idea how much I appreciated that. I also lugged bags of laundry to the laundry mat...kids in tow. you do what you have to do but it is difficult. Where I was located there was no public transportation. I walked to and from work as well as walked my kids to school. We survived it obviously but I will tell you, I would not want to go there again. Now I have a job out of town and that would really make things difficult. I know from the few times my car broke down how hard it is to find someone willing to run me to and from work.
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
4 Aug 09
I don't think I could live without my car for a whole week. I don't drive around nearly as much as I used to, but I do need to use the car to get to work. I could walk if I really had to but I'd prefer not to because it's rather hot outside and it would take me quite some time to get back from work to home in the heat and I would not make it far. Also, I have to take a trip to pick up my partner from her job, so I'd need the car to drive that far too. She already rides the bus to work, so that cuts off some of the time and gas it takes me to get there, but without the car, I'd be pretty stranded.
@tutor19us (455)
• India
31 Jul 09
No way!
I cannot. I would probably die of withdrawal symptoms. :)
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
31 Jul 09
Hi ksquires, I really couldn't. I know because I was without for two weeks when it was in the garage and I had to break down and get a hire car. We have no public transport to speak of, there is a school bus but it's a trek down a dirt track to the pick up place and it's more or less impassable on foot if it's been raining a lot. Then there's a hill down to the village, which means a hill back, try carrying the shopping up that in 40C degree heat. Ferrying my child around would be impossible without a car as although I share that with a friend it wouldn't be fair to ask them to do it every time.
I'd be more than happy to use a bus if it didn't take me 25 minutes to the bus stop and then there's only two a day which come when they feel like it, can't live without that car I'm afraid.
@nitu1952 (286)
• India
31 Jul 09
well one has to adjust according to the environment. if we have given our car to someone needy then one must adjust in any way. well i can understand that one's work is not possible withouit our own vehicle. yes i can live without car for the entire week.
@dillu18 (29)
• India
31 Jul 09
yes its really difficult to live without our own vehicle with which we had memorable days...I too had experienced such situations...my car was broke down very badly in a accident when i parked it on the roadside....from then i was not living with it..
now i am trying to own a new one.....
@ethereal1 (215)
• Australia
31 Jul 09
I am 25 and I have never actually owned a car. I don't mind using public transport or walking most of the time. It is bad in extreme weather conditions. I also get a lift home from the supermarket once every 2 weeks when I do most of my grocery shopping, so I am not really sure what I would do about that if I couldn't borrow someone and their car!
I don't have kids and I think I would probably need to get a car if I did. Aside from the trauma of walking long distances with kids or taking them on buses, I think I would like to know that if I had to rush my kid to the doctor or something I could just do it.
@minhminh0604 (342)
• United States
31 Jul 09
It does not really matter much to me.
iI still can drive with my brother or my parents, but I hoe that it will never gonna happen because it is very uncomfortable without having my own car.
@starlight70 (316)
• Malaysia
31 Jul 09
I have lived without owning a car for the past 39 years, and I am okay with it. But I do own a motorbike. Once, I tried to walk. It took me 30 minutes from my flat to reach the main road to get a bus. So, transportation is a must. I am okay without a car, though.
@madamenihao (117)
• China
31 Jul 09
Yes.I could..Haha...As I have not car.
Then same situation.When I have not mobile.I don't find the important of the moble.
But I could not without moble for a whole day.
@jeg2315 (197)
• United States
31 Jul 09
Probably. I commute to school, so I don't use my car to go to school. I use it for errands and such, but it isn't essentially. I live near a big city with a lot of public transportation, so if something happened to my car for a week, I think I could manage. Plus I save on gas and bridge tolls by commuting on the subway instead of driving. I guess I am used to not always having to use my car.
@okkidokitokki (1736)
• United States
30 Jul 09
If I did not have to work, go to the grocery store, school, or have a slight emergency (you know the kind that does not need an ambulance) then yes I could live without my car for a week, If all of the above happened I could live without my car for life. It is just another bill, and not a cheap one at that, forget fuel, I have 2 years of payments and insurance for life on it.
Unfortunatly there is not public transportation where I live and my bicycle will not carry groceries without putting a cute and huge basket on it.
Actually it would be nice to have absolutly nothing to do for an entire week.
@wergild (189)
• Philippines
31 Jul 09
I cant live without my car. That is until the day it broke down and made me realizes the benefits of walking and commuting. I get to walk a lot now and i get more exercise since then. I sleep better and my weight is down. Not to mention people you get to know by commuting. But whenever rains come i starting to miss the comfort of my car.:-(
@shimanaja (493)
• Indonesia
31 Jul 09
Hi There...
May be cause i dont have a car, i dont think i feel the same way with you friend..:)
Im enjoy go to my activities place with public transportation ot motorcycle..cause the road is very crawded and streets are often jammed.
I need a car of course..some day i will have it..but i will survive without having a car for entire week...I think it's not big deal..:)
@koalapenguin (2707)
• Philippines
31 Jul 09
Hi there ksquires,Ü i do not have a car and i think i can survive without it. 
It is always nice to meet new people along the way and get some exercise. Though there are things that are actually bothering like pollution, paying fares, getting sweaty and the feeling of getting paranoid when some suspicious person is following you. 
But if i have my chance, i would buy my own car and learn how to drive so that i can avoid these things.
It is always nice to meet new people along the way and get some exercise. Though there are things that are actually bothering like pollution, paying fares, getting sweaty and the feeling of getting paranoid when some suspicious person is following you. But if i have my chance, i would buy my own car and learn how to drive so that i can avoid these things.
@grace118224 (1038)
• China
31 Jul 09
i don't have cars now. But if i have i can survive without my car for an entire week . i'm a home person really and don't go out too often . i can order and buy anything from the internet . i can do some reading , listen music to spend a day.
Of course if i have to go to work each day i don't bother to take a bus although as you mentioned the smell isn't so good but i don't care indeed.
