Dude where's my car?

One of the biggest changes that has happened recently is that I no longer have a car. My car was a company car but I recently had to give it back and people who know me, know that I don't particularly like to walk. I drive EVERYWHERE even for the shortest of journeys, even to my local corner shop which is I know is super lazy. So you can imagine my concern when the reality hit that I was soon going to be car-less.

Many questions were going through my head, like 'I'm planning a wedding, how am I going to get about?'', 'how am I going to do my weekly shop?' and 'how will I get to church?'

A week before I gave the car back, I made some enquires to Whizz Go, a City Centre car club. For those of you who don't know, Whizz Go is a car club based across cities in the UK and you join to be a member. You essentially hire a car by the hour, which is quite handy for getting out and about. The only downside, is that the car 'lives' in the City Centre and you would always have to collect and return it back to the City Centre, which would actually be a little inconvenient should you live far out from town. I really liked the principal of it especially the environmental impact but thinking about it practically it just wouldn't work for me.  So I kinda ruled that one out. 

My car was returned three weeks ago and it hasn't been that bad, life goes on. Dare I say it, I actually enjoy walking about everywhere and hopping on the bus now and then. Don't get me wrong, it does FORCE you to be extra organised and plan your time, because you need at least a half hour window on either side to ensure you get to places on time but I think the pros are definitely starting to outweigh the cons.

You start to appreciate your surroundings and every journey a lot more,  now that you're no longer whizzing past in a car. I've noticed a lot more things recently that I was oblivious to before and I now have the opportunity to catch up on my reading or emails (using my Blackberry) sat on the bus. 

My new best friend - my weekly bus pass.

I enjoy the freedom walking brings, no longer having to look for a parking space or being restricted down a one way street. I can think and reflect as I go about my day and in terms of my health it can only be a positive thing, with lots of daily fresh air, raising my heart rate (running to catch the bus) and toning up my calf muscles! 

It's not been as bad as I thought it would be. My friends have been great taking me to church and places I need to go and for my biggest worry, getting my weekly shop home, there's always Tesco.com!