Yesterday I was able to catch up with a great friend and regular surfing/snowboarding buddy.  We have always been two people who couldn’t be more different but couldn’t be more similar at the same time and we always seem to connect on all the right levels so it works.

We share a passion for activity and constantly seek the next game, match, race, wave to get our competition fix but never seem to be competing to win just to better ourselves and see who can have more fun while pushing our skill limits.  Like so many friends and people in life he found a great woman, married her and moved to New York to further his life plan.  As I filled him in on all the great CarFree aspects of Sweden and Denmark we began to discuss our commutes, public transit and carfree differences between Boston and New York.  It’s the classic debate minus the “yankees suck” chant in which we (both native bostonians) must concede defeat to the NYC transit and bike system.  Like most people he could see living and working in Boston CarFree but had a hard time grasping the concept in Worcester.  I had to be honest and confess that I still haven’t figured it all out yet but haven’t found an obstacle too large to overcome.

This explaination seemed to satisfy him (and me) so I was taken aback but not surprised when he asked me “how long are you going to keep going carfree?”  It’s an important question without a definate answer.  I won’t consider a car again until it is a financially sound investment is the simple answer.  Beyond that, I plan to avoid it in the forseeable future and that seems to very possible the more I learn to live without a car.

I’m committed to the city of Worcester for at least the next 2 years during which time I can master the CarFree lifestyle.  If I choose to leave Worcester, return to Boston, move to Copenhagen, NYC, San Fran, etc I will take my CarFree lifestyle with me and make it part of my decision making process.

While I can’t say with any level of certainty what my life will look like in 2 years and if I will be able to remain CarFree, I do know that my personal hierarchy of transportation has been altered forever.