About Me

I am a single mom living in Seattle with my five-year-old son and a busy schedule. I recently made the decision to go car-free, and I started this blog to give support and encouragement to others who are also living without a car or who may be considering it.

I have lived without a car many times and for many years in Seattle and other cities, but never while having a small child to tote along with me. So, while this blog may be of interest to anyone, in any situation, parents who are thinking about going completely car-free or perhaps downsizing from a two-car to a one-car family may be particularly interested.

There are many reasons to go car-free (environment, economics, geography, etc.), but the thought of doing it with a young child was very daunting. I had been contemplating it for a while, knowing that my 25-year-old car wouldn't last forever. I desperately wanted to ditch the oil-leaking, guilt-inducing old Ford and my over-priced insurance company, but I wasn't quite sure that I could pull it off. Well, on April Fool's Day, my car finally did kick the bucket, and I had no choice but to find alternative transportation options. Before I knew it, a month went by, and I realized that I was doing just fine without a car! (You can read the details of that fateful day and month here.)

We are fortunate in Seattle to have car-sharing services, such as Zipcar** and Car2Go, which have been key to my venture in shifting gears. I found that those services combined with busing, biking, walking, and taking an occasional taxi (including Uber**, Lyft**, and Sidecar) provide plenty of options for living without my own car, even with my son--and sometimes his booster seat--in tow.

It does require a lot of pre- (and sometimes creative) planning, but the amount of money that I'm saving with no loan payments, insurance, gas, or car repairs makes it completely worth the extra time and effort. It's also better for the environment and the community to have fewer cars on the road, so my intention is to show others how it can work. By chronicling our adventures with trip details, cost comparisons, product reviews, and other travel tidbits, I hope to encourage others to shift gears and try alternative transportation. Comments, suggestions, and questions are more than welcome.

Let the journey begin!