I just wanted to let everyone know that I really like this thread as well as the whole topic of minimalist living and living car free.
Now I don't want to offend anyone or be flamed for anything. But honestly, I grew up in southeast Texas and have been very car dependent my entire life. It's always been a staple of who I am. I currently own a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon and a 2000 BMW r1100rt motorcycle, so I'm far from car free, plus my wife has her car. During the week I ride my motorcycle everyday to work, but that is because i've been too lazy to start riding my bicycle again after my foot heeled. I do plan to start doing that at least three times a week after my next trip for work next week. Because of where and how I grew up, this sort of living has always seemed pretty crazy and odd to me. But as I've grown older I have changed from who I was and am open to a lot of new things now. This site, and particularly this thread has helped change my views on a lot of things. So than you all for that. I'm not saying though that I'm going to sell the Jeep or my motorcycle, because I love them more than everything in my apartment. I do however try as hard as I can to use them as little as possible. I enjoy going off roading and camping, so I reserve the Jeep for that and as my occasional weekend vehicle when I have a longer trip. I also believe in treading lightly when I do venture off road and always try to leave things better than how I found it.
But if it had not been for this thread, I would still be chasing that desire to buy more stuff. Instead I have found myself reading about minimalist living and how I can better myself and the world by living with what I need instead of what I want. I will never get down to only 100 things, as I have more that 100 items issued to me from work. I'm in the Air Force. I have built a plan though that I am working through to see what I actually need and what I do not need. There are things that I haven't touched in the four years since moving to Tampa. I don't play games, so there is no need to keep the Playstation 3. It's decisions like that, along with how I think about purchases before hand that this thread has had a direct effect on my life.
So while I may not fit into this thread, I will continue to lurk and read and learn from all the posts here to better my own life and the world. So thanks to everyone that posts here.
John