Rob_E

My understanding of the point of this thread was that it was about the basic mechanics of living without a car. You don't find the joy? That's okay. I don't find the joy in brushing my teeth. It needs doing and I do it. Until they fall out and I can join the Living Teeth Free forum.

There is a thread just a couple down from here about what people like about being car lite. Maybe you'll find more joy there. Maybe not. Ultimately, while I would like to see this subforum be more inspirational, it seems to attract a lot of people who don't actually have interest in being car-free or car-lite, but who simply want to denigrate people who do have an interest. So instead of being a celebration of a shared lifestyle, it becomes a lot of bickering. But there are still things to be learned from the experiences of others and things to share, so I pop in from time to time, but you're right, there is some joy missing. I don't know that it's missing in the lives of the car-free/lite folks, but if you want to find it, you have to overlook the constant nay-saying that surrounds this forum.

The other part for me is, this subforum is almost by necessity anti-car. It's not that everyone hates them and wishes they didn't exist, but many people have made a conscious decision to limit their involvement in or not take part in car culture. While the act of living without a car might not be a struggle for everyone, explaining that in a society built around car ownership can be a struggle. A year after selling my car, I spent a weekend camping with some people and, in the course of another story, happened to mention that I no longer have a car. One of the people broke in, "Wait, what do you mean 'you don't have a car'?" For the rest of the weekend he would occasionally corner me and say, "Tell me more about how you don't have a car." Not in an unkind way, but with a certain amount of disbelief. For some people, living without a car is unimaginable. So there's an aspect of this subforum that's based on justifying choices and sometimes about talking more about what we didn't like about relying on a car more than about what we like about our current life. This subforum's existence is based on the idea that not owning a car is abnormal. If it were the norm, there'd be no need of a subform. So, while I, personally, find not having a car to be a very liberating experience, it is a concept not everyone takes to, and some people react negatively to. And in the end there are possibly more posts from people justifying their car use than there are people expressing their own pleasure with their lifestyle.

In the end, a lot of what remains good about this subforum is not the inspiration, but the practical advice, like what this thread seems to be trying hard to focus on.

But maybe that's not so odd. There are some good touring stories in the touring forum, but I would say the vast majority of posts are mundane and practical. Not in a bad way, but there it is. Much of what I read anywhere in bikeforums is about people trying to solve problems. The joy isn't found in reading a forum about bikes. The joy is on your bike. Go look and see.