I suppose I hadn't really considered the train too much. The train station is a 15min. walk from my house and it goes direct from our city to my mother-in-laws. We have considered taking it before, but if more than one person is travelling, it is cheaper by car. However, if I didn't already have a car, taking the train once a month would be a lot less expensive then owning/maintaining a car.

I was sort of expecting a lot of people to say that they just make their relatives come visit them, which is an answer that I don't like much. I'm encouraged to hear that most people don't rely on that because what if your relatives wanted to become car-free too? I know a couple of university aged people around here that are so proud of not having a drivers license, but they are constantly bugging us and their friends for rides to places. I find that extremely annoying. I am willing to give someone a ride once in a while but when they constantly rely on others for a ride and then are smug about not having a license, it really annoys me.