Running the roads

Well, I'm finally in good standing with the state of Florida again. I paid my little traffic fine for the accident I had last month.

As luck would have it, I also just got my auto insurance bill. Since my lovely wife's car is parked for the winter, and pretty much junk, I've only got comprehensive coverage on it. The van just has liability insurance. My bill comes out to $64.50 -quarterly. That's not too hard to take.

In the near term I'll be running the roads. Of course, since I'm a good two thousands miles from home that's pretty much a given. Not only that, we'll most likely take the long way home. Would not be surprised to add another thousand miles or so before we pull into the driveway.

While my auto insurance is reasonable, there are plenty of other vehicle expenses. There is much to be said to car free living. Of course, there's also something to be said for house free living. Plenty of folks live in their vehicles, by choice. In the end, we all have to live someplace.

The citizens of the United States are known for being in love with their cars. It's all tied up with freedom -freedom of the open road. Just look at car advertisements; people are driving off having amazing adventures. They never show the reality of a horrible daily commute in bumper to bumper traffic.

Personally, I'm torn. While I do drive to amazing places, I often have to deal with heavy traffic, bad drivers, and worse roads. Some days it feels like a scene from “The Road Warrior.”

The American love affair with our cars may be coming to an end. Millennials are less interested in car ownership than previous generations. Maybe driverless cars will become the norm. Then car ownership will be absolutely no fun at all.

Of course, in the short term, I'll be living in my van, down by the river. That's not a bad thing.

-Sixbears