Three months ago we sold our second car and became a one-car family. We had been experimenting with this way of life for a year before making the decision to sell. (Basically, we pretended like we only had one car and made arrangements accordingly.) So why on Earth would we sell a perfectly functional – and paid for – vehicle? Well, it has to do with the discussion my husband and I had on our 10 year anniversary. We sat down and made a list of what we’d like to accomplish in the next 10 years. I honestly cannot remember most of the things on the list, but the big, overriding principle was that we wanted to live the kind of life that we didn’t need a vacation from.

On a subconscious level, selling our second vehicle was feeding into this life we imagined by doing a number of things. It encouraged us to walk more, be outside more, and slow down. The rat race gives both of us anxiety, and so this life choice felt like it clicked right into place.

Now – a couple of caveats for those of you who are reading this and thinking – but we couldn’t possibly! First, I need to acknowledge our privilege in having this choice and treating it as an experiment. I am aware that for many that is not the case at all. Second, the decision to become a one-car family was very much based on our particular circumstances, which I’ll dive into here. I work out of our home and Drew works within walking distance. His commute to work is a 2 mile walk each way. Most days, the car sits in our garage and doesn’t get used by either one of us. We live in a suburban community that is easily walkable. This wasn’t always the case. We used to each have long commutes in opposite directions with daycare drop-off in between, but I think the general pull toward this version of our lives has been dragging us here for a while.

We’re three months in to the one-car experiment, and you might be wondering – was it worth it?

• We have more space in the garage to access our bikes.
• We communicate more with one another about our schedules.
• We have one less vehicle to insure, fuel, and maintain.
• We walk more, which makes us more accustomed to walking, so that we walk more even when the vehicle is available.
• We’re modeling movement for our kids, and including them in our walks as well.
• In short, yes, this absolutely works for our family.

If you’re interested in moving more, one key question to ask yourself is: how can I design my life so that movement is necessary? I like to think of it like this. Imagine you’re talking with a nutritionist about how you just don’t have the willpower to stop eating cookies late at night. The nutritionist might suggest using your formidable daytime willpower to not bring the cookies into the house in the first place. In the same way, if you have easy access to a vehicle at all times, it’s a lot harder to convince yourself to walk 4 blocks to pick up coffee or mail a package or [insert whatever is easily walkable near you]. But, if the option to drive is highly restricted, then movement becomes necessary.