So, Month 5 of our “We Have No Car” Experiment has just come to an end and things are going well. Commuting on public transportation, using zipcar, and just plain walking has been fine. The only inconveniences may be day trips or weekend trips that require a little more planning than just hopping in your car and driving off. However, when it comes to daily activities and local weekend activities, I don’t seem to feel the need for having my own car. So, with the money that we’ve saved on just the car payments alone (not including insurance and gas), we have plenty of money to take a nice week-long trip.

I got a week off at the end of August and we are heading to Belize! It’s located in Central America with lots of little cayes (keys) to explore. I guess this is a fitting place to visit considering it’s the pioneer of eco-tourism. All the fuel I’ve saved on not having a car will go towards my 5-hour flight each way to and from my destination. I booked our flights on American Airlines last night and I just booked one of our three hotel stays today. My co-worker just spent two weeks there in April and she got me really excited about lounging around drinking rum-spiked punch, snorkeling just outside of my hotel room, and trekking through tropical forests to find ancient Mayan ruins. It sounds awesome.

As for the experiment…it looks as though we may not be able to go carless for much longer. Starting in September, I’ll need a car in order to get to my teaching job. Sure, my teaching job is only 1-2 times per week and it’s in Oakland too but I’ll also be working 9-hour days on my non-teaching days as Daylight Saving Time also comes to an end. We’ll probably be looking for something small, fuel efficient, in the $15-20K range, and won’t be very tempting to the hoodlums in OakTown. So, if anyone has any suggestions on what we should consider, let me know. I just know that U.S. News and World Report ranked Honda Civic, Honda Fit, and Honda Civic Hybrid as #’s 1, 2, and 3, respectively. How boring.