4 Reasons Why I Don't Miss My Car

One of the biggest headaches about visiting my hometown of Anaheim is that I have to drive everywhere. Literally, everywhere. Nothing is in walking distance, there's no subway, and taking Ubers all the time gets really expensive. To tell you the truth, I was never a big fan of driving in the first place, because as you may recall from my first post, I am not a very good driver. But even people I've talked to from California, who love to drive, admit that they don't miss their cars when they're here in the city. Here are a few reasons why:

1. You don't need to worry about a designated driver.

I'll never forget the weekend I turned 21 in New York. Well, actually I've forgotten quite a bit of it, but the parts I remember were super fun. My parents came to visit me, and they took me out on the town for dinner and a show (while getting me good and hammered in the process). The next day I woke up with a terrible hangover, and that night I went bar hopping with some friends from school. The day after that I hid from the sun under my covers all day. So you know, a pretty typical 21st birthday stuff.While I walked back to my apartment with my friends at 5:00 in the morning, after closing down our favorite bar and getting Halal food from our favorite cart, I found another reason to love this city: I didn't have to worry about driving home. Actually, I didn't have to worry about a car at all, and it actually felt really good. Worrying about being sober enough to drive, or finding a ride home, after a night out is incredibly stressful, and the risk of trying to get yourself home with your own car is horribly irresponsible and dangerous. The knowledge that you can just hop on the subway or take a cab home when you're out makes the night more enjoyable, and also safer.

2. You don't have to worry about parking.

I can't begin to recall the amount of time I've wasted looking for parking (or how much I've paid for it, for that matter ), and knowing that is not an issue when going to the most crowded parts of the city here is a huge relief. When all you have to worry about is getting yourself to your destination in tact, as opposed to you and a 2-ton machine, you find that you have much more freedom in traveling from place to place. Now to be fair, public transportation in New York is not without its fair share of problems. But in my experience, the occasional inefficiency is worth it.

3. You noticeably lose weight.

Everyone warned me when I started college that I would succumb to the dreaded "Freshmen 15," the phenomenon where you gain 15 pounds in your first semester not living at home. This is usually linked to getting fast food all the time or having a meal plan, but having to drive everywhere certainly doesn't help you keep the weight off. Yet during my first semester at King's, I lost about 10 pounds, along with pretty much everyone else I know. Stress probably played a decent role in this, but having a daily commute that involved a significant amount of walking made a significant difference in staying fit. I didn't even notice how used to walking I got until my sister came to visit and her pedometer app clocked us at walking 8 miles in one day.

4. Subways and Cab / Uber-fare are less expensive than Gas and Insurance.

While everything might seem to get more expensive here in the city, traveling is one thing that actually gets cheaper. After a few months in the city, the amount I saved by not filling up my gas tank every week was really remarkable. As long as you don't use cabs everyday, the difference in spending becomes greater overtime, so that you can actually afford all the expensive things here in the city. 

Is there anything I forgot to include? Do you still prefer driving over public transportation? Let me know in the comment section below!