Search Results for: bus adventure
June Golden Transfer
This month’s Golden Transfer goes to Dave Johnston, a New Jersey native (the Philadelphia side) and longtime Seattleite who is both car-free and (not coincidentally) a fabulously talented writer. Dave came by his car-free status unintentionally: The suspension on his Volvo station wagon started to fail, and rather than pay the exorbitant repair cost (or […]
2020, in (mediocre) pictures
What I will remember about this year, in addition to the obvious: Growing stuff Over the past several years, as my climate anxiety has increased, I have become more and more interested in plant life. One of the ways this has manifested has been in an increasing obsession with house plants. I have channeled much […]
Breakfast with the ancestors
Even before COVID-19, I didn’t fly much. Like my decision not to drive, it started as an attempt to limit the resources I—only one human out of billions—consume. But it soon became a way of life that suited me: staying grounded, finding adventure and newness and discovery close to home. We take the family to […]
A woman’s body is not public space
I started riding the bus alone at eight years old, younger than was common in 1980, and most certainly younger than is common in 2018. My initial solo bus trips were to school and involved a transfer downtown. After a few months of practice, I started branching out: riding to local stores, to my grandma’s […]
Two of the reasons I stayed sane in 2017
This planet is their home
“We cannot separate our children from the ills that affect everyone, however hard we try.” – Erica Jong People often ask me how my decision to live without a car affects my children. Usually, I respond with my standard spiel about how we’re able to do all the stuff other families do (blah, blah, blah), […]
Moving beyond the margins, part II
Recently, a dear friend of mine moved from Seattle to a small city in the desert southwest. It wasn’t exactly a voluntary exit (a casualty of the rising cost of living in our shared hometown), but the destination, selected precisely for its “different-ness” from the sparkling, blue and green beauty she was leaving behind, was […]
Hope
Wisdom from a walker
“Part of the mystery of walking is that the destination is inside us and we really don’t know when we arrive until we arrive.” — John Francis I recently watched this very interesting talk by John Francis, aka “Planetwalker.” I don’t remember how I came across the talk, because I had never heard of Francis […]