Landon's Epic Vlog Thread: living without a car in a car-happy world
 

Note: this was posted in the blog thread but here everyone (including guests) can keep tabs on my challenge of living without a car

Landon's Vlog #1: preparing to live without a car
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/T2Eji40Al4Q[/YOUTUBE]

Gas is $4 a gallon. I've already downsized to a Geo Metro. I spend well over $500 a month on my car. It's time to do something about it!

If I can survive in a automobile-centric city without a car, anyone can! Let me be your inspiration (as well as you being mine) to challenge yourself to a healthier way of getting around! By the way, that's Gloria's (my Ford Tempo's) passenger seat I'm sitting on ;)

Landon's Vlog #2: Dressing for Success
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/i_i2FWdqqqA[/YOUTUBE]

It's one thing to go living without a car if you live in a moderate climate, but what do you do when temperatures reach -46*C with the windchill?

I tack on the additional cost of 'Gloria', my Ford Tempo, show what kind of fashion statement I make when I go outside, and get a sneak peak at my new (or used) bicycle!

Be sure to stay tuned for more Vlogs to come!

I completely applaud this decisions :thumbup:. I did it mostly while I was working in Houston, TX, which is a city with 8 million people (including those under the driving age) and almost 7 million cars (!). Everything was spread out too far for my to become completely independent. My biggest problem was to go grocery shopping I needed to go with my roommate because it is hard to carry many groceries on a bicycle, especially without a rack on it. How do you plan on going grocery shopping?

Do you plan on making the vlog solely in this thread or on some other website?

I will be attempting to be completely car free again this summer, if my situation deems it possible. So I will be right there next to you I hope :D!

Good luck, and I look forward to tracking your progress.

Holy crap!

There is actually 3 major grocery stores to choose from near my house (I live so close to 'big-box' central, I used to be able to see all the stores out my kitchen window. Not so much now that they've developed houses/condos behind us) so it's very walkable/bikeable. Also, the entire city is only 46 square miles in area.

As a matter of fact, my house scored 37/100 on www.walkscore.com which isn't too bad for suburbia. Check out the website. It's very valuable in finding services where you live.

Definitely my focus will be this website's forum and blog since this is where my idea originated from.

Sounds fantastic! What are some obstacles for going car-free during the winter months in Texas?

During the winter I am at home in New Hampshire or at School in Vermont. Texas would be MUCH easier to deal with since they never get snow or ice. At school I don't keep a car since all of my needs are provided by campus or a trip to a store with friends every ~3 weeks. At home it would be pretty impossible since ice mixed with snow banks shrinking the roads would make for some extremely unsafe conditions to bike or walk in.

Part of my apprehension about the summer is I am graduating in May, and maybe going to graduate school so I have no idea where I will be living...

A bicycle is what I consider the first step to independence from the oil overlords. I was doing 400-485 km (250-300 miles) a week pretty easily while working 50 hours. I'm not the most in shape guy, but pretty skinny, as well. A lot of the riding was for pure fun.

Are you keeping the car in a situation where things don't turn out?

Sounds like you're in a similar boat as me. This is also my last year of university and I have no idea what my future beholds. The exciting thing is that both you and I can start out our lives anywhere and anyhow we wish. We're pretty adaptable and young enough where it can't be a better time to make a change (since we don't have the responsibilities of mortgages, marriages, kids, jobs, etc.)

I too like having a car while in school (it real handy when I need materials for sculpture class and be able to quickly drive to a hardware store and use the Geo as my 'truck'). So I'm going to keep it until I'm done with the U. of Manitoba before going all out. Meanwhile this is a perfect time for me to get used to walking places and I may even start using a bicycle a bit before the semester end.

That's a good question. The problem of keeping a car 'just in case' may lead to using it more than I need. For instance my mom wanted me to drive my sister to work downtown tonight. It would be a lot easier to say "Sorry, I don't have a car" than "I don't want to because I want to save money". By the way, I did drive her. I'll definitely give it some thought.

One part of me wants to sell my Geo (I'm not emotionally attached to the car and I could recoup some of the $2,300 I spent buying it since I'm sure high-FE cars will be in huge demand this spring) and keep "Gloria", my Tempo. That's because I really like Gloria: the insurance is cheap ($50 a month) and no one wants to ride in it! :D

On the contrary, I know I can live without owning a car at all.

Great resolution Peakseter. I have no ideas for you, but wish you good luck. :thumbup:

If things don't turn out, you ride a scooter or street legal mo-ped!

One of the challenges is the weather. Lower-Canada only has frost-free days 50% of the year, so there's more of an issue of freezing my buns off in the dead of winter rather than not being able to travel long distances. In the summer, I can bike from one end of the city to the other in about an hour. That same drive would be about 20 minutes, max.

Also, how do cyclists deal with rain?

Cold
 

This is my biggest concern for you: cold snaps. Even at 10F, waiting 10-minutes for a bus, I recently froze my arse off. Bicyclists have to have a (potentially costly) adverse Weather kit, with multiple layers of clothing and a rain/snow-proof outer layer. I found a great coat at an outdoor supply store that lets you vent perspiration (to avoid moisture freezing), but repels precipitation. It was a bit costly, but really worth it when outdoors in the cold snow/rain for many hours. For me, I'd have to get into better shape to bike a decent distance. Goals, I s'pose...

I honestly respect your resolve. Bundle up and look for that public transit or bike route! I look forward to the result. I admit that I'm addicted to driving -- always have been. That seems like a big freedom to relinquish.

Best to you!

RH77

Wow...my house scored a big fat goose egg. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Of course, living out in the country has its own rewards. :)

I'll definitely find some tips about how Winnipeggers survive the cold without a car (there's a lot of them). I already bought some winter boots which are super warm. Instead of wearing a toque (aka knit hat) on frigid days I might wear a snowmobile helmet to enclose my face. Ski pants work wonders too.

The only thing left is the fact that my hands get ice cold very fast. I have yet to find any kind of gloves that prevent them from getting cold.

Mittens. They may not make you the coolest guy walking or riding the streets but they will do much more than gloves ever can. The ones where the finger part flips up are ok. You may look into the lobster claw gloves where two fingers are kept together; they are supposed to be a good compromise although I have no experience with them.

For anyone who rides a bicycle in the winter, is it honestly practical? Do you switch tires and other gear to deal with ice?

I was thinking along the lines of getting those thin black gloves, like the kind that kids used to wear in school, and wearing them under a well insulated mitten. That way there's the benefit of keeping all the digits nice and toasty in the mitten while having the ability to use keys, etc. without getting too cold when the mitt is taken off.

Oh man, I've used those before and they were horrible! Wind kept on getting into the flaps which was real unpleasant.

Personally I don't think riding a bike is practical in the snow at all. Some people in Winnipeg do it but I think the dangers outweigh the benefit of getting to a location faster than walking.

Keeping warm in even the coldest temperatures is totally possible. Recently, I took 5 blankets from the sculpture building to my dorm-room in real cold weather and the only way to carry them was to drape all of them on my body. I looked like one of those shepherds in biblical times. By the time I got to my building I was sweating!!! If only it was more practical.

You probally don't have a car share program like flexcar?

They are available in most large cities in the US. It is a good idea for carless people who need a car, "just in case".

Good luck with that Landon. I think gas needs to go up a few dollars a gallon before I make the leap.

I'm pretty certain we don't have Flexcar in Regina. At least I've never heard of it on the news or by word of mouth.

If absolutely required (such as hauling a whole bunch of lumber from a hardware store), I can always rent a vehicle, either from a friend or professional renter. I'd much rather spend $20 to use a friend's car for a a single trip than spend $550+ every month for a Geo metro plus $220+ a month for a Tempo I rarely use.

Going carless is very bold.

We live in an entire culture based on the automobile.

Way to go - Keep us all posted on this!

Maybe you can end up encouraging a few other people to do the same, or at least cut down to just one renewable powered vehicle.

PS: You might want to sell the Metro to somebody else on this board or people of similar mindset.

If you figure all the money you spend on a car, and instead invested it into a retirement account, you will be set!

Here is what Dave Ramsey has to say about car payments:
True cost of cars video

Good luck to you man, if you can do this I will be dually impressed. I live near a very large city myself and the only real driving I do on a regular basis is to work each day. If I could replace this with either using my bicycle (or electric bike, see thread in alternative vehicles section) or taking the bus, I could easily stretch a tank of gas in my little Putsaround to last over a month, so far I can get about 2 1/2 weeks per tank and nothing more with all the driving I do.

Two and a half weeks per tank is pretty amazing. I'd be lucky to ever go than long on one tank in my Geo (I don't think I've ever have, so far). Are you in the same situation I'm in where the weather plays a major role in deciding to live without a car?

Well, it's easier during the summer and fall months to live without a car. I live in Georgia where the weather, unfortunately, is rather unpredictable. Generally, however, the summer and fall months are pretty moderate, enough so that riding my bike would not be too terrible in order to get to work. The main reason I get such long stints on a single tank is really just do to the tiny amount of driving I do per week. I drive to and from work daily, which is only about 10 miles round trip and then I go to the grocery store, maybe once per week. Other then that I might take the occasional trip to my girlfriends house which is maybe 7 or 8 miles away and that's about it. In reality, my car only gets between 20 and 30 mpg. I live on my college campus which is in a pretty commercial area so everything I need to live can be found within a 5 mile radius easily.

I certainly hope so. I think it would be fantastic if I got some video responses of people doing the same thing. Misery love company you know :p.

Hmm... I'm not too sure if I like that idea. The Geo has just rolled over to 280K today (driving back to Winnipeg from Regina) and, well, let's just say I don't feel that she's in the shape where I'd like to sell it to someone I know.

You read my mind! Once I sell both the Tempo (which is costing me 220+ a month) and Geo (which is costing me $550+ a month), I'm going to still pay the $770 a month... to myself! :thumbup: Then, after this is all done, I'm going to make a finale Vlog at the end of the year (Psst: hopefully a down-payment for a house).

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Notice: Thanks for all the replies everyone. However I think I'm going to let this thread die and move this discussion over to the thread I have going on the DIY category HERE.

I'll trade you locations! :cool:

Very nice. Sounds like other than the commute to your job, you would be a prime candidate for living without a car (no pressure! lol). Have you ever investigated how much your costs you per month with the little driving you do?

I moved the posts over here for you, peakster, :)

Fantastic. Vlog #2 should be coming around in the next few weeks.

I haven't really figured out the total cost, but below is a list of what I have figured so far with using past data from driving before I really started to pay attention to fuel economy.

$48.00 per tank @ $3.00 per gallon
2 tanks of gas per month = $96.00
Oil Change every 3 months is about $15.00
New Tires = ~$45 / tire

Other then that I'm not sure about expenses really. I'm fortunate enough that my parents still pay for my insurance so for that I would need to ask them what it is per quarter. I know that on the 1985 Camry I was insured on previously it was ~$1000 per year though so I would think this would be around the same.

The car also came from my grandmother so it was free, which is always nice.

So to date I have probably spent a total of about

$90 for 2 new tires
$480 for gas since I got it in August (figuring average of 2 tanks per month)
$30 for 2 oil changes since I got the car
~$20 for new windshield wiper blades
----------------------------
Total: $620.00 before insurance

I also know that there was a lot of maintenance work done to it when we first got it which I believe equaled around $1800 or so because there were a few things broken in the engine from the years of improper maintenance.

Score!

Double-score! I got my '91 T-Bird from my Grandma as a gift as well, which I then sold for $1,800. I guess then you could say that I only spent $500 on the Geo, but that's getting a little complex ;).

How about things like car-washes and air filters? Any repairs done at all? Do you get parking for free?

Every time I thought I finally found all the expenses of my car, I found more! It was pretty outrageous.

Parking is included in my school's tuition fee thankfully so that's nothing, once again, and I don't really take my car to the car wash that often (the paint is all powdery from years of neglect sitting on the shores of eastern Florida) and I have replaced the air filter once which was like $15 I think or something like that....wow, I guess I'm just lucky with these car expenses when I compare then to other people's

Here is an older but extremely relevant link about cars versus bicycle costs:
http://kenkifer.com/bikepages/advocacy/autocost.htm


I may make some postings about mine but I don't have the capabilities for video posts really, so that glory will be all yours :thumbup: I'm probably going to spend another month looking for the perfect bicycle while I remain buried in snow.

I look forward to vlog#2

Wow, that video was awesome! Although saving money in a mutual fund with 12% return is pretty optimistic :p.

That too is a pretty cool webpage :) I love this quote:

Lol! Well I guess there's now at least one person who's planning to change his life because of costs :D.

Holy moly. Talk about an eye-opener! It's so true, people with garages in my city pay significantly higher property taxes than the small portion of people who do not (not to mention that a house with a garage will have a higher mortgage payment than one without). Craziness!

If you have some time, that webpage is pure gold. It is worth reading about some of his other opinions and adventures! Unfortunately Ken died in an accident years ago, but luckily for us, a friend is maintaining it in its original form. Ken is one of my primary motivators to actually go forth and try bicycling, like yourself, as a replacement for a car completely. I bet he would be happy to know he has helped convert at least two :D

Hello. Just to let everyone know I made Vlog #2 and posted it just under my first vlog on this thread. Enjoy :)

Peakster how long does it take to get dressed for the great outdoors? Nice blog how much cash was the extra cloths? :turtle:

I takes probably about 90 seconds to put on all of that attire (assuming I don't have to look for it all). But remember, all of that isn't needed unless it's -46*C like it was a few days ago. If it's only -7*C or so on a sunny day, I could get away with a toque, thin gloves, a coat, and regular shoes.

The toque, thin gloves, scarf and headband came up to $4 at value village
The snow pants and boots came up to $32 at Zellers

I've had the black and green coat for years, so no idea how much that cost me. I'm sure I could find one a good one for under $50.

Awesome follow-up video. In Vermont I need to walk decent distances to get to and from school in cold weather. I use pants that would I guess be considered pajamas or sleeping pants under jeans and it seems to work out pretty well. If I felt like wasting money I would try underarmor. I'm sure months of not paying for vehicle repairs, gas, and insurance will pay for any clothing real fast. So when are you selling them? :p

I just purchased my new bicycle off ebay last night! So I need to wait a week before I have it in my possession. I'll probably hold off on using it until the snow and ice melts.

Gloria, the Ford Tempo is #1 on my list and she'll be sold when I'm in Regina next (which could be several weeks). I won't be selling the Geo until school is done because of the distances travelled between Regina and Winnipeg. Plus it's much easier hauling sculpture material with a car than by bus. I plan on making 'Farewell' videos of both cars just before they're sold.

Nice! What kind of bike is it? You're sure you're going to wait until the snow melts? :o Some people in Winnipeg have studded tires on their bikes for the winter. One guy e-mailed me from east Winnipeg and said that he always uses his bike to travel 5 miles... as long as temperatures are above -30*C :eek:.

A fair few people that e-mailed me after watching the first video suggested I buy a $1000 bike, but I think that's just crazy. I mean if I can buy a Ford Tempo for $200 (a car that can do 180km/h, has heat, and seats 5), why would I spend more money on something that's simply 2 wheels and a frame? I would have to ride a $1000 bike 6,000 kilometres before it became cheaper (per kilometre) than the Geo! Whereas I'll only have to go 450 kilometres on my $68 bike to displace the $/Km of the Geo.

...Actually, come to think of it: 450 kilometres on a bike is a lot!

Nice bike peakster. What company makes it? I looks to be chromoly steel (lighter steel then walmart bikes are made of).

How long does the snow pack last up there? I assume you have snow on the ground basically non-stop from december to march or april.

The bike is made by Norco. I actually made an entry in the EM Garage for it.

We can get permanent snow as early as October and we often get one last dump sometime in April. So basically 1/2 of the year. Some cities in the province of British Columbia have 250+ frost-free days of the year.

I would totally move to the west coast. The unfortunate thing is that the closer one gets to the coastline, the more expensive it is. I have a friend working in Vancouver and his 2 bedroom apartment is $1500 a month :( Whereas in Winnipeg I have friends renting posh bachelor suites for less than $400 a month.

I bought a Masi Vincere. Your bike is MUCH better suited for winter conditions than mine. I'm not sure it can fit the cyclocross tires I would need to consider riding it in the slushed, iced, and sanded streets we have. This will probably be my last winter in stuff this bad so I justified the purchase. It also cost me $400 (retail is around 3x that), but that is because I ride for sport. I would definitely say you made a great choice living in the great white north.

And 450 km isn't quite as much as you think ;) I started my summer as a skinny out-of-shape guy who struggled making a 15 mile (24 km) journey in decent time and finished the summer doing 250 miles (400 km) a week.

Peakster, I just did a price breakdown on my bike. $0.17 a mile or $0.101 a km

That is not too bad and it can only go down from there.

I just did a google search for images and wow, that does look like a nice bike.

Moving someplace in the country that doesn't see much snow?

Sounds like me :o. When I started biking after a 6 year absence, I was thinking to myself: "I don't remember riding a bike being so much work!" as I'm averaging about 10 mph.

Nice! How many miles have you gone with your bike in total?

EDIT: oh, I see you have 'miles displaced by bike' in your signature. Nice going! :)