Reading a wonderful book at the moment, "How to be Free" by Tom Hodgkinson, about casting of the shackles we didn't even know were there. It is not a self-help book...of sorts...though the concept is that way inclined. It follows the notions of sustainability and finding happiness in life through similar principles. Anyway, here's an excerpt i've just read on the bus, regarding the bondage of time-keeping:
"The automobile, for example, saves no time in the long run. Ivan Illinch once calculated that if you add up all the time you spend on a car, including the trips to the garage and the time spent earning the money to buy the fuel and maintain the vehicle, and divide by the number of miles you travel, then your average speed is 5mph. You would be faster on a bicycle. Speed, paradoxically, eats up our free time."
Brilliant!
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I like those calculations Tom provides. Automobile ownership provides people with the illusion of travelling through life at speed.
Not being a car owner myself, I prefer to get about by bike when it is viable to do so, by public transport when it isn't.
Aside from one's home, a car is the biggest 'thing' that weighs you down financially and metaphorically. I prefer to travel light, in both senses. Call it sustainable if you will, I call it being free.
mijori
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