Anna lives in a small Wisconsin town nestled between the Mississippi River and a bluff where she and her family go for some fresh air and nature hiking and biking.
She and her husband have two kids, and everyone is active in the community. And until about a year ago, they had two cars… just like you would imagine a family of four having. But they decided to change things up a bit.
Breaking the Norm
We had the typical vehicles. A truck and an SUV. I still remember going to the car dealership to trade in both for one car, and they were like, “What? But you have kids?!”
Anna
Over the last 70 or so years, we built our cities in the US around the fact that everyone has a car. We built out homes with this in mind. Suburban homes have 2 car garages. It is the norm.
So when Anna and her husband decided to downsize from two cars to one, people were, understandably confused.
How are you going to function as a family of 4 with only one car?
I’m sure when they told them that they would be getting an e-bike as the 2nd vehicle, the car dealers still thought it wouldn’t work. How could it?
Anna had been working remotely since way before the pandemic, but the last few years made all of us refocused a little..
During this time, it became more apparent to them that she didn’t drive her car that much. She didn’t need to. The car was mostly idle. Which then begged the question, “why are we making car and insurance payments for something we don’t use.”
Why are we making car and insurance payments for something we don’t use.
I am sure they ran the numbers and 2 cars just didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Those numbers add up. So her husband had the idea to trade in their cars for a more practical set up with one car + a cargo e-bike.
No Excuses
They decided to give it a go. If they could make it one whole year with this new set up. They would already save a bunch of money, and most likely have a little fun along the way.
I guess giving up a car is the same amount of commitment as getting a car. There is a trade-off either way you are going. Having an e-bike should be okay, but nevertheless… it is a leap.
Anna knew this. She knew that it might be easy to put off running an errand until she could use the car. So she took away any excuse from the beginning by making sure her bike had all the racks and rails it needed to be used for cargo and kids.
Communication is Key
Every big change in habit or lifestyle comes with bumps in the road. However, when I talked with Anna, I didn’t get a sense that any of those bumps were bumpy enough to remember.
Except for this bump…
Flying kids aside… there was one thing that she mentioned did need to change to make it work. Communication.
Of course Anna still needs to use the car for things. They have two active kids. They do community events. Car needs to be used. So she and her husband have to plan a little more and communicate a little more. Make sure everyone is on the same page wheel.
Sounds more like a bonus than a bump.
First Movers
Already being into cycling definitely helped making this switch, but still, to her knowledge, they are the only family they know who has downsized to one car. But I expect there will be more to follow.
Come to think of it… she is always the first one that joined us to be interviewed for Popcycle. Trendsetters all around.
But I want to point this out, because even though we all see people pedaling around effortlessly on e-bike these days, most people don’t know someone who has made the leap. It is not that easy to see from the ground level unless you know someone personally.
It can done though.
Smiles all the way
Running a short errand isn’t something that we get excited about. It’s nothing bad... it’s just something that we do. Need some milk? Go to the store. Need to send out a package? Head to UPS.
Driving a few blocks to take care of something is nothing. Easy peasy.
But if you turned that 15 minute by car into a 20 on two wheels… it becomes something to smile about.
Anna and her family started this as an experiment a year ago, so at this point, we can’t really call it an experiment. It is just part of their daily routine.
And one that makes them smile.
Thanks again to Anna for sharing her stories. Have great time up there in Wisconsin!
One Car. More Smiles.