My Month Without a Car

Found at: http://pleasurephoto.wordpress.com/tag/vernon-merritt-iii/

In all our time of staying in Durban the most interesting was a time when we stayed at a self-catering Bed and Breakfast. We were there for two months and the first month of that stay I found myself without a car. 

Always having had my own means of transport I have known the convenience of hopping in a car and leaving when it suites me; and not having to wait for a lift (seeing as there is limited public transport in South Africa).  I could go to work, do my grocery shopping, go here and go there. So I almost went crazy the first few days without a car. I was so used to going out it felt strange to stay at home the whole day. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wandered around, tried to get busy with something but soon gave up because I was antsy. I also had to walk to the shops if I’d forgotten to buy an ingredient for supper or if we ran out of food.  Quite a scary experience in Durban City Centre.

What I didn’t realise in that first week is that I’d have to become excellent at planning meals – just enough ingredients to last until we could do the grocery shopping the following weekend. I also found I had a lot more time because I wasn’t distracted with going to the shops unnecessarily, which meant I could do more studying. In total I got more done; became more efficient at planning meals; and found I had a less wasted time. I realised you can get by with less and in doing so can actually have more (more time in my case)! Not as bad as I had imagined being without a car to be! Use those precious inconveniences to learn and when you get your car back you will appreciate what you have.