It’s been 5 months since we became a one-car household. Our plan is to try it for a full year before we decide if we can continue sharing a single vehicle. And if you know anything about Michigan winters, you’ll understand that walking and biking will be significantly less fun in February. Granted, we have the ideal lifestyle for it: both Dan and I work at home, we walk the boys to school every day, a library and shopping district is within walking distance too.

So far we’ve realized that the only thing we had to adjust was our communication. Car trips these days simply require scheduling, which is easy enough since we share our Google calendars. We have easy access to each other’s schedules at any time of day. Once you’ve had children, and had to coordinate every trip, errand, and chore around childcare duties, this isn’t much of a stretch.

Our friends and neighbors were very supportive. So supportive that we’ve had several offers to borrow a car if needed, and two people even suggested carpooling to the grocery store each week. That got me thinking: why is carpooling largely associated with driving to work? Why don’t people carpool on errands? I have a feeling that, like most things these days, people would say they’re too busy. Too busy to coordinate with someone else’s schedule. Too busy to plan ahead. Too busy to do anything except rush through the store and finish the shopping as fast as possible. Nobody I know enjoys shopping every week. I would think bringing a friend along would make it less of a chore. You could compare meal ideas on the way there. Or consider it a prelude to slow food. Slow shopping. In a world of fast food, a little thoughtfulness and planning might improve how you shop and what you cook.

Stephanie is a work-at-home mom living in West Michigan with her husband Dan and 2 boys. While she doesn't spend her days hiking the backcountry she has found navigating suburban-life can be just as tiring. Call her a soccer-mom and she'll kick your ass.
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