I wrote up a long post about some of the things I thought about during the driving part of the trip, when I wasn't quizzing Pumpkin on her spelling bee words. But when I reread it, it struck me as sort of boring, so I'll set it aside and come back to it later.
For now, I'll just say: vacations are a good thing. Seeing friends you haven't seen in awhile is a good thing. Sitting on the beach watching your kids play in the sand is a good thing.
Back when I first started thinking about changing my work arrangements to get more flexibility, one of the things I wanted was the freedom to travel more now, when I'm healthy enough to be able to do most things and when my kids are young enough to still want to go places with me. I wrote a post about it, but I can't find it right now. Regardless, I haven't really made that happen yet. As I drove the last leg of our trip home yesterday, I thought about that wish again. I'd still like to figure out how to make it happen. My kids are great travelers (mostly: there was a little bit of whining about being stuck in LA traffic, but a lot of people whine about being stuck in LA traffic) and getting out and seeing new things with them is a lot of fun.
Anyone else have fun spring break plans? Do share.
It's pretty hard not to whine about L.A. traffic, actually.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I tell Coloradans is that LA county has 10 M people. CO has 4 M and they still whine about traffic as something that Californians brought to CO. NO. If Coloradans drove as few miles as Angelenos, their traffic would be a lot smoother.
ReplyDeleteThe entire Rocky Mtn region has much more area and a little bit more people than LA county. While I may drive lower MPH in LA to run my errands, I get them done in less time b/c of the much shorter distances.
The density also makes transit a viable option for many. Rail lines are fixed. Bus routes change infrequently. Thus, we shopped for our home by looking at transit lines that served our workplace and then looked at the places that were also near where we wanted to spend our free time.
Planning your life assuming you won't be able to drive whenever you want, wherever you want, is the key to low carbon living and a happy life in LA. We love it here.