The Bus Project

Six months ago my husband sat me down and said he had something to "run by me." Hesitant I sat and listened while he explained to me his desire to sell our second car. My first thought was "this is crazy-the car is payed off already!" I mean, who doesn't want a second car around for the "just in case" times? He went on and on about how he wanted to take the bus (and we don't live in a city where people take public transportation-most people have their own cars and just drive). If he took the bus to and from work we would not need his car. We could save money by not paying insurance, the money from selling the car, and the random repairs that come up, not to mention gas money(which is basically a wash b/c he would have to actually by a bus pass). He answered every question I threw at him. I could see how excited this idea made him so I said "alright, but first you have to take the bus and try it out before we just up and sell the car." 

So he did. He's been taking the bus to work and back now for 3 weeks and really enjoying it. And here are a few of the changes I've seen come of it, changes for the better:

1) We now walk together the 8 blocks to and from the bus stop to drop him off. When I add in an extra loop down a side street I can log one mile in the morning and one in the afternoon-score! Exercise without trying!

2) More family time. Before he had to leave earlier because he had to park far away and take a shuttle to his department. Now we get about an extra 15-20 minutes at home each morning before walking out the door because the bus drops him off RIGHT outside his department. 

3) More awareness of the community-after a few days of standing out waiting for the bus after work Nathan noticed that there was no bench or cover. He's looking into contacting the city to see about getting something out there for the people waiting to sit on and be sheltered under while they wait. If the city does not provide it he will ask his employer-something as simple as a bench could go a long way.

4) Less stuff to worry about. Honestly I'm now looking forward to selling the car to have one less thing to worry about and maintain. 

5) Nathan has more time to "decompress" on the way home, since he isn't driving. That means by the time he sees us he is ready to transition into the "daddy!!!!" mode easier.

Those are just some of the benefits in the first few weeks. Will it always be easy? No, I'm sure the winter months will be challenging to get to and from the bus stop, but I'm confident we can figure that out as it comes. What really sealed the deal was when Pope Francis put out his latest encyclical entitled "Laudato Si’"or "Care for our common home." Read it online free here. There is even a small section on public transportation ( I knew I had officially lost this argument when I saw that!)

So for now-we are set to try and sell Nathan's car. Hoping to sell it in the next month or so. I'll keep you posted on the bus project!