“Are you okay?” I ask my girlfriend, looking back down the walking trail at her.
“Yeah,” she says, “just give me a second.” She’s untangling her MP3 player’s earbuds, and tapping controls on its touchscreen. A minute later she’s hitting her stride, marching in time to the beat of the metal, and I grin wearily as I pick up my pace to keep up with her.
Welcome to Cary, North Carolina
Most towns seem to put all their transportation eggs in the “cars and roads” basket. The one where my girlfriend comes from doesn’t even have buses, or sidewalks outside of downtown.
Cary’s different. It has an extensive system of greenways, or walking trails, snaking throughout the city, with even more planned for the future. It also has C-TRAN, a bus system that goes just about everywhere … except our apartment. So our roughly biweekly commute, when we want to go shopping or do anything else in town, is a half-hour literal walk in the park.
That’s our workout routine. No weight-lifting, no cardio, not even pilates or yoga. We just don’t have a car (or car payments). So if we want to get anywhere — like back home, after the bus lines stop running — my girlfriend and I have to hoof it.
A bicycle built for two?
No, we haven’t tried bicycling either. We don’t have anyplace we could put bikes, plus we don’t have health insurance for in case we crash. Walking at night can be dangerous, but most places in town do have sidewalks, plus it’s a lot easier to hear cars coming when the wind’s not rushing past your face.
Besides that, we like walking. My girlfriend was in band in high school, and used to take hour-long walks in her neighborhood. I spent almost that long wearing a hole in the floor, in my last house, pacing indoors since I didn’t feel safe right outside.
Now we can walk anywhere we want, any time we want. Every day we either go out to the pond, or hike the trails in the nearby park. This weekend we found a rugged dirt trail, knotted with tree roots and dotted with bridges, that wound its way around a lake. It was exhilarating — I hadn’t been in the “real outdoors” in so long.
Not for everyone
Not everyone can work walking into their daily routine, for whatever reason. Some people, like my aunt, are disabled such that they can’t walk (or can’t walk very far). Others — millions of others — live places where driving is mandatory, or have schedules that don’t allow for the time that walking would take.
I consciously chose this lifestyle, because I wanted it. I didn’t want the danger and hassle of driving a car, or the expense of filling its tank. I personally think I’m ahead of the curve, because rising gas prices and unemployment mean more and more people will adopt this lifestyle — unfortunately, whether they want to or not.
But in the meantime? I’m having less of an impact on the environment, saving a ton of money on gas, and getting a serious regular workout. Plus, I have the best commute ever … and the best workout buddy ever.