Today I’m spelling it VW! After being a single-car family for the last nine months back in the US, for three years total if you include Italy, yesterday we bought a second vehicle, a used VW Passat. Today I’m feeling is a vast sense of relief.
It’s been harder than I expected to have one car in the US. It seemed so easy in Italy, but our lives were different there. It would be easier here if all I did was go to work and come home on a regular schedule. Or all my husband did was go to work and come home on a regular schedule. Or one of us was a completely stay at home parent. Or if no one in the family had any outside activities. Or if we did everything together. Or if all of our activities were accessible within walking distance. Or we lived in a big city with more frequent and extensive public transportation. Or we lived in a place where it was sunny all the time, where we could bike or scooter without getting wet. Or if we had all the time in the world to be flexible around transportation.
None of those things are true for us.
So lately it came down to either organizing and making tradeoffs based on transportation, or buying a second vehicle. Looking at everything, the answer was clear. It was time to get a car.
I worked so hard to make it work with one vehicle this long, I thought I would be disappointed. But I’m not disappointed in the slightest, only relieved. I’m surprised at how much relief I feel. I didn’t realize how much stress must have been building up inside me around the transportation situation. I’m happy we went this long, because I now know the tradeoffs I am and am not willing to make. I am confident that buying a second vehicle was the right decision for us, whereas nine months ago I was not convinced.
For those of you who live in the US and manage a family with one vehicle, I truly salute you! And you’ll find me happily waving to you with a smile on my face, from the ranks of the two-vehicle families again.
Cultural Reference Note: The question “How do you spell relief?” is from a 1970’s TV commercial for an antacid in the US. The answer was R-O-L-A-I-D-S. I wonder if equating this phrase with “relief” means I watched too much TV as a child…
I’m chuckling at your last comment on relief….lol!
But I am also saluting YOU, as I really don’t know how or if we could ever be a one car family. With my son in 2 sports right now and my daughter in high school and being a driver now, 2 cars are sometimes hard. But 3 cars are out of the question for us. So kuddos to you for doing that long. I’m thinking not only relief, but freedom!!
Oh do I remember that commercial for Rolaids! And my grandma used to carry them with her in her purse, so when I opened it up that was all I would smell. What a fun memory that brings.
Your thoughts about owning that second vehicle resonate with me. It’s just my husband and I at home now, and for a while we did make do with one vehicle. But a few years ago we decided to get a used truck for him, and there are times when I don’t know how we’d get on without it. So even with my empty nest I understand your need for that other car.
I miss a lot of cultural references, but Rolaids was not one.
I don’t think this is spam, so I checked the box.
I don’t think it’s spam either Taia! Nice to hear from you…
I am amazed that you made it this long as a one car family, especially with two jobs and your son!! It’s just two of us now, I no longer work and Mr. H. is semi-retired and we still have two cars! Even our two schedules don’t mesh! Congrats on the VW and feeling of relief!
Congratulations on your new VW, Kat! And happy driving.
my husband & I work at the same place & we still need two cars! Sad to say… but we rarely have an opportunity to carpool together! boo! Wish this were not true… husband travels throughout the county visiting different school sites which doesn’t match my afternoon agency meeting schedule. Some day we’ll get rid of one car…