For someone who is not even thirty years old yet – my life is pretty fulfilled. I have great jobs, a great home, great friends – and even “fans” – but of all the things I have in my life, there is one thing that I don’t have that I am starting to realize that I can’t live without – a car.

I never realized until recently just how much being “carless” can have an impact on your life. From getting to work to running errands to simply getting around – not having a car can really make your life difficult, inefficient – and very limiting.

To get to and from work, I have to walk approximately ten blocks to take a bus to then take a train. On nice, warm days, I look forward to walking this distance because I’ll have good weather, my Discman and a good cigar – but when it’s cold and rainy like it is now – I would kill for a vehicle because if I had a car, I could drive to work and get a DOB pass to park near my building. So there would be no walking to a bus to a train. It would just be a quick drive.

The weekends are a big time for me to complete what I don’t have time to do during the week. From laundry to shopping to seeing my mom, I have a lot to do. Without the use of a car – these errands become almost impossible to complete. With the money I have spent on car services as of late – I could buy myself a Jaguar – but what other choice do I have? I have certain things that must get done no matter what. The errands themselves are easy to do – it’s the lack of a vehicle and the time it takes to either call a car service, take the bus, or rely on friend’s help that makes these errands so arduous.

It’s no secret that I am someone who loves to go out and have a good time. My nights are always full of things to do – but without a car – the nightlife suddenly isn’t as exciting anymore. Without a car, the concept of going out turns into finding someone with a car to join you, or having to put aside enough money for a cab back and forth, and the farther the distance from my house that I go – the more the cab will cost. If I had a car, the only concern about the evening’s plans would be my desire to go or not.

So for these reasons and more – my main goal and priority is to get my own car before the end of this year. I would love a brand new SUV – but at this point, I would settle for an olive green 1979 Pinto. As long as I have something that gets me from point A to point B and doesn’t require the use of a Metrocard, having to pay a car service driver, or relying on the kindness of others. The bottom line? Everything else in my life is great – so I think it is time to finally be my own driver instead of someone else’s passenger.