Healthy Living and Traveling in Mexico: A BICYCLE RIDE TO THE GROCERY STORE

Thursday, December 18, 2014

A BICYCLE RIDE TO THE GROCERY STORE

On our Way Home, Bike Baskets Loaded with Groceries

We Sold Our Cars!

This autumn we sold both of our cars, the Prius Plug-In and the PT Cruiser. Then Jon sold his Toyota Tacoma pick-up and all of his trailers. That was one of our biggest life changes! As full-time RVers, we decided to eliminate the expense of towing a car. The sale of our vehicles put some money in our bank accounts. It also cut out the expense of setting up a vehicle to tow and maintaining the vehicle. In addition, we have eliminated the insurance and gasoline expenses for an automobile.

We are now on our way back to Mexico for the winter. Currently, we are staying in Parker, Arizona for a couple of weeks, enjoying a break from the cold weather in Oregon while I finish publishing my book. We are anxious to get south of the border where the weather is a little warmer, but this is a nice town to stay and rest for now. Parker is small enough that we have been able to ride our bikes everywhere we needed to go!

The best part about riding our bikes to run our errands is the exercise we are getting! We road our bicycles to Safeway to buy groceries earlier this week, a three mile round-trip from the Blue Water RV Park in Parker. Today we road 3.3 miles round trip to Wal-Mart to pick up some green Slime for flat bike tires and a few more groceries. I am very proud that we are riding our bicycles to do our errands instead of hopping in a car every time we need something. Of course, the weather here in Parker, AZ has been sunny and cool this week, perfect for riding our bikes.

Switching to bicycles as our primary mode of transportation has required a real change in our mindset. In the United States, we are programmed to hop in the car every time we need to go somewhere or buy something. Most Americans say “I’m going to run to the store” when they mean they are going to hop in their car and drive there. When we told our family and friends that we were going to sell our cars, they thought we were crazy. Some said, “But your car gives you your independence!” Others said, “How will you get around?” Our answer was, “By walking, riding our bicycles, taking a bus, or taking a taxi.” We found that it not only saved us money, it simplified and slowed down the pace of our life. That is “Healthy Living"!