An hour better lived

How much time do you waste sitting inside your car travelling from A to B? I’ve just been thinking how car transport affects the way we think about travel. I’ll give you an example from our family. Last Friday night, after a busy family week, we decided to go to dinner at a local pub. Often a car trip would have been in order, however feeling keen, and the weather lovely, we decided to walk there instead. It was a pleasant 2.4km walk with the bike trailer converted to a ‘pram’ for the 5 year old who had a cold. We had a nice meal, and headed home. The trip home along the new bike path by the river was not direct, but a lovely evening walk, and took us close to 1 hour to complete. Talking with a friend later she was a bit shocked at it taking an hour. Thinking about this later I realised car travel is often a bit like travelling in suspended animation, waiting for the trip to be over. But what we experienced in the walk home was an hour where we were all together as a family. The boys weren’t watching telly or on the computer, and instead were chatting with us and enjoying the walk. (and I could feel better about the extra cake and custard I had for dessert). That hour was not a wasted hour. It was an hour better lived.  And something I feel we will be doing a lot more.