How To Retire 6 Months Every Year
(Page 5 of 22)
May/June 1970
By Irv Thomas
First of all, you will have to find some way of getting your job and your home within a mile or two of each other. Whether this means changing one or the other is for you to decide, but it is a basic requirement, for nothing can kill resolve faster than a bad commuting trip twice a day. A rare exception to the "two mile" rule can be made if you have access to a truly good transit system. But don't rely on one that takes an hour in each direction and don't rely on car pools or good neighbors who happen to be going your way. Part of your purpose is to learn how to live without the beast.
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The moving bit may be required for other reasons. It is essential that you live within close walking distance of a reasonably good shopping district and that there be some kind of public transit (preferably a couple choices) within range of your home. Those are the hard requirements. Beyond that, I would suggest that you be near a library, a park, some decent inexpensive eateries, and in the kind of neighborhood you think you might enjoy (people, trees, whatever turns you on.)
What we have accomplished by this move is the neutralization of potential pressure points. You still have the car, but you're going to stick it in a garage. You might not be using it very often any more.
Now you are going to walk to work - every day, rain or shine. If the weather really gets heavy, treat yourself, to a bus ride, not a car. But try to avoid any kind of ride. This is psychological conditioning. You are re-experiencing your youth and relearning patterns of living that don't involve an automobile. And you will do one more thing during this breaking-in period. Each day you walk to work, you'll set aside whatever it used to cost for driving to work. Gas money, parking money, bridge or highway tolls if there were any.
When the pot has $100 in it - or sooner if you can't wait that long - go down to the local bicycle shop and order yourself the flashiest 3 or 10 speed bicycle you can find because you have earned it. The walking has put you in good enough condition for you to start riding the bike the day it's ready. Now you are really on your way to beating the game.
During the weeks you've been walking to work, you've probably gotten further into the spirit of the thing by doing most of your shopping on foot and using the bus lines for short trips that are outside the immediate neighborhood. You have found that many things you habitually went downtown or to a favorite store across town for are obtainable right in your own neighborhood, and you have even begun to develop a sense of identity with the shops in the area.
Now, with the bike, your neighborhood will expand from one mile to several, and you'll find yourself seldom taking the bus anymore except when weather dictates or you know you'll bring back packages (although you'll be surprised at how much a bike carrier with a few straps can hold.) If you have not been leaving the car in the garage that much, it's time you begin to do so. This is the part you'll have to put some will power into to start, but very soon you'll be realizing that 'that trip wasn't necessary' after all. Remember: It is the automobile itself, not the need of it, which encourages its use.
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