Category: Tales from the Road

Over 90% of households in America own at least one car. Over 10% of households own three or more vehicles. I guess we’re the minority report.

We haven’t owned a car in eight months. This month we revisited our decision to be car-less. I have to say, I don’t miss it. Between walking and the ease of public transport in Singapore, we are going to continue to be car-less.

I’ve written before about the joys of walking before. I’m often reminded of what comedian Steve Wright once said, “everywhere is within walking distance if you have the time.” We have shops, restaurants, parks, and a hospital within 10 minutes walk from our house. I can walk to work.

That doesn’t even take into consideration public transport. There are eight bus stops within 5 minutes of my house. The map below shows, in red, the parts of Singapore that I can reach from just one of those bus stops, without having to change buses.

If you add in connections to other routes and the metro system, there aren’t many places that I can’t get to in town. If you live in Singapore and want to check this out for yourself, use the Bus Routes Explorer.

I know that we’ll probably have to buy a car when we move back to the U.S., but for now I’m enjoying the long walks and one less bill to pay each month.

This weekend I journeyed to the southernmost point of continental Asia. At least that’s what the sign says.

I say journeyed, but the trip wasn’t very arduous. It is in fact in Singapore so I didn’t even leave the country. But I was struck by several thoughts as I stood next to the sign.

It’s a very nice sign posted on a small island just off of Palawan Beach in Sentosa. There is another sign on the island that says that this point is often described as the southernmost point of continental Asia. The sign goes on to explain that the island is connected to Sentosa island by a bridge. Sentosa island is connected to Singapore by a bridge. And Singapore is connected to Malaysia by, you guessed it, a bridge (in fact two bridges). Because of this logic, this location is described as the southernmost point . . . well, you get it.

So the first thought was that this title hangs on being connected to mainland Asia. If we discount bridges as connectors, the southernmost point of Asia is in peninsular Malaysia at  Tanjung Piai National Park.

So what is a continent and what determines what is and isn’t in Asia? This led me to remember Hank Green’s excellent Youtube post titled Continents are Dumb.

My next thought was that the sign is on the northern side of Palawan Island. Easily two-thirds of the island is further south than the sign. Furthermore, a good portion of Sentosa itself is further south than Palawan Island. The difficulty, I imagine, is that the southernmost point on Sentosa is in a private residential area.

This isn’t a secret. It’s apparent to anyone who looks at a map. So why is this point so popular? Because there’s a sign and everything. It makes for a good ‘selfie’ op. I just find it amusing. Do you know of any signs that are almost in the right spot as well?

I love getting mail, but the envelope that I just pulled out of my condominium’s mailbox fills me with frustration instead of joy. I sigh as I lock my mailbox and head toward the elevator. This is the fourth envelope that I’ve received this week like this.

Some annoyances are temporary in nature. Their effect on our lives is fleeting, and we quickly dismiss them and move on. Others begin as seemingly minor affronts to our good mood. Repeated over time, their cumulative effect compounds to create a more lasting effect. This envelope symbolizes the latter. My frustration stems from the fact that it is not addressed to me but to a former tenant of my apartment. And I’ve lived here for six months.

This post is directed toward Geoffrey Mountbatten, formerly of Australia. That is not his real name, of course. My annoyance with Mssr. Mountbatten has not moved me to violate his privacy in a public forum.

At last count, I’ve moved at least seventeen times in my life. Moving so frequently gives me sympathy for misdirected mail. Though it is possible to leave a forwarding address, it may not catch all letters. I understand that the initial month or so in a new apartment might include re-directing letters addressed to a former tenant. What I don’t understand is how this can continue for six months on an almost daily basis.

To be clear, these are not mass mailing. They are not addressed to Geoffrey or Current Resident. They appear to be bank statements, notices from a college, etc. I say appear to be because I have not opened a single letter. My response to each has been to scrawl a terse message on the front, “return to sender, addressee unknown,” and drop it back in the mail.

I thought that this patient repetition on my part would cause these misdirected missives to cease after a short time. It has not. Given the time that this apartment sat vacant before I arrived, it’s been almost a year since the Mountbattens called this place home. Geoffrey, in the unlikely event that you are reading this, please transmit the particulars of your new residence to any and all corporations, banks, and official institutions with which you regularly correspond. Thank you.

The last week of December usually puts one in an introspective mood. Annual lists are composed, citing the best and worst that the preceding year had to offer. Some travelers, especially those predisposed towards achieving frequent flier status, pause to tally up their mileage over the last year. I’m not normally inclined to keep score in this manner, but this morning curiosity got the best of me. It didn’t take long to figure out that my family had journeyed once around the world in 2015.

This journey was not a circumnavigation in the traditional sense of the word. Such an achievement usually requires one to travel around the world in one direction. A further requirement often stipulates that one cross at least one set of antipodes, thus ensuring the travel both crosses the equator and is a sufficient distance. Some might even take issue with labelling such a journey as an achievement. In ages past it certainly was, when traveling beyond one’s city or province was itself an adventure. A circumnavigation was an arduous undertaking that would consume months or even years. By contrast, in the modern era such a trip could be completed in the span of a weekend given sufficient monetary resources.

Our family traveled the equivalent of a circumnavigation and then some. The circumference of the Earth at the equator is a mere 24,902 miles. Our major trips this year totaled over 27,100 miles. This year saw us flying, as a family, over 23,500 miles. We endured a further 3,160 miles by car. Endure is the appropriate verb, I assure you, for road trips involving two children and innumerable stops to visit friends and family. To add variety to our itineraries, we traveled an additional 440 miles by train. Other modes of travel, too short to bother tallying, included ferries, tuk tuks, canoes, buses, and on foot.

Though family travel was the focus of our leisure time, my personal tally included the equivalent of another two trips around the earth on business related travel.

Looking at the calendar for 2016, we plan to go even further. Where will your travels take you in 2016?

I turned down a ride for the third time that day. I appreciated the offer, I truly did. But having walked five and a half of the six miles that I had planned for that day, I was determined to finish on foot.

For the first time in 20 years, I don’t own a car. I’m in transit between my last house and my next house, and it seemed easier to go without than to deal with shipping the car. All day long, I find myself checking my front pocket and wondering where I left my keys. Their absence sets off an initial panic until I remember the reason for it. It’s like a ghost sensation.

This experience has given me a new appreciation for the ease that my automobile brought to my life. A quick run down to the grocery store is now a 40 minute walk. Both ways. I calculate how much I can purchase not by how much cash I have but on how much weight I can carry. Some roads are less pedestrian friendly than others. Walking on the shoulder of the road when necessary, I’m reminded how small I am and big those semi trucks are.

Still, there are advantages. I am forced to slow down and take in the scenery. I can wander down trails that look interesting to me. I’ve found shortcuts and local parks that I didn’t know existed. Without my car radio blaring, I’m left with my own thoughts and the sounds of the birds around me.

I’m sure that I’ll enjoy the freedom that wheels bring once I get another car. Until then, I’m grateful for my feet and for the trail in front of me.