Today I give up my car.  My lease is over and I'm turning the car in, returning my plates to the RMV, and cancelling my insurance.  Having grown up in southern California, my car has been an integral part of my life since I was sixteen.  From that point forward, my car has represented freedom. 

It Is Really Free?
But for the last few years as I've lived in the city and had to deal with the issue of parking, it has seemed like less of a freedom.  Even though I have a driveway where I live so I don't have to deal with trolling for on-street parking; it is a shared driveway and it means a constant shuffling of cars and negotiation of who will shovel it.  And when I park on the street in the winter, I can occasionally get a ticket for parking on the wrong side of the street (even though there are no signs to say this).

Paying for Freedom
And then there are the payments and insurance that come with a car.  It's not so bad when you own your car outright like I did my last car.  But this one I leased and therefore the payments were ever-present, whether I used the car or not.  And the truth of the matter is that I don't drive that often.  And I need to drive even less than I do.  (Let's face it, it's not going to kill me to walk a mile to the T stop.)

I know a woman who travels for months on end with Amma.  She doesn't own a car.  Not because she doesn't want one, but because while she is on the road volunteering her time, the meter on her car payments and insurance doesn't stop.  She is basically enslaved financially to her car if she owns one. 

The 4-Hour Work Week
Timothy Ferriss talks about creating a life where you can live for months abroad.  He doesn't maintain a residence.  And, while he doesn't say it in the book, I presume that he also doesn't own a car.  I'm thinking that I'm going to love the extra $500/mo. in my pocket.  I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about not being able to go out the door, jump in the car and go.  I'm having mixed feelings about it.  Does this add to my freedom, or take away from it?

Financial Freedom
While we're at it, let's talk about financial freedom.  A couple years ago, I had a month where I had a ton of extra cash coming in.  I spoke with all of the people I respected in business at the time and asked whether I should spend that money on creating a new brand image for the company or pay off the debt that I had accumulated during start-up.  Without exception, each recommended the new brand.  And, don't get me wrong, I love the new brand.  But I'm realizing that I took that advice a little too far.  As the year progressed and more money came in, I continued to spend it on things other than debt reduction.  Today, as I still service that debt, I'm wishing I had done more to pay it down that year.  My desire to cut loose and be free in the moment - using the money that was coming in to take ten different trainings that year, to make up for the lean years where I could afford to take any - has limited my freedom today. 

Many Forms of Freedom
Freedom takes many shapes.  Most often we think about financial freedom, but there is also freedom of thought which comes through vigilant attention to what assumptions we allow others and ourselves to place on our thinking.  There is freedom of expression which is a function of our willingness to take a risk and others' willingness to receive our offering.  Then there is freedom associated with people.  Do you have attachments to many people or to none or somewhere in between?  Who we are attached to does in some ways restrict our freedom.  Depending on the person, it could restrict it a lot.  (We all know those people.)

Freedom in Relationship
People who are single are often thinking about being in relationship and those in relationship are often jealous of the freedom of the singles.  It seems the grass is always greener.  But the fact is that freedom without connection isn't really worth it.  This is why singles want to be in relationship.  It's all great and fine to do whatever you want, whenever you want to, but it's even better to have someone to share it with.  But with relationship comes compromise  You give up some of your freedom in order to be with the other person.

The Balance of Freedom vs. Engagement
I don't know that I could live like Timothy Ferriss does.  Oh, I could do it for a while and I'd have a great time, but I need more connection than that.  I need people who know me, who have history with me, who know who I am in all kinds of situations.  It's a reality check.  It's grounding.  It's a place to belong. 

The debt that I took out years ago to get this business off the ground provided me with the freedom to leave my job and run my own business.  That business has provided me with ultimate freedom to come and go, work or not work as I choose.  Is it worth the trade of some debt service?  I think so.  (Although the next time a chunk of cash comes in, it's going to pay some of that debt down so that I can have even more freedom.)

Walking the Tightrope
So, this is what it comes down to.  As a culture, we long for freedom - it's in our blood.  Our ancestors came to this land seeking it.  It was important enough to them to leave everything they knew and set out for places unknown.  And that blood still flows in our veins.  We are freedom seekers.  The question is:  what are you willing to give up in exchange for your freedom?  I was willing to live with debt and the uncertainty of being an entrepreneur not knowing when the next paycheck would arrive.  Timothy Ferriss is willing to live in a strange city where he doesn't speak the language and just as he gets comfortable, to move again.  Some people are willing to live on the street or on other people's couches or on communes.  There are many choices.  What is yours?

More in the Giving Up My Car Series

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Giving Up My Car - An update

More On Ending My Car Lease

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