Be the first in your group to get your Undriver License™ — it’s great fun! You pledge to reduce automobile use — yours or others’. Seattle founder Julia Field’s creative project is sparking imaginations and creativity by changing how people think about getting around — be it skateboards, sailboats, or just plain skipping the trip! Undrivers of all ages are jumping on the bandwagon, changing assumptions, and telling their empowered stories. (Janaia’s outrageous Undriver License™ goes wherever her bike goes.) (Episode 205.) You can get your own Undriver License™ (or gift a friend!) at [www.undriving.org].
Watch video | Audio | iTunes | Transcript | Review: How “Undriving Licenses” Encourage a Rethink of Mobility | Janaia’s journal: Getting My Official Undriver License™
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How this resonates with me because of my own story. At 52, I have lived most of this lifetime without a vehicle – either by necessity and/or choice. I have been terribly cold, sopping wet, nearly hit by automobiles many times, and much more. I have also felt vastly more alive, far more attuned with other life and everything around me (as you make mention of), stayed far more healthy and physically-conditioned than we generally do when accustomed to traveling by vehicle, been unencumbered by the costs associated with having an auto, had a sense of empowerment that I could walk for miles – if need be – in an emergency (or by choice), and (also) much more. I would not change this life choice for anything – regardless of it often being perceived as inconvenient and largely questionable by many people over the decades. As a result, I have cultivated a particular degree self-reliance (though how I appreciate and value the idea of community – relying upon each other as well). With chemical sensitivities, I do not use public transportation. I do, however, walk or ride a bike to all destinations. I ride with others in their vehicles, perhaps, 3 or 4 times per year. In actuality, riding in a car just does not feel good to me anymore – too enclosed and stifling. At the same time, I have long thought in this manner – without children, not being elderly (though certainly not a definitive), etc. I perceive that I am far more (able) to make this choice. Since it is evident that there are far too many of us on the road, if I can do this…then why not? Each of us contributes to that which benefits all of society as we can? What I would really appreciate – that this wonderful undriver license of Julia’s conception could be valid in lieu of the state ID card (at the very least and if one does not drive at all). To me, this is a further extension of Transition, Occupy, and related movements by we-the-people to create the society that WE want – not that which larger entities seek to impose upon us.