As a preface, I will admit that while I hate traffic, I do generally love driving. Not for any particular reason, just the act of making a machine obey my whims

As a preface, I will admit that while I hate traffic, I do generally love driving. Not for any particular reason, just the act of making a machine obey my whims and take me where I want to go, ideally with AC and a good stereo. It satisfies some primal need in me, and I enjoy being the driver when we're on vacation, in a rental car. However, I am now in the third car-free period of my life, and I am not likely to buy a car again anytime soon, unless circumstances force me to do so. I grew in up a small town in the countryside, where I will certainly admit that not having a car would have been a major setback. But I've since lived in slightly bigger towns, where a car-free existence was easy, and now I live in Copenhagen, where the bicycle is basically king. The only reason I had a car here was because I thought I couldn't do without it. I see a lot of comments about people not wanting to interact with other people, and expressing fear of diseases, psychopathic homeless and people and a whole host of other -- frankly rather paranoid -- ideas. I use public transport and bike every day, and you absolutely don't have to interact with people, if you don't want to. And besides, people watching can be fun. There are some really bizarre and interesting folks out there.