Spring of 2010, we brought our car in for a routine service: oil change, tire rotation, fluids, etc. We were about to drive it all the way to Seattle, from San Jose, and thought it was a good idea to make sure the car was in good condition. Two years later, the car told us that we should change the oil again; so we did. And we noticed the odometer incremented about 4,000 miles. Yep. Life is quite different from California here.
According to the Federal Highway Administration, people of my age group (35~55) drive 18,858 miles a year. That will be 33,716 miles more than I did for these two years. Counting only the fuel, wear and tear, parking and toll, and probability of accidents, each mile driven costs about 35 cents. Driving only 4,000 miles in these two years saved me $11,800.
I used to believe a 30-minute commute was a good one. I knew people, while in Silicon Valley, that drive from San Francisco, San Ramon, or Gilroy to work everyday. That would be 60 to 90 minutes of driving, one way. Those are the people who brought up the average for my age group. In addition to nearly $6,000 they would spend on the car every year, they would also spend almost 500 hours in it. That’s 1.5 hours a day of life, every day.
I came to Seattle for a job. I thought a new city would be fun to explore and experience, like my years in Beijing. This city offered me all those, and a better lifestyle.