I recently took a trip back to Tucson. I drove there from San Francisco. That’s a long drive (fourteen or so hours depending on the route that you take) but I had a sibling with me for at least part of the drive each way so it wasn’t so bad.

To be honest, I was kind of excited about driving. I gave up my car when I moved to San Francisco. Since I don’t drive daily anymore, driving has now become fun. The rental car was brand new, it was equipped with satellite radio and I got really lucky with low traffic both ways.

What I didn’t like was the driving that I had to actually do while I was back home. It feels like it takes forever to get anywhere in Tucson. The truth is that it takes me just as long to get places here but that’s because I’m walking here. I’m active and surrounded by interesting sights so it doesn’t feel as time-consuming as just sitting in traffic does.

I still drive. I’m not opposed to cars. However, I’m really glad that I don’t own one anymore!

Check out my top ten reasons to give up your car.

Tags: car, car-free, driving, give up your car, green, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, no car, society, stop driving

As a SmartChick I find myself completely interested in impossible car design concepts. For awhile I was totally in love with the Aptera, a three-wheeled car that’s designed by a company in Southern California. I don’t particularly even want a car at all but for half a second I was convinced that this would be the car that I did want if I were to get a car because I just loved how unique and innovative and interesting the design of this green vehicle was.

The car that I’m feeling that way about at the moment is the Terrafugia Transition. Appealing to all of those people who have wondered when we’d have flying cars like the Jetson’s had, this is said to be the world’s first flying car (although in design it’s really more of an airplane that can also do well on the road).

The Terrafugia made some headlines this month when it was finally tested out in the air by a pilot in New York. Launched as a concept in 2006 by MIT business and aerodynamics students, it was finally ready to be flown for real. It only lasted 37 seconds in the air but it was pronounced a success in terms of a milestone for getting the car ready for the road.

The car is basically a plane that can be folded up to look and drive like a car. It reaches highway speeds, gets 30mpg using regular fuel and functions as a small two-seater car would function. The difference is that it can fly distances up to 500 miles away (in theory, anyway) so it can be used for some light travel that isn’t on the road.

It’s an interesting concept. The makers of this car are pegging 2011 as the date when it could be customer-ready so we’ll have to just keep an eye on them until then and see what happens in terms of the developing the design.

Tags: airplane car, auto, car, car plane, concept car, design, flying car, hubpages, innovation, jetsons, kathryn vercill, terrafugia, transition