am i strange? i haven't owned a cell phone or a car for 3.5 years

[Gato Moteado]

even here in costa rica, nearly everyone has a cellphone.

i sold my car and dumped my cell phone when i left the states about 3.5 years ago. so that's how long i've been without them.

the post in GD from the person who was almost hit by a driver talking on a cell phone made me think about this.

i imagine, when i get some cash i'll eventually by my own 4x4 so i have better access to some of my properties down here. and i'll eventually need a cell phone if i move into an area where there is no landline phone service. but for now i'm still car-and-cell-phone-free.

anyone else in DU ever throw away their car and cell phone to see what it's like to live a bit simpler?

[MercutioATC]

1. Not at all. I plan to retire to CR in 8 years and I don't intend to own a car.

...a cellphone, yes, but no car.

[Auggie]

2. I didn't own a car for ten years

Wasn't a necessity in San Francisco

[fascisthunter]

3. Nope.....

in all honesty, I wish most of the time, that I didn't have to have a cell phone or a car.

[blindpig]

4. I've never owned either of those devices

and I'm in my 50's.

Behold, I live, and enjoy my life very much, thank you.

[Gato Moteado]

9. excellent!

you're a great example for all of us!

[taterguy]

5. The only reason I have a cell phone is because of my bike

One flat 18 miles from home and about 5 miles from the nearest pay phone convinced me it was worth having.

[bikebloke]

15. Carry a patch kit and pump.

I learned the hard way, after pushing my bike 3 1/2 hours with a flat. A half hour from home, a biker stopped to help, but I was nearly there. They showed me a thing called Tuffy strips to put inside the tires for extra protection. They've certainly helped.

[Gato Moteado]

23. yeah, they're definitely great for emergency situations

i'll need one when i'm living where i won't have a landline.

[Bluzmann57]

6. Well I'm hoping to retire to Philippines in a few years

And I'll keep the cell, but don't plan on driving. Beautiful place and plenty of other types of transportation.

[DailyGrind51]

7. I never owned a cell phone or subscribed to cable!

Unfortunately, I need my car to get to work.

[roody]

26. I have not either. Just a car.

[dysfunctional press]

8. when i lived in the city, i didn't have either either.

but we've gone a bit more rural, so it's nice to have a set of wheels. after my aunt and uncle died in the space of two months last summer, i bought my uncle's mini-van from my cousin. i've never been fussy about what kind of car i drive, and she needed to sell it to pay for the second funeral.
i also finally got a cellphone this year- it's a "pay-as-you-go" phone- i put $150 in minutes on when i got it in february, and i still have $119 left on it.

[tridim]

10. I had a cell phone for about two months, that was all I could take.

I hated being on call 24/7.

As for cars, I've been trying to sell my project car for a year but nobody wants to buy an Italian sports car that gets 20mpg. My plan was to sell it and buy a good scooter for the summer, but that probably wont happen this year.

[Gato Moteado]

14. yeah, the being accessible 24/7 is what turns me off about cell phones...

...i mean, you can turn them off or just not answer them, but then friends and family get pissed. so, if i don't have one, i have an excuse.

[bikebloke]

11. Never had a cell phone.

And it's been 16 years since I drove a car. Even longer since owning one. No regrets.

[azmouse]

12. Do whatever works for you.

Whether it's right for anyone else doesn't matter.

[barbtries]

13. how did you manage to go live in costa rica?

are you american? any job openings? i have a family of 7 total and my son has been there twice and expressed the desire to live there. i think i could bear it.

i didn't throw my car away, i wrecked it, same difference. i was in los angeles and managed for over a year without it. it was a mixed bag. the RTD in LA is pathetic unless you only travel on certain routes. i couldn't always go where i wanted when i wanted. on the other hand i got a lot of reading done on the bus. and my son and i had some quality time together every day as i walked him to school on my way to the bus. i walked a lot, good exercise. i'd do it again if i had to, but on balance it's the time that goes away waiting for the buses that makes me come down on the side of preferring to have a car. presently, i'm 1/2 hour away from work by car so imagine it would take at least two hours by bus. plus there is no store in walking distance of my house here in NC.

really interested in how you swung moving to costa rica to live. thanks

[MercutioATC]

16. Lots of good info on moving to/living in Costa Rica here:

http://www.therealcostarica.com/

...and here:

http://arcr.net/ (though the forums seem to be down at the moment)

[barbtries]

17. thanks!

i'll check them out and send the links to my son

[MercutioATC]

18. My pleasure. I've been researching retiring there for about 7 years.

The ARCR forums have dealt with practically any question anybody could ever have. Great resource.

[Gato Moteado]

21. do you have a property here?

do you ever come down for vacation during the year?

what part of the country do you plan on living in?

let's get a costa rica DU meetup going and drink some cervezas next time you're down here. one of my good friends, arcos, is a tico DUer that lives not too far from me.

[MercutioATC]

24. Not yet...doing an exploratory trip this coming March or April.

I've been to CR before, but this will be my first property-scouting trip. I'm looking on the Osa Peninsula, near Dos Brazos.

I'd love to get together for a few cervezas when I get down there.

Where are you located?

[Gato Moteado]

36. i love peninsula de osa!

the land prices there have shot through the roof though. up until 3 or 4 years ago they were practically giving away land. they thought nobody wanted it. now that the rest of the pacific coast has been bought up, they made a land rush on the osa.

i've got a property across the gulf in the golfito area.

[Gato Moteado]

19. hey there.....

hey, we're all american, from canada on down to the southern tip of south america. so, i think what you meant to ask is "am i from the US?". yes, i was born and raised in chicago.

moving to costa rica was a piece of cake. it's a little tougher now, only because the cost of living has really risen here over the last 3 or 4 years. but if you have a little cash saved up, you can do it. it was easier for me because i'm single and i didn't have any kids. i was able to sell most of my stuff and my house in austin, tx and slide in down here and buy a couple pieces of property near the pacific coast before the real estate prices went crazy. i couldn't afford to buy what i have if i had to do it now.

if you're attached to the US or the possessions that the lifestyle in the US allows you to have, a move to central america might be difficult for you...unless you're rich and you could recreate the same lifestyle down here in one of the suburban areas here where many gringos live. but then why bother moving here?

if you don't mind learning spanish and you want to live in a different culture and don't mind giving up some of the luxuries from back home, you'd love it down here especially once you started making friends with the costa ricans who are peace loving, family oriented, generous and fun people. and then there's the rainforest and the beautiful coastal areas if you want to get away from city living. that's why i'm here.

as for jobs...if you want to come here it's best to set yourself up with a job in the US that you can do remotely. the cost of living is high here compared to other countries in latinamerica, but compared to the US it's much lower, so even with a part time consulting gig that you can do over the internet you could live comfortably.

so, you asked "how did you manage to go live in costa rica?". the answer is it was easy. we can do anything we want in life and go anywhere we want to go. it's easier if you have money, something i don't have anymore since i spent all my cash on rainforest properties. but you can do it with very little money...it just depends on what standard of living you're willing to live with. i make much less money than i did in the states where i was a high tech guy in austin. my standard of living is much lower here, but i think my quality of life is much higher. it's a struggle financially right now as i'm living paycheck to paycheck again and i'm always on the edge of just selling my house here in town and moving into the middle of one of my rainforest properties where i have a small wooden house that we built from available materials (fallen trees, etc). but then i realize that would be tough right now and i need some kind of nest egg...so i'm still working and swinging for the fences, waiting for my windfall. then, it's off to the middle of the rainforest with enough money to bring electricity and better access to my house there!

so if you have a dream of making a big change in your life, don't let inertia or fear of change or fear of risks stop you. whatever it is you want to do or where ever it is you want to go, just do it. you can always go back to your current life if it doesn't work out.

[barbtries]

46. yeah you got that right i did mean

are you a unitedstatesian? okay, so i gather there's not a lot of commerce there available to working people. do you work remotely yourself?

in a couple years if everything goes right on the job i have now i may actually be able to consider making a move down south. if my children/grandchildren came along i would happily do so. it was about three or so years ago i guess when my son suggested that we should all just move to costa rica. as i said, he's visited twice and really loves the place. we'd have to be on the coast though, he surfs and has to be able to go surfing.

i'm not afraid of a lifestyle change, been poor most of my life. possessions - i do have a few family heirlooms that i would hate to lose. pictures. but otherwise i have lived pretty sparely for quite awhile.

i bet you never have to put on a pair of long pants, huh? it sounds heavenly in a lot of ways. still and all it would be very hard for all of us to make such a radical move without being financially secure. i would have to know i could get back to the states if necessary, i'm sure we all would need to know that. so. i dunno.

since i moved from CA to NC last year i know i have the grit to make the big move. also that i miss my children and grandchildren fiercely. so it's a pipe dream at this point. but we'll see. i have another son who will be 18 in two years and i swear i will remove him from this country if necessary to make sure the powers that be can't throw him at some asinine unjust war for their own enrichment. just kinda gotta see how it plays out over here in the next few years, if it keeps getting worse or starts getting better.

thanks for sharing!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

20. no I too have never owned a cell phone and when I lived in the city I didn't own a car

[OneBlueSky]

22. I still have a car, which I put about 3,000 miles/year on . . .

but I've never had a cell phone . . . don't need one, don't want one, can't afford one . . . besides, the notion that people can get in touch with me 24/7 is something I can do without, thank you very much . . .

call my land line -- if I'm not in (or just not picking up), leave a message . . .

if it's important, I'll get back to you -- or not . . .

[Fireweed247]

29. with ya on the cell phone

:rofl:

[bdamomma]

25. no and just imagine how much money you saved.

[nam78_two]

27. Never had a car-of course it helps that I have been on university campuses

almost all my adult life. I do own a cell, but am thinking of getting rid of it.

[SheilaT]

28. I do have both a car and a cell phone.

But in my twenties, I lived for seven years without a car in the Washington, DC area, and this was before the Metro was open. I was an airline employee and took full advantage of the travel benefits then. Fellow employees, who knew perfectly well how much money I made because the pay scales were known to all, would ask me how I could afford to travel so much. And I always said that it was because I didn't have a car.

I got my cell phone when twice in one week my kid's school was trying to reach me so he could be sent home sick, and because I was a "stay-at-home" mom, it meant who knew where I might be at any given time. I certainly wasn't at a workplace where I could be located. So I got the cell phone, and especially appreciated it when going on long driving trips with my sons, especially when I wanted to call home to my husband to let him know where we were, and didn't want to deal with ludicrously high long-distance charges from the motel.

I would love to live again in a city with good public transportation and not have a car.

I sometimes think about moving to somewhere like Costa Rica, but I'm not yet ready to be that far away from my sons, ages 21 and 25.

[cliffordu]

30. No cell phone. No car for 33 of the last 35 years

[Popol Vuh]

31. Nope

Not strange at all. I live here in So-Cal and haven't owned a cell phone for 9 years and don't have any plans to ever own one. Don't see any need to be that connected to anyone.

And if I ever travel somewhere where I might need one for emergencies purposes. I can just buy a cheap disposable one.

[shadowknows69]

32. I refuse to own a cell phone

I think they're going to prove a health hazzard for one and for two I think that except for emergencies and maybe business they are the most ridiculous invention currently in use.

[cags]

33. You must not have children... I can't imagine not being reachable at all times by my children

[blindpig]

34. It's a wonder the species survived.....

My god, how did our parents do it?

The answer is they did it just fine.

Did you know that the quest of coltan, an essential material for cell phones, game decks and such, is causing the deaths of thousands of children in Africa?

[cags]

35. I don't think it was "just fine" I wouldn't have gotten into nearly as much trouble if my mom could

have kept better tabs on me with a cellphone. There were many times that I needed to call her and there was no phone available to me. Yeah I'm alive and well, but I think a cell phone would saved a lot of heartache and worry for my mother. I know it does for me with my teenager

[blindpig]

37. In that case

put 'em in a cage in the basement, then you'll never need worry.

I truly believe that the safety fetish of today's middle class parents, along with the non-stop 'activities', will produce a generation perfectly OK with 24/7 surveillance, automatic compliance with authority, without the need to think for themselves. The perfect citizens of a fascist state.

[cags]

40. Wow. Do you have children? Not only are there seriously evil people in this world just waiting to...

prey on your unguarded child, but for safety reasons alone. I have a teenage girl who drives. What if she gets a flat tire, should she flag down the nearest stranger for help? What if she did need help and had no one to call? I guess thats ok by you, casualties of your cell phone free world. This is about cell phones not surveillance. Funny that cell phone use leads to a fascist state in your mind.

And believe me my daughter does think for herself, more than most kids her age but she also has enough respect for her parents to keep us informed of where she is, because she actually cares about our feelings and doesn't want us to needlessly worry when she is just fine. And I want her to have that option to call her parents if she needs us for anything, there is nothing wrong with that.

[blindpig]

45. Nope, no kids.

However, I believe the 'dangers that you perceive are grossly exaggerated by the media.

Btw, what about the safety of the children in Congo?

http://www.globalissues.org/Geopolitics/Africa/Articles/TheStandardColtan.asp

[cags]

47. Wow again! I suggest you look at your local sex offender registry and see how many live near you

Just two blocks from my house last week a local soccer coach was arrested for molesting two of his neighbors young girls, 5 and 10 yrs old. This is not the first incident that I have experienced close to my own home. When I lived in California, you may remember from the news or not but 2 teenage girls were kidnapped while hanging out at a water tower and raped. That was in my city just 3 blocks from my sisters house. I think if you had kids you would be more aware of the dangers to kids these days as it would affect you more. The dangers are real, no matter what type of city you live in.

[blindpig]

49. I really don't think it's much worse than 40 years ago.

Sex offender registries have little to do with safety and more to do with sowing fear and punishment. A person can end up on one of those for a lot of things that have little or nothing to do with predatory sex behavior, examples abound.

Mebbe I'm less aware of the "danger' cause I don't watch TV. Prefer to believe my eyes instead of accepting someone else's agenda.

But what about those children in Congo, did you read the link? There's plenty more out there on the internets, if you care to look. But I suppose your peace of mind is more important.

[SheilaT]

50. And would a cell phone have prevented

the molestation?

Cell phones are relatively new, and for a very long time everyone got along just fine without them. It's possible that parents derive a false sense of security from their kid having a cell phone with them. Certainly the kid can lie about where he/she is, if called by the parent. And maybe parents were less likely to let their kids be driving somewhere at all hours before cell phones.

I find them to be very convenient, and I have no qualms about turning mine off when I don't want to be bothered. Rarely is something so urgent as to require immediate connection.

[carlyhippy]

38. not strange,....smart.....

I would certainly have alot more money if I did ditch the car and phone, but unfortunately it won't happen anytime soon....I am chained to contracts on both.

[Posteritatis]

39. You are strange. Remain strange. (nt)

[JNelson6563]

41. Being in politics

a cell phone and a car are a must for me. I'm in northern Michigan and so many of our districts are spread out over huge territory. Handy to have a phone for when I'm running late or having trouble finding a place in the middle of nowhere. Also, drive time can be somewhat productive if I get a signal. I always use a bluetooth thingy when I'm driving.

Currently I'm working for a judicial candidate (MI Court of Appeals) and the district is 58 counties big. Yeah, I need a car and a phone.

I look forward to the day I don't.

Julie

[Lydia Leftcoast]

42. I used to not own a car

It was wonderful in Portland, but not feasible here in Minneapolis.

I was a late adopter of cell phones, but they do come in handy. However, I'll never be one of those people who has to be yakking away constantly. You hear them on the bus, and they manage to keep up a continuous stream of totally meaningless chatter for amazing amounts of time.

[Avalux]

43. I am envious.

I wish my life would allow me to get rid of my car and not own a cell phone. Enjoy your strangeness. ;-)

[old mark]

44. My brother and sister in law own a TV, but it's not connected

to anything - they use it solely for playing movies.
We do have cell phones, but neither has been used or even charged for nearly 2 years now. I'm not sure where they are, come to think of it.

I don't want to be that connected, and prefer the company of my dog to that of most people anyway.

We still need the cars, but don't use them as often.

You might be the wave of the future.

mark

[silverweb]

48. No car, TV, or cable here, but...

...I'm not about to give up my cell phone.

I've got aging relatives on one coast and my kids on the other coast, and it's important to me to be accessible at all times via text message or phone call.

Skype is great for outgoing calls and texting when I'm at home, but the cell phone is with me at all times for incoming. A landline is superfluous with this arrangement, so I don't have one.

My feet, public transit, and an occasional cab replace any need for a personal vehicle.

My computer with broadband internet replaces TV/radio/movies, newspapers/magazines, and commuting to work.

Life without a car, TV, or cable is perfectly fine where I am. :)