We have lived in Calgary for over 3 months now, but still have not bought ourselves a car. It was a conscious decision to see if we need one and how well do we cope without. For weekends when we want to go skiing or just visit some new places in the Rockies, we rent a car. The prices are not too bad if we rent for a weekend and the quality of cars is quite ok. Last weekend we drove a GMC Terrain – a big one for a medium SUV, but it was comfy and moved quite quickly when putting the foot down. No wonder that we see them quite a lot driving around in this city.

My newest vehicle, though, is Car2Go. It is the same system like Boris bikes in London and some other European cities, but for cars. You get to drive a car2go where you need to go and then park it there and then someone else will use it from there on. They are the Smart cars – small and two seaters, but for driving in the city that’s all one really needs. Parking and gas is included in the price for rental. We had known about them for a while and wanted to use them, but for some reason we knew that it is possible only if you have 3 years of driving history in Canada. On the travel fair that we went to, we found out that this is not the case and got registered. A few weeks back we received our membership cards. Yesterday, I took the first ride.

There is an app that I have installed on my mobile that tells me what cars are close to me when I need one. At 11am yesterday there were 3 cars in less than 100 meters. I booked it via the app and then went to the car. It greeted me nicely when I sat in and asked for my pin to start the ride. Everything is made really easy and can be followed even by those who need everything spelled out for them. Then I drove to fetch the printer that I had reserved online for pickup. The parking is free, but I felt really weird walking away without paying any parking fees – years of fear of parking tickets obviously does not lift itself in a day. I put the car on hold until I came back and then drove back home. There’s a navigation system in the car that shows you where you are driving and also points out where you can park at any given time.

In the evening when I wanted to go to my massage, there was no cars close by, so I had to walk there. Coming back, though, I found one immediately in less than 200 meters and drove it back home, left in a parking lot and walked away with no worries. Now I can plan appointments a bit further out in town without thinking too much of how I’m going to get there and how much would the taxi cost. This weekend we are going to drive to Home Depot to get some new pots for our rapidly growing plants.