You might be wondering how it was, not having a car in Finland in the winter. Right up until it snowed after Christmas, we rode bikes almost everywhere we needed to go (except for the girls taking the bus to and from school). I had thought we'd ride bikes even after it snowed, too, but I ended up being too nervous about sliding on the slippery roads and sidewalks. Plenty of other people rode bikes; maybe they were braver than me or maybe their bike tires had studs. Or both.
Looking back, I wish I would have kept track of the days I biked to work (like my dad does), but I didn't. I do, however, remember that from about 6 January to 6 February, I did not ride my bike one time, not anywhere. There was too much snow and ice. For the rest of February and into March, I rode my bike on and off depending on the snowfall. We are now firmly back into cycling season and it's great to have my commute back down to 8 minutes (biking) instead of 15 (walking)!
It was often unpleasant to be without a car during the winter here. The greatest inconvenience was always getting to church each Sunday. The buses run less often on Sundays and I always felt frustrated that we could literally walk to church faster than taking a bus. But then I have to consider the kids and how I may not mind a bracing walk through the cold and slush, but they very well may. Also, sometimes we did walk.
Aside from church on Sundays, it was really quite manageable. Most of the ability to go without a car during the winter comes down to attitude - if you set yourself up to be positive about it and make it work, then it will. Sometimes you will get cold. Sometimes you will get a little wet (just hopefully not the baby in the stroller). Sometimes it will be windy and you would give a lot to trade places with that smug warm person in their smug warm car (paraphrasing here).
But exercise is good for the body and saving money and the environment is good for the soul. I was always able to fall back on those constants when things got hard.
And since April starts tomorrow, I think I can safely say we survived a Finnish winter without a car! It can be done, even with three kids and errands and grocery shopping and church to get to.
Part 2 of this post is the one I'm going to write about how we do actually want to buy a car someday. My supporting arguments in favor consist of one quote from Pride and Prejudice and one quote from Mansfield Park. Stay tuned.
