The Road Is In Sight!

Monday 18th August, 7pm

After a turbulent few days of carhunting, a few breathless moments here and there and a lovely time catching up with old friends, we're nearly ready to leave Trumansburg in upstate New York in our '99 black Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Arriving by bus (click the link to see a route map), we were met at the bus station in Ithaca by a friend of mine from Amsterdam, where we were both born. It's amazing to see someone about 20 years after you last saw them, when that was when you were both knee high to grasshoppers, and sink a few beers together. It was also great to get out of the city and its nitty gritty.

taffy throwing at the local fayre (just after the demolition derby!)

We have ended up staying here a little longer than hoped, leaving less time to cross the States than I would have liked, given that I'm the only one driving. This is our sixth night here, and I'm also a bit apprehensive of outstaying our welcome, particularly as for the last four mornings we've said to our gracious host and friend's housemates that this really would be the last day - which wears a little thin after the third time.

So, after careful inspection of the New York State ID requirements list for the registration of vehicles, it appeared that a NYS Certificate of Title counts as 6 points. Basing our hopes on this, we began all over again looking for vehicles in the Ithaca area. Thankfully my friend lent me his pickup for the 2 days we scoured the area, without which we would really have been up the creek.

We got to a shortlist of 5 options - as long as would we would be able to register it. This was still a major hangup as it then appeared that the title I just mentioned needed to have my details printed on it, not only having bought a car in NYS and having the title signed over. Some saving grace came from the very kind propietor of a car dealership. Tony, having thrown a number of rather large concerts at his house, knows quite a few people in the area and took it upon himself to try to figure out what we could do to get registered.

The next red herring was to get a non-driver ID. So, off we trekked to the Sheriff's Office with the insurance papers as proof of address, which had by now arrived since I'd got insured for the Ranger pickup in New Jersey to my address here. Upon returning to Tony the next day, ID in hand, he informed us it wasn't going to do, as I needed State ID, not just County (the latter of which the Sheriff is responsible for).

Well, needless to say, we did manage to get the car registered. But only through a stroke of fortune, thanks to a nepotist link of Tony's. I *legally* got my ID signed off, and got the plates within minutes. Phew. But, the moral of this story is that AS A FOREIGNER, WITHOUT SOMETHING LINKING YOU OFFICIALLY TO NEW YORK STATE (or a friend with good contacts), YOU CANNOT GET A CAR REGISTERED HERE. Check this list out for items that you need.

So, as proud owners of our first car, we paid $5000 for a big black shiny gasguzzling beast. It's a 4x4. But this is what I campaigned against at home. The title of my blog refers to how I'm trying not to fly in order to minimize my carbon footprint. Am I now the biggest hypocrite walking the earth? Do I have any moral integrity remaining? Will I be able to sleep tonight, before setting off across the United States of America in hot pursuit of the American Dream?

Of course I can sleep at night. I have a car and it goes vroom. Well, it's only a 6 cylinder so it's not quite like those V8 monsters. And it does 20 miles per gallon. Which is better than 10. But not quite 30.

There's a whole load of stats and debates out there about flying vs driving, mpgs, and carbon use. I'm going to give my take on it, and welcome comments. I think that one person driving in a car is a bad and inefficient use of carbon. Four in a car is good. Hence, 2 in a car is borderline (which there is in our case). Second, it is easy to compare car mpg against plane mpg per passenger (assuming an average loading of the plane) - but this doesn't take into account how damaging the emissions are at the elevation at which they are released. At 30,000ft they do a LOT more damage. Third, I fight what battles I can by focussing on those that are winnable. I believe the aviation industry is unsustainable and consumer demand can stop the growth projections that fuel demand for more and bigger airports. I believe the net effect of standing up and loudly and proudly refusing to fly is a positive one with the potential to generate waves of reaction as other consider their own willingness to fly. Who knows. But for me, the sky is over the limit.