Check Mark 10: Go to a Place with No Cars

I never knew I wanted to do this until I did it - go to a place with no cars.  In my mind, living with no transportation containing an engineer (car, bus, train, motorcycle, or scooter - with the exception of snow mobiles in the winter) means living at a slower pace.  I feel like we live such a faced paced life these days, that it's nice to slow down occasionally, and that's just what we did on Mackinac Island in Michigan.

You leave your car behind and cross the lake by ferry to the well-maintained and slower paced island.  Here you get around by foot, bicycle, or horse and carriage.  The whole island is only about 8 miles in circumference, so to travel the whole island in a couple hours isn't hard.  Things are pretty close together - the touristy part anyway - while the 500 residents are a little more spaced out on the other side of the island.

It was nice to have a couple days of relaxation - away from crazy drivers, road rage, and rush hour.  It definitely makes you think about trying to incorporate a slower pace into your life where possible.  I'd love to be able to walk more places in my little town, but unfortunately right now I can't.  I'm hoping to see some sidewalks pop up on the main streets in the next few years, but it definitely won't be as nice as Mackinac Island.