I have not been fond of cars. Unless used for business, vehicles are a liability. First, they do not earn you any additional money. Second, they use expensive gasoline, and third, they depreciate. Thus, buying, detailing, and maintaining a car has been shunned, if not dreaded.

The last car I drove this June

Yet, I am not saying I have not used a car. In fact, my car was my home. Driving through the city was soothing [one should do this on very late nights; if done on a rush hour, one is driving the road to hell]. I carried much of my paraphernalia in the trunk: Three plastic cases of clothes, my gym bag, my laptop, my two plastic bags of food and goodies, my four pairs of shoes. Inside the car, I would hang several shirts and pants.

Much more, if I got drowsy on late night gimmicks, I would sleep in the car. For a couple of times, I slept at the Shell gas station at The Fort until dawn and drove a few blocks, took a bath at Fitness First, and drove across EDSA and reported for work very early in the morning, avoiding the morning traffic rush.

So why did I have a car and still dodge away from its liabilities? I got a company car! Yes, the only way I got a car was for work. Acquisition, maintenance, insurance, registration, toll and parking fee, and gas were shouldered by the companies for which I worked. Still, I could bring my car home. Wasn’t that a good perk for work?

So far, I had a Rally Blue Kia Rio in 2004, a gray Honda City Z in 2005, an automatic Honda City in 2007, and a sleek black Honda City before 2009 started.

Now, I am carless. I had been a commuter veteran, but am now an ignorant pedestrian. Adjustment is uncomfortable. The 15-minute car drive from Meycauayan to SM North is now an hour and a half. I used to be always on the go, carrying all my stuff. Now, I have to fit everything in my big backpack. Traveling has become harder. Most of all, my family and I cannot go on trips in my car anymore.

The good thing is I will still have a company car abroad. At least I can still carry all my stuff wherever and whenever I go. That is a soothing assurance that I will not be backpacking again, and torture my back in pain. As of now, I have to plan my trips, know the fares, and be the commuter veteran that I was. Where bus fare matrix I kept?