Earlier this summer, my partner and I bought these cute, func­tional, folding bikes that have already become our pri­mary mode of trans­porta­tion. I used to bike when I was a wee teenager, growing up in New Jersey, while my partner had never biked before.

So lately, we have been going out biking almost everyday, get­ting used to the rules and routes of the city, it’s a whole other world when you’re on a bike. I noticed that when I first started dri­ving years ago too – your per­spec­tive of the space you inhabit changes based on your mode of trans­porta­tion – sub­ways make me con­sider the under­ground routes to get from one part of the city to another, cars make me con­sider the high­ways, the one-way streets, the alter­na­tive smaller streets I can take to avoid heavy traffic. And now, biking is teaching me to notice even more things like where the ramps are, where the road is most uneven, where there are long blocks versus short blocks, and where the road is on an incline and where it’s on a decline, where cars tend to cluster and where there are bike lanes in the city.

I love noticing this shift in per­spec­tive, and I would encourage everyone to try dif­ferent modes of trans­porta­tion in what­ever area you’re in, to get an idea of the per­spec­tive shift – try walking around for a week instead of dri­ving to wher­ever you nor­mally go in your neigh­bor­hood. Or take the train or the bus, instead of dri­ving to a dis­tant des­ti­na­tion. Most of us are so hooked on cars and high­ways and parking lots, that we rarely just walk, or bike any­where. I urge you to try it some­time, espe­cially if you live in a part of the planet where it’s the later half of the summer season now. Just go, go out, and walk, or bike if you can get a bicycle (hint: they’re also a lot cheaper than cars!). You’ll love it!

On a related note, check out this site to see how Toronto is becoming more and more bike-friendly.