My name is Mandy and I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I've lived here for 4 years, having grown up and done my post-secondary education in the nearby (by 69km) city of Victoria, on Vancouver Island.
The main fact that supports this blog's topic is that I've never owned a motor vehicle. I can drive, have been in a sharing situation where I paid per kilometre for the use of someone else's car, have rented, and now belong to the Cooperative Auto Network. In the past I used public transit extensively and walked everywhere. Three years ago I chose to move to within walking distance of my work in downtown Vancouver.
A year and a half ago, I bought a bicycle.
It changed everything.
This blog is about how we move ourselves through our lives and our cities. It's about the transportation choices we make and the values that influence those choices.
Some of my interests related to this subject are design thinking and service design. I'm logical, analytical, and creative. I don't believe in shouting or demanding but do believe in cultural and behavioral change. While this blog tells the stories of my adventures in cycling and other methods of transportation, it's also a platform where I work through ideas and questions, as putting things into words helps me to develop them. I welcome comments, discussion, feedback, and emails: it's always my goal to keep an open mind but sometimes I do need help to do so.
On a different note: sometimes it's also about fashion/style. Trivial as this may sound to some who are otherwise interested in the content posted here (and to me, not-so-many years ago), I now believe that it very much isn't: it's (a) a crucial part of how we present ourselves to the world, and (b) very much tied up into current perceptions of cycling. It needs to be talked about in this context.
So welcome! And join me! And I hope you enjoy.
