What single item improved the quality of your life over you got it? (Buyed it/got as present/made it)

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Bicycle. No gas expenses, no tabs, no loan, free parking. I understand how it works and can mostly fix it myself for very little money. I can take quiet side streets and arrive in a much better mood, plus my fat lazy ass gets some exercise.
- It also transformed my feelings about winter, which is long, gray and mostly charmless here excepting the occasional blizzard, but commuting by bike warms me and gets me fresh air and exercise. It makes it much more tolerable. I actually enjoy my commute and look forward to it.
  So many people I work with insist biking is unappealing or borderline impossible while complaining almost daily about their commute. Obviously for some people and some commutes it really is impossible, but I'm not talking about those situations.
  
  That thing that transformed winter for me was skiing and winter hiking. Now that we're getting into shoulder season I can't wait to hit the trails/slopes!
  
  It used to also be so for me, but every year I realise this is becoming a dying sport reserved for the extra wealthy.
  
  Where do you live?
- I wish there was infrastructure for them where I live, I hate driving and I like cycling
  
  You'd be very surprised at the impact one person showing uo to every town hall to complain or even just frequent letters can make. I know that can be harder than it sounds, but it is super worth it.
- I'll add on and say upgrading to an ebike (and specifically a cargo ebike) really made the difference to me. One would think that it would reduce the exercise, but for me the fact that it allows me to use it in far far more situations meant that I actually get more exercise overall. I consider the faster acceleration to be a safety feature for when the bike lanes run out, and it makes red lights, heavy loads and steep hills less of a mood killer.
- Absolutely life changing once you get one and go!

538 comments