subject: Flying Versus Driving [print this page] Several times a year, I make the journey from North Carolina to New York in order to visit my family and friends. And of those times when I travel to New York, I usually opt to drive instead of fly. In recent years, the price of flights has largely dictated this choice for me. However, there is also the fact that when I go home, I want to have access to a vehicle, and since everyone in my family works full time jobs that fluctuate, I don't want to have to inconvenience them or feel bad about monopolizing their vehicle for several or more hours of the day. Therefore, it is simply easier for me to take my own car. Having your own car with you when you travel is not only a matter of convenience, but it allows you a certain kind of independence that you simply cannot achieve while renting a car from a rental car agency or borrowing a car from a family member or close friend. For starters, when you rent a car from a rental car agency, you need to be careful of where you drive it, the manner in which you drive it as well as how many miles you are putting on it. If you don't get insurance on the vehicle and you get into an accident, you may find yourself in hot water. Besides this, there is often fine print or things that a rental car agency may not tell you directly when you are renting from them- things that you don't find out until you get into an accident or something happens. On the other hand, when you are borrowing a car from a friend, you also have to be careful. Remember that you are not on their insurance plan. Therefore, if you get into an accident or something happens to their car while it is in your possession, you may find out exactly how close of friends you are to that person. No one likes to receive a phone call that someone has totaled their vehicle in an accident. As with renting a car, you want to be careful not to put too many miles on it or take it to areas where there is a higher propensity for crime etc. If anything, borrowing a car from a friend is more stressful because you are putting that person in a situation where they no longer have access to their vehicle. Without knowing or realizing it, you are inconveniencing your friend or family member (even if they don't say it).The last time that I flew to New York from North Carolina, counting the time it took to get to the airport, get to the gate, get on the plane, land in New York, get off the plane and go to my house, I could have just as easily gotten in my car and driven there.
