Lifestyle of not driving

I really love this lifestyle of walking more than driving personal vehicles that exists in Europe. I live it in Ireland, and I'm living it in Holland.

Every day I've been walking 20 minutes to my office. Then yesterday, I walked 30 minutes to the train station, took 1.5 hours to get to Amsterdam by train, then walked around that city, took the trams a few times, then got on the train back to Eindhoven. I arrived in Eindhoven at 9:30pm, and walked 30 minutes back to my hotel--in the dark and cold, but I thought nothing of it. If I were in the US and had never lived abroad, I would probably find this so inconvenient, to be "forced" to walk so far in the dark, without a heater, and unprotected by the elements. However, I actually feel a great sense of "freedom" being able to walk wherever I need to go, or to hop on a train for a day trip wherever I desire. Indeed, this has become so normal, and I quite enjoy living in a place so amenable to this!

I also love that in Europe, there are always people out walking about, you're never alone on the streets and can always look out your window and people watch. There are couples meandering through the city, sitting on benching, walking through parks--they are not confined to the car, home or indoor location. You'll find them just sitting on the streetside, walking to and fro. This lends itself more to a community feel and enjoying leisurely conversation instead of requiring a "plan of activity" or "event" to keep persons interacting and occupied (in cities in the US, it seems there is sometimes a mentality of "we always have to be 'doing' something").

Well, and in general, who doesn't like to people watch??