Ticket to Ride

Since I moved here I have relied entirely on public transportation. It has worked out well, but as I plan to see more and do more I am going to need a personal means of transportation. I had been sticking mostly to looking at sports cars, but in the back of my head I was concerned about needing something functional. I considered an SUV, like a Range Rover or X5, but the insurance rates are pretty high, especially considering I still want to commute by bus and only use the vehicle for errands, weekends, and holidays. I am not sure why, but today something clicked, and I think I made up my mind on what I want to get. Ford Ranger. The Ranger is one of the biggest vehicles available. They look like the Ranger from the US, but come with a diesel 4 cylinder and get 30 MPG. From what I have seen, they are all 4 door and 4 wheel drive, so they are functional and work well as people movers. The reason I want a truck is to haul an ATV.

Here, ATV’s are street legal. You just have to get one with the proper lights and turn signals, or put a kit on one that needs it. The off road tires can still be used on road. From what I have seen on the internet, there are good areas to go riding in the area and around the country, mostly mountain areas with good views. I think it would be an awesome way to see the country side. I looked at getting an ATV in Indiana, but you would have to haul it a decent distance to get to a riding park, and even then it wasn’t that great (not much elevation change in Indiana). In addition to the forest areas here, there are riding parks. Many offer rentals of either ATV’s or Land Rovers, but the prices are pretty steep for that kind of thing if you do it on a regular basis. Tomorrow when I have internet (typing on Word because the wireless I steal from across the street went out again) I am going to look into riding rules and regs in other parts of Europe as well. I am really excited about the idea, because I did a lot of riding in highschool and always wanted to get back into it.