It’s time to welcome the new and returning students of Boston. All 250,000 of them. In Boston, the first week of September is a very important (and crazy busy) time of year. It’s the beginning of true orientation for new arrivals (and reorientation for returning students) as everyone settles into their new locations and prepares for the year to come. One thing many students may find useful in the Boston area (or anywhere, really) is a car. So why not pick a car that will accommodate the needs of your school, your neighborhood and your future career (if you’re thinking longish-term investments)?
Archives for August 2014
Cars That Will Be a Big Help on Moving Day
Updated 8/27/19
September 1 is, for many city dwellers, the day to move into a new apartment or home. If you’re moving and need a vehicle with plenty of cargo space, we’ve got you covered. (Looking for a crossover that can handle cargo all year round? Check out our list of top-performing crossovers.)
Get on the Road with Maps, not Apps
I had forgotten about maps.
I’m not talking about the lovely little app on the iPhone or the fantastic online service provided by Google. I’m talking about actual maps. Like the kind that is printed on paper and unfolds to almost actual size.
Remember those?
Upon entering Canada this week I received an automated text message that welcomed me to traveling abroad.
“How nice,” I thought, “My service provider is keeping tabs on me and making sure I know I’ve left U.S. cell service. What a comforting feeling.”
What I should have thought was, “Uh oh. I’m about to take out a second mortgage to pay for receiving an email.”
As it turns out, AT&T likes to charge roughly $1,333 per megabyte once a phone leaves the country. I only figured that out once I received another text, then an email, informing me that my firstborn son is about to be confiscated for the privilege of getting online.
Needless to say I switched to Airplane Mode on my phone and haven’t been online since, with the exception of the occasional spotty free wifi connection.
I didn’t panic without my phone at first. In fact, I thought it would be nice to be away from the addiction for a while. Except an addiction isn’t an addiction when it’s a requirement.
Without even thinking I reached for my phone to plug a destination into my maps, and then panicked. How am I supposed to know where to go without my GPS?
Then my wife said, “Looks like we need a map.”
I’d forgotten about maps.
Car Camping Across Canada
Boat camping isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Imagine falling asleep to the quiet lapping of waves against metal pontoons while staring into a star-filled night sky. Then imagine waking up at 3 a.m. to the terrifying sound of massive thunder and the relentless flashing of lightning and remembering those metal pontoons in the water.
That’s the definition of fear. It’s also the reason my boat camping trip this week was cut short and replaced by a more reasonable and spontaneous car camping trip.
In Canada. Continue reading >>>
BMW 1 Series: A Great Used Buy?
Lexus has said it could never build a car priced under $30,000, because it wouldn’t be a Lexus, it would be a Toyota.
That’s a respectable position to take, because it gives the luxury brand at least a little separation from its plebeian cousin.
Other luxury automakers have decided against that strategy and built entry-level vehicles designed to entice younger buyers into their brands. That decision, though, cheapens the brand for more upscale buyers.