Thoughts on Transportation

My current whip is a 2005 Subaru Forester. I got it after Thing 1 was born and I needed something that would accommodate a car seat a bit better than my beloved little ’98 Nissan Pick-up. Additional needs: cargo space, good to decent fuel mileage and racks to strap boards to (natch). I dig my car. My wife dug my car. She dug it so much that when it came time to dump her Saturn, she bought one. Tres dorky, I know. Fly in the buttermilk? Quite frankly, the backseat isn’t exactly cavernous. This was fine with one kiddo and then Thing 2 joined the ranks. Sometimes an extra person joins us and we are left to either caravan or someone has to wedge themselves in between two car seats. This isn’t exactly optimal for longer trips. I’ve begun pondering a bigger ride, although the Subie will be paid off next year and I plan to enjoy not having a car payment for at least the following year before I move to get something else….but I’m looking. The moment I started researching vehicles and mentioning it to people, the quips started. Both sisters sneered, “Gonna get a mini-van?” The Bollocks: “Just don’t get a mini-van.” And on and on. Let me point something out. I think in terms of function over form when it comes to certain things. That’s part of the reason I ride longboards. Besides the fact that thruster riding has nothing to do with what I like about surfing and that I find it be stylistically butt ugly, the bottom line is, the potato chip thruster has practically zero functionality in 85-90% of the waves we get on this coast and most dudes look pretty silly trying to make them work in knee to waist high beach break. I digress. When it comes to cars, I’m about function. I tote a lot of stuff around. I want something that will tote said stuff and has a good sound system. I don’t give a shit about luxury cars. Beemers don’t impress me. If I ever wanted a toy, it would probably be an SS El Camino or something like that or an old Ford Fairlane wagon. What I’m taking a lot of time in saying is…I need a van. Time to rant. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why we can’t get over here the cool little vans you can get in Japan and Europe. They don’t all run on diesel. I mean, shit, I could care less about the supposed “stigma” of driving a mini-van. They’ve got more cargo space and a nicer ride than some of these behemoth, gas guzzling SUV’s that are supposedly cooler and they’re probably more comfy to sleep in. And you can fit more people in them. Rob Gilley’s got it figured out: http://www.surfermag.com/blogs/rob-gilley/ode-to-the-man-van/ From a purely aesthetic perspective, why can’t the mini-vans look a little more like…vans? The ones in Asia and Japan look like vans. You know, the whole mini-bus camper thing. I’d look at the Euro Van but that thing is a piece of junk. Apparently VW had a micro bus concept car but scrapped it. Why? If mini vans looked a bit more like vans, maybe dudes wouldn’t feel funny about driving them. I don’t know. I’ll probably wind up with a Honda Odyssey or something and you know what? I’ll probably love it.