I've been travelling the country for the past couple of years in an eco-campervan (no propane, solar for fridge and cooking, dry composting toilet, good gas mileage for a big diesel vehicle) that makes it economical and green to camp almost anywhere from a Walmart to out in the desert of SoCal. The vehicle is fabulous for living, camping, and long-distance travel, but not so much for short trips, national park drives that exclude larger vehicles, or iffy backcountry dirt roads. I decided this year that I could afford to add a second vehicle. Talk about choices, I wasn't even sure what type of vehicle I wanted.  Here are a few options I had to consider:

4-wheel drive vehicle: PROS: this would be so much fun! I could go all sorts of places in the west that I couldn't reach by hiking or driving my van (John, think Borrego!), my service dog could go with me easily. CONS: really expensive, I'd have to tow it (I can only just back up the van properly, no telling what trouble I'd get into with a tow vehicle attached on a "bipolar" day), my gas mileage would take a nose dive and my carbon footprint would go up, I'd have to register and insure it and it's noisy.

little car: PROS: very few, but a bit more economical than the 4WD option. CONS: all of the same cons as 4WD to some degree plus it really wouldn't be any fun.

little motorcycle or scooter: PROS: very few. I'm scared of motor bikes, but it wouldn't require towing and would let me feel that I'm outside. CONS: I'd have to insure and register it and might have to get a motorcycle license and it's noisy. Not to mention that I'd have to buy a sidecar for my service dog which would probably make this into a tow vehicle.

bicycle: PROS: very green, cheap, silent, lets me be outdoors instead of shut up in a vehicle, light enough that I could hang it on the back of my van's ladder and thus avoid gas mileage degradation, the service dog can trot alongside if I keep my speed low. CONS: I've got a bad knee and mediocre lung funcion that makes riding a bike a chore and severely limits my range, not very useful in bad weather or at night.

electric assist hybrid bike: PROS: green (especially since it'll get recharged via my solar system), nearly silent (it hums a bit, but only when the motor is actively in use), lets me feel like I'm outdoors, motor extends my range and comfort, my service dog can trot alongside if I keep the speed moderate and when she's aged beyond wanting to run I could tow her in a bike trailer with the engine's help. CONS: expensive, too heavy for me to hang on the van's ladder so requires an expensive mount in the front of the van that may cut into my gas mileage a bit, limited range compared to motor vehicle, not useful in bad weather or at night.

The choice finally came down to an electric assist bike. Even then the selection problems weren't over. It's a lot harder to find good quality reviews of e-bikes than those of ipads. Even once I found a manufacturer that sounded good, I found that manufacturer made over a score of different bikes. Because I haven't enjoyed biking in the past, I knew little about bicycles, let alone hybrid electric assist bikes.

In the end . . . . I LOVE my Currie Technologies iZip Metro electric assist bike. It helps me exercise my service dog properly even in places like national parks where she has to be leashed, it lets me check out potential campsites next to dirt roads before I drive the van to them, it keeps me from having to stow everything and start up the van to get to a nearby visitor center, ranger station, grocery, or trailhead, and it extends my range to dirt roads too long to hike that I wouldn't or couldn't drive my van on.

I agree with Tabby about so many things, her comment here just being another one of them.

In my own words:

There is a French term "la petite mort" which means "the little death" and traditionally refers to sexual orgasm.  That moment that transcends ordinary life.  But when I think of "the little death" I actually think of the moments that do NOT transcend ordinary life: the moments of choice we all face constantly.  Each choice seems like a little death to me.  It is a moment when I put myself on the line -- I choose right and I win the job I always wanted.  I choose wrong and I win a bed in the psychiatric ward...again.  I choose right and I get the man of my dreams.   I choose wrong and I get the sadistic abuser.  So...judging from these, I've made the wrong choices in a big way so far.  And tomorrow there will be a half dozen more chances to choose right.

But it seems I never have all the information, or all the "right" information, to make a good choice.  Or because of my background and genetic make-up I never had a chance to make a choice at all.  It was already made for me.

One of my therapists was fond of saying, "You always over-analyze everything."  Isn't that a kind of oxymoron, for a therapist to be saying?

One of the blessings and curses of being human is awareness of the right to choose, and the resulting shame, guilt, or if we are lucky, the winning lottery numbers.