It is a gray but surprisingly warm and windless Monday, Nov. 3. My mom and I are in the Poughkeepsie Train Station, gazing at the Hudson River. She is going over her travel plans with me again, outlining the details of her journey home to Tallinn, Estonia. A group of teenagers takes the stairs down to the train, and we decide it is probably time to stop delaying the inevitable and follow them. On the platform below, I give her a hug and snap a quick silly picture of her, feeling like a proud mother sending my daughter off to her first day of school. She drags her luggage onto the train, we wave goodbye one more time and I walk back up to the parking lot, already missing her but feeling excited for the month to come. There, waiting for me, is my mom’s 2019 Subaru Crosstrek.
For some context, I am not fortunate enough to be able to afford a car of my own, but I am fortunate enough to have a mom who lets me steal hers all the time. And I love this car. I learned how to drive in this car, we have explored the Northeast in this car and I take this car to and from work in the summers. Whenever my friends and I go anywhere, I always elect to be the driver; in fact, they love the Subaru almost as much as I do—almost.
Living only a short two and a half hours away from Vassar, there has never been a need for me to have a car on campus, even though I love driving. But when my mom decided to let me babysit her Subaru while she was visiting home, I knew it would be fun to experience having a car of my own at Vassar for the first time.
However, as is typical for a college student in November, I was incredibly busy with a myriad of readings, papers and assignments. During the week, I rarely had time to drive the car, and because I was assigned to the distant South Lot, I felt less of a drive to go, well, drive.
What finally pushed me to drive the Subaru after a hectic week was a team bonding get-together planned months in advance: bowling with my fellow interns from the LGBTQ+ Center. We went to Spins Bowls in Wappingers Falls—they also have a location only a 20-minute walk from campus!—which was a hilarious experience for me, who has not been bowling since I was a kid. While my mom was sending me pictures of the beautiful medieval architecture of Tallinn, I was bowling gutterballs left and right and getting crushed by my coworkers—who all have a collective hidden talent, apparently. I did get one lucky strike though—thanks to the power of the Subaru, of course. Driving back to campus to the mellow sounds of Charlie Burg’s album after a late lunch at Dave’s Hot Chicken made for a perfect Sunday.
Toward the end of another stressful week with minimal driving, and after a string of way too many nights staying up late reading “Anna Karenina,” I was feeling antsy. I wanted to do something spontaneous. I was craving Wendy’s. So, during my last class of the day, I texted my friend on a whim and asked her if she wanted to eat fast food and go on a Target run. After we indulged in french fries and a Frosty, we eyed the beautiful teapots and the delicious-sounding teas of Tea Talk. Among the never-ending parking lots of the Poughkeepsie Plaza, the sky rewarded us for surviving the week with a beautiful sunset—the kind that reflected off the parked cars and glittered in our eyes.
The adventures continued just a couple days later when my friends and I filled the Subaru, blasted “Man Or Muppet” and drove down to Cold Spring—a 40-minute drive from Vassar, or a few stops away on the Metro-North. We found parking on Main Street and strolled through the town, window-shopping and trying to soak up the warm sun on the partly cloudy November day. For food, we stopped at Angie’s Bake Shop & Cafe, where I scarfed down one of the best cranberry orange muffins I have ever tasted alongside a rich, cozy hot chocolate. From the Cold Spring Pier, we took pictures and basked in the beautiful cliffs of Storm King Mountain across the river. Because we were on a bit of a time crunch, we drove over to Beacon and enjoyed matcha and coffee from Beacon Coffee Co. & Mercantile. We did not have time to explore any of the other stores, but by walking through Beacon’s Main Street, we definitely brainstormed for the next time we decide to visit—whether that is by car, train or bus, since Beacon is accessible by all three.
Although, this is not everything that I did while I had the Subaru—I also saw “Wicked: For Good” with a friend, enjoyed numerous grocery trips and baked pies at my boss’ house. These were just a few of the many highlights. All in all, it was amazing to drive around, scream the lyrics to my favorite songs solo or with company and have a sense of freedom when I needed an escape from the monotony of campus life.
When I first came to Vassar, I always felt like I was missing out in comparison to the other first-years on campus who had their cars. Every year since then, as the restriction has gotten tighter and incoming first-years and sophomores can no longer have cars on campus, I have sympathy for them. However, as a junior who has never had a car on campus, I will tell you: it is not essential to the Vassar experience. You do not need a car to have fun on and off campus! I love the Dutchess County Public Transit system and have frequently utilized it in the past; many of the places I have listed above are available via bus, the Metro-North or the Vassar Student Association’s Saturday Shuttle, so do not be afraid to take advantage of them!
My time with the car ended with me speeding to pick my mom up from the train station with her two suitcases full of Estonian candy. As I drove her home, we exchanged our stories from the past couple weeks, and what was at the heart of all of my adventures? The Subaru, of course.