I have had my permit for almost two years, but do not have my license or a car. I had no way to get my license during my freshman year of college because I went to college away from home. Having no car and no license when living in a city certainly makes it hard to get places. Here are some reasons why not having a car is tough:

1. You sometimes have to take the bus.

Sometimes you have to take the bus because that is your only option for transportation at that point in time. Recently I wanted to meet my friend at the mall and both my parents were out, so I had to try to get to her by taking the bus. The problem with public transportation is that it can come late or be delayed. I was waiting for almost 30 minutes for the bus when I realized they changed the pickup time from 5:06 to 5:59, which is around the time I had to meet my friend at the mall.

2. You rarely see your friends.

Having no license makes it hard to see your friends, especially if your friends do not have their license. You have to wait for their parents to be free or have to get your parents to take you.

3. You're stuck in your house.

Being stuck at home makes it hard for you to see your friends! And people with their licenses are busy driving around and working. Many of my friends cannot get a ride either or they are busy, so I rarely see my friends. If I had my license, I could drive to them, but I don’t. Living in a big city also makes it hard to use public transportation because there is always a lot of traffic, so it takes longer to take the bus places. Basically, you can’t see your friends unless you want to sit on the bus for hours or wait for a ride.

4. Which brings me to my next point: you can never find rides.

Being stuck at home is another result of not having a license. You have no way to get places unless you want to wait a long time to get to your location, so sometimes you just don’t go anywhere. Walking and taking a bus takes way longer than driving, and since it’s so hard to find a ride, walking and taking the bus are your only options. A lot of the times when your friends want to hangout, you just have them come over, and if they can’t, then you just say you can’t hangout. Huge bummer.

5. Even when the weather is terrible, you still have to walk.

If there are no buses coming close to the time you want to get somewhere and it isn’t too far away, then you’d rather walk. But sometimes the weather is awful. Walking in bad weather is something you also have to deal with when you don't have a driver’s license, especially if the bus won’t get you to your destination in time. I find that walking is the most convenient way to get places nearby because you don’t have to wait on anyone else--you can just leave and walk there. But there's still the possibility of getting soaked in the rain!