I celebrated my 36th birthday by giving myself a present.
Well, kind of.
It was more of a non-present.
And this non-present represents the end of an era.
I was born and grew up in Detroit.
Motor city, baby.
Henry Ford was born in the area. It’s the birthplace of the American automobile. The “Big Three” domestic auto manufacturers were headquartered in Metro Detroit for decades. The city is a symbol for cars, highways, and manufacturing.
It was practically a right of passage to get a driver’s license, buy a car (or have one bought for you), and gain your freedom in the process.
It took me a little while to realize that a driver’s license and everything it conveys is anything but freedom.
The Driver’s License And Anti-Freedom
What is a driver’s license?
It’s a license to drive a car. But it’s a lot more than that.
It’s assumed that you’re going to naturally own and drive a car if you have a license. Otherwise, there’s no essential reason to have one in the first place.
I thought this license was my pathway to freedom.
I could hit the road, go wherever I want, and see new places.
But that supposed “freedom” comes with a hell of a ball and chain that represents the complete opposite of freedom.
Sure, I could jump in a car and go places. Whoop dee doo.
But in order to buy a car and then be able to afford all of the associated expenses (car payment, insurance, gas, maintenance, repairs, licensing, etc.), one typically needs to have a job.
And in order to have a job in Southeast Michigan, you usually need to have a car.
Along with the job comes an entire cascade of consumerist behavior, feeding back into itself.
See how that works?
It’s this neat trick of a catch-22 that sucks people into anti-freedom right out of the gate.
Can’t have freedom without first giving up your freedom!
Say what?
The Driver’s License Is Actually A Consumer’s License
Yep. You heard it here first.
A driver’s license is a front. It’s a sham.
A driver’s license is actually a consumer’s license.
When you have that driver’s license in your possession, the world is simply acknowledging that you’re able to freely feed into the consumption chain.
And you’re acknowledging that you’re ready to take advantage of that ability at any time – if you’re not already doing so.
I’m not sure what led me to this epiphany about the driver’s license.
But it totally changed the way in which I see that piece of plastic.
I now see it as a symbol of everything I don’t want in my life: a car, a job, a house, a bunch of stuff that won’t make me happy, and a life that’s totally dependent on the whims of an employer.
Letting My Driver’s License Expire
I’ve come to not just enjoy walking as method of transportation, but I see walking as a fundamental component of a happy, healthy, and mindful life.
Moreover, I see a car, and everything that tends to come attached to it, as antithetical of what I value most in my life: freedom.
So why have a driver’s license if I never again plan to own a car (or otherwise drive) for the rest of my life?
That’s a very rational question.
And I couldn’t come up with a good reason as to why I’d keep that piece of plastic that I’ve come to more or less despise.
So I decided to let my driver’s license expire for the first time since it was initially issued to me 20 years ago.
An end of an era, indeed.
I could have renewed it. I could have gone through the rigmarole of checking a few boxes online and having the thing forwarded to me here in Thailand.
But I saw no point. It was just another bill. It was another process. More paperwork. An obstacle to climb over for no reward whatsoever.
So I instead let one more thing go. It’s one less bill and process to worry about.
And I feel even more free now that I’ve rid myself of it. It’s honestly a total relief.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, I should keep this piece of plastic with me. It will remain fairly useless and expired; however, it serves as a picture ID that I may very well need at some point.
I thought about applying for an identification card in lieu of renewing my license, but I didn’t see a lot of value in that. The driver’s license, while expired, still serves to identify who I am.
In fact, I view an expired driver’s license as pretty indicative of who I am. It’s kind of a nice joke to carry around in my wallet. I’m so far removed from the typical life, I can’t even be bothered to renew this thing or get a new ID card.
I feel like my life has been slowly but surely moving closer to exactly what I set out to create way back in late 2009.
And this decision to no longer have a driver’s license (a.k.a. a consumer’s license) is the latest in a long line of steps that brings me that much nearer to true freedom in life.
It feels good, guys!
What do you think? Do you have a driver’s license? Do you feel like it’s actually a consumer’s license?
Thanks for reading.
P.S. I reached financial freedom at age 33. If you’d like to also reach financial independence in a relatively short period of time, check out some fantastic resources that I personally used to get to this spot in life!
As crazy as it sounds, I and folks I know, have found that a lot of business’ and government entities don’t recognize an expired drivers license as a valid form of ID. Simply Crazy.
Alaska49,
If I were living in the US still, I would look into getting an ID card of some kind (depending on necessity). But I don’t really need to worry about the validity of an expired license as it pertains to state/federal laws when I’m no longer living in the US. Plus, there’s always the passport, which I think is actually a higher form of ID anyway.
One less thing to worry about. 🙂
Cheers!
Well you could rent a car when needed… for example when travelling in a foreign country.
TJ,
You could, but I wouldn’t/won’t. If you feel the need to always have that option, it’d be wise to maintain a valid driver’s license. Because of everything I just laid out, I won’t be doing that. I didn’t like driving in the US. I’d like driving even less in a foreign country. To each their own.
Best regards.
Hi Jason,
Thanks for sharing your story, I can relate to your case . I am a 45 Years Old and never had a driving license .. so I walk and use the public transport whenever possible. it is quite easy to live without car in the major European Cities where Public Transit is widely available. Not owning cars can reduce your expense by significant margin (10-20% at least) and reduce the World pollution In my opinion.
Walk is How human was transporting since the beginning of time and the closer to nature you can be.
atm,
Thanks for sharing your story, too.
It’s likely a more common occurrence in your part of the world to not have/never have had a driver’s license. This mindset that I used to have, that I’ve now shed, is more or less directed at, and coming from, a US-centric perspective. That said, there are Americans in the NYC area (and select other cities) that don’t have (and never had) a driver’s license, but that’s more the exception than the rule as it pertains to the US as a whole (where public transit is, overall, abysmal).
A reader on Twitter noted that he believes I’m simply ahead of my time. There will likely be a (near) future where individual car ownership is no longer common, replaced largely by on-demand usage. That seems to be coming. So I guess I’m just a step ahead of that transition away from driver’s licenses, although my decision is based on a more philosophical point of view. And I honestly personally prefer walking, above all else.
Best wishes!
I was just going to make a comment about this, but glad you bought it up 🙂
My wife grew up in NYC and never got a driver’s license (still doesn’t have one to this day). From the new bike lanes added, bus and subway systems…there’s very little need to have a car, in my opinion.
When you talk about Chiang Mai and the convenience of everything being close by, I think there are similarities between both cities. Even the few times I drive into NYC, usually for family trips or to transport large items that would be difficult by transit, I feel inconvenienced and think that this city was really meant for walking.
Danny,
Yeah, NYC is a world unto its own. There’s nothing else like it in the country. But the convenience of everything (including pleasurable walking and world-class public transit) has a cost. And so NYC is a very expensive place to live. I think there are quite a few fine places to live in the country where one doesn’t need to drive at all (I did it in tiny Sarasota for years, so it can easily be done in better locales), but NYC would obviously be far and away the best place for that. 🙂
I actually think Chiang Mai is a lot like Portland, Oregon. The topography, vibrancy, youth, hipster scene, walkability, food carts, etc. The weather is very different, though.
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
Yes no offence to your home town but I found the motor city to be a strange old
place for sure, for my year in Detroit I used to walk everywhere and cars would
pull up alongside me asking if I needed a ride, apparently everybody is meant to
drive there and it looked like I was deemed a little odd for walking. I was also
ridiculed in a meeting for asking where I could find a bus timetable, after the laughter
subsided the response was some story about how Henry Ford bought and ripped up
the Detroit rail system. Didn’t think it was factually correct but I’d guess you’d know
better than I do.
There’s a part of me that doesn’t want to close the door to the motorcycle license because
the more I see train and bus fares increasing beyond inflation the more I think
the answer might be some ultra-high range lightweight carbon fiber electric motorcycle
that I can run for next to nothing and service myself, but that’s just me. Walking,
cycling and public transport are plenty good enough for now though.
But yes agree on the car license expiry, definitely don’t miss those things. If a car
was a business nobody in their right mind would invest in it.
Regards,
DN
DN,
No offense taken. I’ll be the first to knock Detroit. If I don’t see the city again for 100 years, it’ll be too soon!
A combination of walking and light public transportation has gotta be the best combo out there, especially after factoring for risk. I could get a motorbike and tool around Chiang Mai (which would require a local license), but I have no idea why I’d do such a thing. Even if I didn’t prefer walking, I can get a Grab for almost free. Better to let someone else do the navigating. And I’d rather keep my limbs attached to my body. 🙂
Your story about people asking for a ride reminds me of a few times it happened to me down in Florida, too. People assumed my car broke down or something. They were shocked to find out I was simply walking to my destination. Too funny!
Cheers.
Interesting way to frame it as a “consumer license”. It makes a lot of sense to get rid of it in Thailand, you don’t “need” a car as much as we tend to in the US. I’m sure that culturally not having a car is more of a norm in a lot of countries. Are you going to rock a moped or stick strictly to walking? Congrats on breaking the chain!
Moose,
Couldn’t be happier to be rid of the thing. It’s been a long time coming. 🙂
Not having a car is more or less a function of wealth over here. But because cars are expensive (after factoring in both the import costs and the smaller salaries over here), small motorbikes are extremely common. Thai people, in my experience, do not like to walk at all. This was backed up by a conversation I had with a 20-year American expat the other day. He recounted a story of a friend who met up with a Thai girl for the first date. They didn’t like the restaurant they met at, so they agreed to go to one right across the street. The girl wanted to drive across the street. The guy apparently ended the date right there. That’s what I was told. Very funny.
No motorbike for me. That was kind of laid out above. And I’d need a local license for it.
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
That’s very cool. We still need our car so I’ll keep my driver license for now.
Even when we don’t have a car, I’ll probably still keep it. There are more options now. Car sharing and such.
Joe,
If you need a car, you’ve gotta have it. 🙂
I wouldn’t have a driver’s license even if I were still living in the US, though. I see a future in which cars will be almost exclusively an on-demand service. Even here, I just get a Grab when I need to go somewhere far. I’d do the same in the States (or use public transit). No need for a license in that case.
Hope all is well in PDX!
Best wishes.
Hey Jason
I know its a little late but Happy birthday. I hope you had a great birthday celebration.
I enjoyed the article above, I look forward to the day that I don’t need to go to the DMV office again. you are treated as a number, and it takes for ever it seams like. and I have to pay to be treated like that. I agree that if you don’t need a drivers license it’s one less thing you have to worry about, and that is a good thing. I can see more clearly every day that a simpler life is better.
Enjoy your journey
Cheers
Michael,
A simpler life is definitely better. We are very much in agreement. 🙂
Thanks for the well wishes. Hope all is well over there for you, too!
Best regards.
Hi Jason, – a great post and full support from Copenhagen in Denmark. A city where everyone bikes, and where cars are increasingly finding it difficult to park, and where I pass cars stuck in traffic as I bike pass them in the bicycle lane. The same thing in Nairobi, and in Jakarta. In front of the buildings here you find many bikes, a proof of the many people taking their bikes to and from work. Biking is excellent cardiovascular exercise too. And cheap. However, getting a family with let’s say 2 kids – would force me to get a car I think. My Dad also says I should get a car… But until now, I don’t have one, and I buy stocks with the money I save.
Christian,
Thanks for the support! 🙂
I hope to visit Copenhagen one day. I’m not really into bicycling, but I truly appreciate the forward-thinking development there across the board: walkability, urban planning, TOD, public transit, etc. It looks like an incredible city.
I plan to spend some of the summertime outside Thailand in the future, as I wrote about not too long ago. I think I’ll end up alternating summer spots, so I’m sure I’ll hop over to Copenhagen one of these summers. That whole region of the world strikes me as fascinating.
Best wishes!
I know there are lifestyles where a car is extraneous (your FL life seemed like one of them), but for my family having a car is a huge boon. We own a single, used car (about 9 years old) with 50,000 miles on it that we put 6-8k miles a year on. Our total cost to own, including depreciation, is probably somewhere between 1500-2000.
In exchange for that $2,000, we are able to take six weeks (!) of vacation a year to sunny San Diego and beautiful Lake Tahoe to visit family for the cost of a tank of gas–less than $100 for a week’s vacation for a family of three. I also get to spend an extra 40 minutes PER DAY at home with my family vs when I tried taking the bus for a year.
I’ve thought about going car free, but between saving me (40*5*52/60) 173 hours of being “at work” and drastically reducing the cost of my vacations for the cost of just $2,000 a year, it really works out to be a boon for us. Now, if we had a newer car, or, God forbid, consumeritis and TWO newer cars, this would be a different equation!
Charles,
Thanks for stopping by!
I think it’s less of a lifestyle question and more of a location question. I “made it work” in Florida, but it wasn’t easy. Conversely, even being a car-free family is not terribly difficult in a few locations across the country (and your options become much greater once you look outside the US, which is just one rock of many). You’d have to set things up right and commit to it because you genuinely want it and enjoy it. Others prefer driving and want a car. For the record, my girlfriend, who was also car-free with me that entire time in FL, had/has a child. So it’s far from impossible.
I’d have a hard time thinking of any situation in which having a car is actually financially superior to not owning a car, but one can certainly justify owning one through any number of lifestyle choices. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, nor would I criticize it. It’s just a personal call, really. I don’t actually have a problem with people owning/driving cars. I profit from that paradigm handsomely. It’s rather just a thing where I don’t personally want/need a car. I’ve chosen a lifestyle and, perhaps more importantly, a location that allows me to pursue that choice. To each their own on that.
Cheers!
Hi Jason My daughter in laws grand mother went her whole life ( living to be just short of 90 ) with no drivers license they lived in the city and she walked were she needed to go. Im sure that helped her get to a fine age of 90 :-). When I worked in high tech I worked with a number of folks that bicycled to work even in the winter. We all have choices. I have a car 1989 Volvo 240 ( SWEET ) but its a hobby and fun for me to.
If I lived in the city I would not have a car or even a need for one because I enjoy walking as well.
Bob,
That’s an awesome story. Good on her. And it’s not just a longer life; it’s a more enjoyable life, in my view. Traffic, bills, and being beholden to a machine and everything it comes attached with is a big negative for my quality of life. That driver’s license is really just your avatar for the entire chain of consumerism.
But you’re right: we all have choices. If someone else chooses to have a car, good for them. I personally profit from that choice. It’s just a choice I think is best for the kind of life I enjoy leading.
Best regards.
I guess you can get away with it if you live in a big city where you can take a taxi or bus or ride a bike a short distance. Not very practical or realistic in my situation though. I can’t imagine not having a car and wouldn’t want to be without one. I love my car even though it’s a clunker.
CD,
Hey, that’s great. If you love your car, good on you. I don’t think a car-free lifestyle is for everyone, nor should it be. I personally earn quite a bit of dividend income from the car ownership paradigm, so it doesn’t behoove me at all to see people follow in my footsteps.
That said, I would strongly disagree with the idea that it’s only something someone can get away with in a big city. I did it for years in Sarasota. And my girlfriend also had no car. So it’s not like I had a partner I could count on for that occasional car ride. We just didn’t have one… for years. I made it work, but I was also motivated to do so out of my distaste for car ownership and everything that comes with. I prefer walking and public transit. If I would have preferred owning a car, I would have had to fight myself on that lifestyle choice. And it would have been a lot harder.
Cheers!
Include in those expenses property taxes on vehicles, sales tax, transfer tax, registration fees, gas taxes,… Yup, opt of that that and get everyone else to pay the taxes instead. I hope to follow your lead some day. Bike on.
dn,
Yeah, I hear that. I “opted out” for sure. Very happy about that choice. 🙂
I’ll hold down the fort until you can join in!
Cheers.
Great article!
I like how you connected a driver’s license to consumerism. Giving it up is like breaking free of the chains.
I’ve never driven in Bangkok and I like saving all that money I would be spending on a car every month.
Like you mentioned before, autonomous cars are just around the corner. The technology is just about ready and in a few years we’ll be able to walk outside and get into a driverless car we requested with an app on our phone.
As you said, you’re ahead of everyone else!
FIRE,
Thanks so much!
I never thought about the driver’s license like that until pretty recently. Not sure what led me to connecting the dots like that, but it’s a thing you can’t “unsee” once you’ve seen it. Now it’s something I don’t want at all – other than to sit in my wallet as kind of a joke I can pull out occasionally (like how Buffett likes to pull out his empty schedule book). 🙂
Good job saving all that money, stress, and risk. We’re indeed ahead of the curve.
Cheers!
Hi Jason.
You have your point of not renewing your licence. I have a different view on this decision.
A driving licence can serve well as an income generating tool. You can have an option of becoming a Grab driver with the licence. This is an alternative gateway to living life on your own term if you feel like doing so.
My two cents worth of views.
WTK
WTK,
Sure, but that’s moving into the realm of getting a job, which I don’t want or miss. Likewise, if I were living in the US, a lot of jobs require a valid driver’s license. So, I mean, we’re just talking about having a license for a job here, which misses just about everything I’m talking about in the article specifically – and the blog as a whole.
I’m happy to give up all the money a job (like being a Grab driver) would include:
https://www.mrfreeat33.com/i-lost-millions-of-dollars-and-i-couldnt-be-happier/
If your passion is truly being a Grab driver (or a truck driver, or delivering pizza, or anything like that), that’s one thing. It’s not a job anymore. But I strongly doubt many people dream of becoming, essentially, a taxi driver.
To each their own, though. 🙂
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
I agree with you. It’s up to each individual. The most important thing is for one to be happy in whatever he/she is doing as well as the decisions he/she makes.
I have a driving licence. I don’t own a car and in fact I do not utilise the usefulness of this driving licence at the current time. However, I maintain this driving licence in time of urgency. One positive point is that I do not need to pay any admin fees to maintain this licence. As such, there is no need to bother about the renewal of the licence at the current time of point. Who know whether there might be a change in the Government policies in future. I will decide if such policy occurs.
WTK
I enjoy your blog but I think this is an unwise decision . It reminds me of someone getting a tatoo. You are sentencing your future self to a condition when you have no idea of what future you will want. Trust me, at 36 you are still a rookie at life with only a small fraction of the wisdom you will possess later . Getting rid of a tatoo is painful and expensive . Finding out you need the ability to legally drive or that you need a valid ID could also be painful and expensive . Just because you can’t , at 36, foresee such a situation is not a sound reason to give up a priviledge that might be very difficult to recover.
steveark,
Yeah, we’ll see. I remember hearing the same thing about quitting my job. What if you want a job later? What about the gap in the resume? What if you need the money? What if you get bored? But what if this and that and the other thing? Blah, blah, blah. That was four years ago. I’ll soon be job-free longer than I ever actually had a job.
I haven’t driven in many years. The longer I go without driving and using a driver’s license, the happier I’ve become. I can’t even remember the last time I had to break out my driver’s license for something. It’s been a very long time.
But to each their own. I profit from others having that consumer’s license, owning/buying a car, and everything else that comes with. I simply don’t engage in it myself, which is a great form of arbitrage.
Cheers.
Hi Jason,
Well said. I totally agree with your views even though I stll feel that it is more prudent to maintain the licence for future use if applicable.
Ben
Ben,
If I could think of a reasonable future “applicable” situation that would be relevant/likely enough to warrant the cost and hassle, I would have renewed. Since I won’t ever drive again, I can’t come up with anything. If I were to ever again live in the US (which itself is unlikely), I’d look into getting an ID card.
Most of the things I do (FIRE at 33, living abroad, now having no license, etc.) are hard to comprehend for typical people, but I couldn’t imagine living any other way than atypically. I remember those ‘WWJD’ bracelets from my childhood. I kind of just reimagine it as “What would most people do?”, and then I do the opposite. Working out pretty well thus far. 🙂
Cheers!
Good for you getting rid of the license. Driving is overrated. Even ignoring the financial cost of driving, it has always been an almost-miserable experience for me at its absolute best. How people can enjoy it is something I’ll never wrap my head around.
The only thing I would recommend is applying for a non-driver ID. You would probably be best off getting a Thai government ID, since I presume you get scrutinized less for that than having a foreign (American) ID if you wanted to open a local bank account, apply for benefits, or anything else. One of your commenters above lamented how “crazy” it is that your expired driver’s license is no longer considered valid, but it’s not crazy. It’s an expired document that’s no longer legally recognized. If Thailand is like the US, then you’ll want to have a valid ID for certain things.
Congrats again on losing your consumer’s license. But just be on the lookout for the police when you buy things. Otherwise, they’ll bring you in for consuming without a license. 😉
Sincerely,
ARB–Angry Retail Banker
ARB,
I hear you. I don’t understand the “enjoyment” behind driving. I don’t think I ever did. If it’s enjoyable being beholden to traffic, bills, stress, and risk, go for it. That’s not enjoyable to me.
As for a Thai ID card, it’s just not necessary. I have my passport, which serves as legal identification. And there’s nothing here in the country that I get into that would require some kind of national identification. The same really goes for the US. The more I think about it, the more I’d probably not even have an ID card over there. I’d have my passport if I really need to break it out (for, say, one of my financial accounts or something like that). I guess if you like to go drinking a lot, or if you find yourself buying alcohol, you might need a card. They don’t really do that over here.
If the situation changes (regarding an ID card), I’ll update everyone. But I don’t anticipate ever having anything other than my passport. Haven’t needed a license/ID yet – and I’ve even left the country and come back. Either way, though, the driver’s license is definitely gone.
Best regards!
Jason,
Belated Happy Birthday! Looks like less than 2 weeks ago.
DL,
Thanks! 🙂
Best wishes.
Can you use a passport instead of an ID card?
dave,
My passport serves to identify who I am.
Cheers!