We Traded Our Jag for a Golf Cart.

Aaron and I were “car” people, meaning we both had an interest in nice cars. I preferred the all American muscle car and Aaron preferred the more refined European Mercedes type of car. I used to own a Shelby GT500 and Aaron owned a Mercedes SLK 350. We also had an SUV and decided we didn’t need 3 cars. We shopped around for a sports car we both loved and that is when we discovered the Jaguar F-Type. What a dream!

It was a lot of fun to drive that car. It got attention everywhere we went. On more than one occasion we had cops wanting to race us. Seriously think about this. What kind of conundrum is that?! Do you race him and risk a ticket? Do you ignore him and disappoint everyone watching? Hmm….here is what we did: Light turns green and you go from 0 to 60 in 3.4 seconds. You didn’t speed and the only law broken might be “wreckless driving” charge if the cop really wanted to be an ass. It always worked out just fine and was a lot of fun. That car is about the only material possession we both miss. It was a nice car.

Me and the Jag somewhere in California.

Here in San Pedro everyone gets around by golf cart or bicycle. There are a few cars and trucks on the island and those are mostly either taxis or for business purposes. We were renting a golf cart for $500 USD per month and since that isn’t sustainable for long we decided to purchase our own custom cart. We had read online that a lot of people had trouble getting a cart permit if you aren’t a citizen or at least have permanent residency status. Some people even paid hundreds of dollars to expedite the whole deal. Yikes! We didn’t know what to expect. We went to the town hall and got the application and filled it out along with all the required supporting docs (a cover letter explaining why we need it, a copy of land title to prove we own land here, a few photos of where the cart would be parked at night, etc). A couple weeks later we got a call that our permit was approved, woohoo! We got the approval the day before our cart was ready, too – perfect timing. Now we just needed to get a quick inspection to get a license plate and buy some insurance ($42 USD per year haha). The whole thing was simple and nowhere near as long as we heard.

We decided to get a hot pink cart with a lot of chrome. If you’re going to have a golf cart as your main mode of transportation it may as well be flashy, right? Good thing Aaron is color blind! I’m sure we are quite the sight on the island in our bright pink cart with a 150 pound Great Dane on the back.

The new hot pink cart in it’s debut photoshoot! Cart was made by Rick’s who we highly recommend.

There are some good perks to upgrading from a vehicle to a golf cart. You get to feel the wind in your hair while working on your tan everyday. You get to fully experience whatever smell the island brings you each day (could be rotten seaweed or it could be beautiful flowers). You get to hold on tight around the corners (I swear I am going to roll out of this thing one of these days…). The funniest thing is that you get to give the locals a ride. They often hop on the back and catch a ride into town. This is great as you get to learn some island secrets, like where to buy cheaper groceries, etc.

Me, test driving the new wheels

I’m not sure if I will ever tire of the novelty of getting around by golf cart. Right now we still enjoy it and go for a drive everyday just for fun. The dogs absolutely LOVE cart rides (you cannot say those words without a frenzy of excitement!)

Bye, bye Jag. Hello pink machine! Just another exciting change in our new life! In honor of our beloved Jag, we decided to name this cart “Kitty”. Many exciting adventures to come!

Raine says “We all know that small cars are good for us. But so is cod liver oil. And jogging.”