Shared experiences belong to a good partnership. And when Eliška Vozníková from Brno wanted a "surprise trip" for her birthday, her husband Vrat'a planned one to attractive places from Prague to Liberec. The unique hotel on Ještěd, the Drábské světničky (Drábské světničky) or a visit to a restaurant situated in an airplane on a motorway rest area near Bakov nad Jizerou. All they had to do was to figure out how to spend the whole weekend as a then still childless car-free family.
We prefer public transport, but it doesn't get us to some places
Eliska and Vráťa are a long-time car-free family by conviction.
"The trips we usually take are easily managed by public transport. We live in Brno, where there is a relatively good public transport system, and we usually get to our family or friends by train or bus with one change. Since our son was born, we manage even with him, plus he appreciates the opportunity to walk on the train rather than being crammed into a seat. And when we do go abroad, it's usually to exotic destinations that we wouldn't be able to reach by car," explains Eliška, who made sure the family's original car-free plan was followed.
"The exception was a short period when we bought a convertible for our honeymoon, but with the intention of selling it anyway. At the same time, we have also verified that dealing with compulsory liability insurance, motorway stamps, accident insurance, technical, it's really not our hobby, so we are happy to leave these worries to others," says Eliška.
They wanted to accomplish a lot of goals in a little time
The question for Vrát'a was how to plan an attractive programme, to achieve as many goals as possible in a short time and to leave space for improvisation.
"When I looked at what interesting things we could see along the way, I quickly realised that the changes between train and bus would be unnecessarily limiting and perhaps even stressful. You really don't want that on a marriage trip. The connections didn't connect or offer us enough time to explore. I was very much in need of, say, lunch on a plane parked next to the highway, but it would have taken an incredibly long time to walk from Bakov. Moreover, we didn't want to carry all our luggage all the time, since we slept somewhere else every night," Vrát'a describes the planning.
Public transport as a universal carrier for the trip was thus out of the question. Because he wanted to follow up on the honeymoon, he looked for offers from rental companies with convertibles. The price for a rental for four days including the weekend was around CZK 10-12,000, plus fuel (the car is returned with a full tank) and a refundable deposit of at least CZK 10,000.
"I wanted a car where I could be sure that someone would take care of it professionally. Professional rental companies guarantee it, but when I take into account the administration around it, the deposit, the pick-up point, I just didn't want to do it. The P2P carsharing people would get my car to where I needed it to be, but the convertible, which I assumed was in solid condition, was going for three grand or more a day. That already seemed a bit expensive, but with the cheaper ones I was already quite worried about their technical condition due to the age of the cars," says the trip organizer.
The winning combination was the bus and carsharing company Autonapůl
Vrát'a was determined to make the most of the time. Cutting back on the programme was not an option. The advantage of the Voznik family is that they have been Autonapůl carsharing users since their wedding in 2015.
"The main goal of the trip was to stay overnight in a hotel at the Jested transmitter. I found a date when they had a room available, booked the stay and just reported to my wife when not to plan any program. I didn't tell her the places we would visit, she wanted a surprise. In Prague, there was a available Octavia in Karlín, not far from the bus station in Florence, so I booked it right away, bought tickets from Brno and left the rest to the current situation," says Vrát'a.
He has only one reproach - that Autonapůl does not offer a convertible. And even though he would welcome it in the offer, he considers it logical that it is not (yet) in the carsharing offer.
The trip around the Drábské světnice was nice, the accommodation at Jested was delightful
As he says himself, Vrát'a was curious how his plan would meet Eliška's mood and preferences.
"I have to admit self-critically that the idea of a witches' tour of the castle in Dětenice did not meet with a positive reception. If we had taken the bus, we would have been a bit trapped and had to somehow fill the two free hours. This way, I just checked out what interesting things were nearby, we got in the car and headed to the castle in Loucen. So the carsharing worked as a prevention of potential upset," laughs Vrát'a in retrospect.
"Thanks to the car we were flexible, thanks to public transport we left a smaller ecological footprint and thanks to the clever combination of several modes of transport we also saved money," Vrát'a praises.
If you don't need a car every day, go to carsharing
Vozníks praise carsharing. After the experience of having their own car that "left home" as soon as it fulfilled its purpose, they are completely satisfied with carsharing.
"Even though our cabrio was not missing anything, it meant unnecessary worries and extra costs for us. And given our eco-friendly worldview, we didn't have a completely clear conscience when we owned the car. A car is something that is superfluous in our daily lives if there is an easy way to get a car in perfect condition in a few clicks. Thanks to Autonapůl, we have an electric Renault Zoe to drive to our favourite winemakers for a big shopping trip or to get wine, and we have cars for trips around the country when we happen to need them," Eliška Vozníková lists the benefits.
"Actually, we can't really imagine living with a car now. Owning a car is unnecessary for us, because we have it anytime and anywhere in Brno and all over the country. We only pay for what we actually drive, we don't take up unnecessary space on the street, we don't have to deal with parking problems, and at the same time we are as flexible as possible thanks to Autonapůl carsharing," sums up Vrát'a Vozník.
Creating space for people. Together.