“I’m a far parker… I park far,” my dad said once, unaware that he sounded like an episode of Seinfeld. But he wasn’t joking. He parks far. I laughed at him initially, but have since come some to see the light. I too am a far parker.

If you have to drive, it’s a healthier choice. You’ll get more steps in on every errand. Do those extra steps in the parking lot actually make a difference? Maybe not. But maybe it’s not about any individual walk from the car to the store. Maybe It’s about reinforcing an identity. Not always taking the easiest path. Or something like that.

It started as a joke for me. “I’m a far parker. It’s in my genes,” I would chuckle to my exasperated wife, as I drove across an empty parking lot to a spot in the far corner.

But I became a true believer after moving out of Toronto (to the ‘burbs, you might say). Driving in to Toronto sucks. The traffic is famously bad. I try to avoid it when I can. But if I am driving in to the city, I will park far. And not just back of the parking lot far. Several kilometres far.

I do this because:

1. I like the walk. I feel some nostalgia for the city life and it’s nice to walk through it again.
2. I pay less for parking. Sacrificing proximity to save on cost.
3. For big events, like a stadium concert, I avoid the unavoidable chaos of leaving the same place as thousands of others. A 20 minute walk to the car is much more pleasant than bumper to bumper traffic.

I’m a far parker. Maybe you should be too.