Back in July, I finally bought myself a Mazda Miata!

It's a used 2019 Grand Touring trim with the soft top, six-speed manual, Soul Crystal Red exterior, and tan interior. It had around 60,000 miles on it at the time of purchase, and I paid $23,003 total for it ($20,990 list price + $2,013 in taxes and fees).

This purchase has been a pretty long time coming. Even after I had built up the savings to comfortably afford a Miata, I had a hard time justifying it to myself, and mentally I kept it out of the realm of possibility. My 2017 Chevy Volt fulfilled my car needs very well already, so making such a big unnecessary purchase felt wrong, like stepping off the well-defined path of safe, acceptable decision-making. It was more comfortable to let my life continue running on the tried and true rails it had always followed.

However, this year was the year I'd resolved to live slightly larger, and at a certain point, I found that I was simply spending way too much time wondering what it would be like to own a Miata. I could continue deferring this dream, or I could stop wondering and start living. So with Sharlene's encouragement, I decided to go for it.

The actual car purchase happened pretty quickly after I made the mental leap. I spent only a day or so browsing listings online before I saw one I liked and reached out to the dealer. That was on a Thursday night; I had the car back home on Sunday night.

Sharlene and I drove to Bakersfield to buy the car, and then we caravanned back to SF that same day. For the first hour of the return trip, I insisted on driving the Miata with the top down, baking in the 105ºF heat, before finally conceding and putting the top up. A few hours later, as the sun set and we crossed the Pacheco Pass back into the Bay Area, I put the top back down and enjoyed the gentle summer evening air. My view unimpeded, I saw the hills around Gilroy strikingly defined by the golden sunset light.

Now a few months in, I can safely say that I'm glad I bought the car. It's basically everything I expected; it feels special and is a joy to drive. I also think that buying the car has made me more confident in my ability to take considered risks away from that well-worn path of comfortable safety.

The Miata has already given me a lot of enjoyment and many new memories. It's a treat to see the world from this particular vantage point, and I've also had fun sharing the experience with friends. Driving a manual sports car can feel a bit like learning to play a musical instrument, and the ND Miata is such an easy instrument to play well.

This car also particularly rewards taking the scenic route rather than the fastest route. Some especially memorable roads I've driven as a result:

• SR 25 and SR 198 between Hollister and Coalinga
• SR 49 from Coulterville to Oakhurst
• Little Panoche Rd and Panoche Rd between I-5 and Paicines

One underrated feature of the car is the good fuel economy. I can usually get around 38-39 MPG on the highway, and driving spiritedly only drops that number to the low or mid 30s. This isn't much worse than my Volt (which returns 40-42 MPG), so it's easy and low-guilt to choose the Miata.

I'll close with a (lightly edited) journal entry from back in October:

10/14/2024

Had the day off today as a company holiday (Columbus / Indigenous People's Day).

I wasn't sure what I would do with the day when I woke up, but after driving out of the city for lunch, I realized I wanted to continue driving the Miata because it was a beautiful day. I think I've been avoiding driving it on my own because that feels almost too indulgent? Sort of like how I usually only eat out when I'm not alone, so that it feels like better value. But today I chose to just indulge and burn the gasoline and drive.

I took Skyline from 92 to 84, then down 84 to La Honda. Turning left from the traffic of 92 onto the open climb of Skyline, I stepped on the gas, and the engine sang more smoothly and melodiously than I expected, as though the car knew this was where it wanted to be.

Skyline was a bit too straight and busy for my liking, but 84 downhill was more twisty, banked in just the right ways. I thought of the last chapter in Why We Drive by Matthew Crawford, titled "The Road to La Honda." After some time with the road all to myself, I caught up to a line of slower cars with a silver NA Miata at the end; the Miata driver waved to me, and I waved back. I slowed down and just enjoyed the cruise. It's starting to feel like fall now, the angle of the sunlight and the scattered yellow in the trees.

Just past La Honda, I remembered the route I used to take on my road bike to Pescadero. I turned left from 84 onto Pescadero Creek Road, getting out of the traffic and onto those quieter roads.

I wound the car out a bit on the climb. The road was tight and twisty, the way I like it, and occasionally braking into or accelerating out of the turns, I got a few chirps out of the tires. I found it really satisfying to hear those chirps, safely approaching the limits.

At Highway 1, I realized that Pigeon Point was not too far south, and so I turned left instead of right. I hadn't been to Pigeon Point since that time on our attempted bike tour all those years ago. I later checked my photos; turns out that that was in July 2013.

The lighthouse was covered by scaffolding and construction fabric. Under restoration. I walked past the hostel entrance and the buildings, each with a name like "Seal" or "Whale." The air smelled salty with decaying kelp and seawater. I felt the slight tug of the feeling I experienced being here for the first time back then, the magic and novelty of this Northern California coast. I ascribed much more meaning to it back then, I think, and romanticized all the little details, like the old Volkswagens parked out front. I can still see what it meant to me.

I poked around the lighthouse museum, asked the volunteer some questions about the light, and wandered around the grounds a bit, taking my time.

After a while, just lingering and sitting and watching the ocean, I felt refreshed and finally started on the drive back home. I didn't know it in the morning, but this spot by the coast was what I needed.