Ladies and gentlemen: I got a CharlieCard! I think my enthusiasm of possessing this free, plastic card amuses the natives, but I never really experienced public transportation growing up. Up here, it’s so common. But I think it’s fantastic! Of course there are pros and cons, but I love having the freedom of exploring Boston and the surrounding cities without the stress of driving. And with the card, I just tap, tap, tap into any turnstile I wanna go through and I’m on my way (barring that there’s money on my card, obviously)!

They’re super-easy to obtain – you can ask a nice MBTA representative for one or sometimes you can find stacks of them resting on top of the Fare Vending Machines. It takes just few minutes to load up some money onto the card and off you go!

For more information about the CharlieCard and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, click on any of the links in this post.