I've lived without a car for for more than a decade. People who drive have mental maps attached to driving everywhere. They frequently can't see the small shortcuts and the like that already exist.
When I gave up my car, I was in an apartment complex within a twenty minute walk of four shopping centers. There were two other apartment complexes lined up next to mine.
No one walked. They literally got in their car to drive their trash to the dumpster or pick up their mail or go to the pool.
Me and my sons began walking. And when you walked, you didn't have to go all the way down the hill to the street. You could cut through the grass and one of the shopping centers didn't even require you to cross a street.
If you aren't familiar with various options, you don't have the mental maps to do things quickly and easily. You impose mental maps from an unrelated process and draw inaccurate conclusions because your brain superimposes the car path you would need to take when you aren't going to go walk down to the street and walk in the street, etc.
I gave up my car and the internet told me it was not a walkable neighborhood because there was no theater or something. My favorite grocery store was on the corner.y bank branch was across from it. I was near my job and other shopping.
It wasn't perfect, but it met a lot of my needs. I'm not a big movie goer. I did not care that there was no theater.
And I can talk until I'm blue in the face and people who don't walk as a form of transit will shout me down and tell me I'm a whack job.
But if you want to beat this thing, you may find that you have other options to do things you need to do if you will just look for them.
Sir down and list an essential task.
Food.
Work.
Banking.
Write out the sticking points. Why is this a problem currently.
Brainstorm alternatives: ATM, online banking, PayPal, prepaid debit card, e-gift cards, etc.
Search Google maps for all nearby options. Zoom in. Think about what's actually conveniently close.
I'm not saying no one should drive. I'm just saying it's not better for driving to become the new monolith everyone should pursue because of the pandemic.
Shopping when it's less crowded is effective. It's a practice I'm pursuing. It reduces exposure and it has nothing to do with how I go there. It's just a function of timing.