I joined the dark side

I'm almost ashamed to admit this. I did what I said I'd never do. I bought a minivan. I joined the dark side. (queue Darth Vader music)

The main reason for not getting a minivan before was the stigma behind it, i.e. you're not cool if you drive one. But who am I kidding, I was never cool to begin with. And more importantly, why should I even care? The days of trying to be cool are over. This isn't high school. I'm almost 40 years old with four kids! So it's time to embrace who we truly are... we are that soccer family. We are constantly running around town with a car loaded with kids, taking them here and there and everywhere.

It was only after the San Diego trip that I started to consider the minivan, where I got a taste of the van life for the first time. Trips with the whole family were so much easier. Kids can easily get in and out. There was no bottleneck at the door, waiting for one kid to jump into the third row and then having to slide the second row chair back. Tyson can easily close the door now thanks to the power sliding doors. There's no longer a struggle for the two little ones to climb into the car.

Besides the ease of entry and exit, there is much more storage space. Extra space is another must-have, especially when traveling with the whole fam bam. All the other conveniences are just an added bonus:

• 10-speed automatic transmission with Shift-By-Wire (SBW), paddle shifters and idle-stop
• Remote engine start  
• Lane Keeping Assist System  
• Hands-free access power tailgate
  
• Advanced Rear Entertainment System with 10.2-inch screen, Blu-ray player
  
• Seating for 8  
• HondaVAC
• and much more!  

But the final reason for getting a minivan, specifically the 2018 Honda Odyssey, is that it looks pretty damn sexy. The newly redesigned look was what got me. All the features in the world wouldn't have sold me if it looked ugly. The tiny downside are the "meh" rims, which I hope to eventually replace.

Malik the Minivan.