Not yet out and about, but the plan is to be out and about, as I’ve finally bitten the bullet and booked refresher driving lessons. Been looking at driving school websites, and for all that they say about refresher lessons, most of them don’t seem to be thinking of someone who’s basically been avoiding driving for 15 years.
My standard preamble is that I took my test in my gap year, and later the same week, went to Poland. I wasn’t insured to drive there, and all I could have driven, realistically, would have been a tractor or a 12 seater minibus. Returning from Poland, I was soon off to university where a) there was no money to drive and b) not much parking either.
And so it went on. Edinburgh is a city where you really can resist driving, given a good bus service (well I think so anyway), and lots that is walkable. Dan hadn’t had driving lessons, which made it easier to continue driving avoidance. I had learned in a medium sized town, I was a bit scared of city driving. And so on.
We’ve got good at arranging holidays that rely on public transport. And far too good at cadging lifts from others. As friends move further out of town, it is starting to get harder to see people as easily – or it takes a lot longer to do so.
My trip to Dunfermline probably took two hours, door to door, allowing for bus and train connections, when you can do that in 30 mins by car? (I think. Travelling by public transport means that estimations of travel time by car are not one of my strong points.)
Main shift has come from Mum offering to pass on her car to me. I think she still wants to…and Mum and Dad in particular continue to drive to see us from Peebles, whereas we get the bus to Penicuik, and cadge a lift from there. It’s not really fair, and despite the fuel increases, at least having the ability to do this driving thing would be a big step forward.
So, you can either run screaming from the pavements after October 13, or pray for skills, and confidence, to follow suit.