"You can't understand a city without using its public transportation system."

So far the hardest thing about living here in England is DRIVING. I HATE IT. As a New Yorker, I totally get aggressive driving. Having lived in the south for a long time, I totally get bad driving (No offence to my southern friends...it's mostly the tourists that can't drive around Myrtle Beach!). People here drive crazy! They are overly aggressive, always going for the gaps, and driving super fast. Don't even get me started on roundabouts!! Most of the cars on the road are small and look weird. There are some normal looking cars and some bigger cars but they are mostly egg shaped and look like little toy cars. Here is a car that I see a lot. It's called a "Ka," There are also lots of "lorries" aka trucks. :)

Before moving here, I knew that driving would be a challenge. Not only would I have to learn how to drive on the left side of the road BUT I'd also have to learn how to drive sitting on the right side of the car. Totally backwards! I found this map and it made me laugh. The read shows the countries that drive on the right side of the road the blue shows countries that drive on the left.  Get it together England!! :)

Haydn had a car that was a small little thing called a Ford Puma. Here is Penny. Haydn loved Penny, however, when I came to visit we could just barely fit my luggage in there. Only 1 suitcase could fit in the trunk and it was a struggle to get the other in the back seat. Like most other cars here in England, Penny also had a manual transmission. 

                                     

We needed a bigger car AND the thought of having to learn stick shift, and driving on the other side of the road, and sitting on the right side of the car was too much. We said bye to Penny and last summer we got an automatic Honda CRV. Our original thinking was that I could practise driving around (this was last summer) to get used to it a bit. I think I drove all of 2 times maybe. Oops? It just feels so unnatural and unsafe. I thought a CRV would be great but it feels like I'm driving a cruise ship down the road. The roads are smaller here, too, which doesn't help. 

In the very near future we will need to get a 2nd car. Haydn has graciously offered to take the train to work and leave me with the car during the day whenever I want, however, I haven't taken him up on the offer just yet. I have been driving a bit more and I really just need to suck it up and practise and get used to the craziness of the roads. My biggest issue is sitting on the right side of the car. I think if I had a left hand drive vehicle, I'd be fine. I feel myself leaning over to the left side as I'm driving because it just feels bizarre and wrong. 

Thankfully my school is close by...just a 10 minute drive or so. Haydn has been dropping me off there in the mornings. It's about a 3 mile walk home, a £5 taxi ride, or a £2.10 train ride to the town centre (it's a shorter walk home from here). Depending on the weather and the amount of time I have and what I need to get done, determines how I get home right now. Once we move to our new place, we will live a bit further from school so a car will really be necessary. The town does have a fairly decent bus system but I haven't ventured into that yet because the other options have worked just fine. When I need to go to the store or get groceries, I usually just walk. It's great for getting more steps on my Fitbit! :)

Just a side note about my Fitbit...I had it for like 2 or 3 years and it was great. I just have the small zip one in hot pink (of course!). It even made it through the wash a couple of times. About a month or so ago it started acting weird. It kept needing a new battery and then wouldn't work even with a new one. I accidentally washed it AGAIN (for like the 4th or 5th time) and stuck it in rice. It started working again fine (even though my Mother also threw it down the garbage disposal in the sink and thought I wouldn't find out!). After the first day on our honeymoon, it stopped working again just after a nice long hike! It was quite annoying!! Anyway, we bought some rice to see if we could try that trick one more time. It worked! It was great for a few days until I accidentally wore it in the ocean and then it was just basically dead. I finally got a new one! :)

Anyway, I will keep you all updated on the car situation. I've told Haydn that I think our 2nd car should be something small. Even though I thought I would feel more comfortable in a bigger car, I actually think I might do better with something small. Not only would it feel better on the small roads BUT I might actually be able to park it somewhere close to where I am trying to get. The parking spaces are TINY. With a big car I will need to park in the furthest spot away from every place all the time! Also, about parking...you have to pay for parking pretty much everywhere...grocery stories (some, not all), the hospital (!!!), the mall, etc. We'll see what happens! Until then...happy walking! :)