Life as a Non-Driver

There were many things that I worried about before I moved to England. I knew that I would miss my friends (a lot!) and my family (even more) and that I might struggle a bit to find work (I was right about that one). None of these worries were that overwhelming. I repeated the mantra of 'it would be fine, I will be fine' and managed to get on the plane and get through the past six months. Of all of the things that I pre-emptively worried about before I came over, driving was not an area that received very much attention.

I can now see that I completely took for granted driving and having my own car. I think about all of the jobs and events that I had no issue getting to because I knew that I could look it up on google map and though I would most likely still get lost, eventually, I would reach my destination. Since I have moved here I have barely driven and only twice outside of the driver's ed car. I assumed that if I tried hard enough, had enough practice I would be able to do it. I knew that I could drive already so learning to drive a manual couldn't be that hard surely...

After many hours of lessons, many pounds invested and countless tears I have decided to end the madness (for now). I have agonized over this decision and have made the requisite pros and cons list and rationalized to the full extent of my abilities. I now HATE driving, I dread my lessons and feel a sense of relief when I get out of the car and I am terrified of roundabouts. I'm not really convinced that any amount of lessons is going to change that. I also never have the chance to practice because a. Matt is never here and b. I'm not insured/not insurable.

The next possible option that is being explored is Matt is going to rent an automatic car for a weekend so I can test out if the problem is driving a manual or more about the traffic and being on the other side of the road. If I can do it then Matt might look into getting a company car that's an automatic. I still might not be able to get insured on that plan. It would seem that my fate is to live in England as a non-driver. Other than not being able to go to the big grocery store on my own and possibly not be eligible for a few jobs I'm not sure there are that many drawbacks. At least not driving is environmentally friendly!