Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi all,
Just wondering about peoples thoughts on this!
I've been finding that driving can often be a bit overstimulating for me. I overall enjoy it, the freedom it gives me is second to none, plus its a good place to scream at my loudest when I need to because no one can hear on the motorway. But i've found that just sheer volume of visual information is sometimes a bit much. Especially when it comes to the constant things ongoing in the mirrors that I can sometimes get distracted by when i need to focus on what's in front of me. This is especially during the dark, headlights in mirrors etc are so distracting and uncomfortable for me.
Obviously driving for long times is tiring for anyone, but even my normal commute home (35-45mins) at the end of the day really just takes out what little energy I have left after work. Any one else feel like this?
Thanks,
Euan.
If I'm going on a long journey, then yes it can, more so if it's a place I haven't been to before. I study the route several times before I travel if that's the case.
I tend to drive locally if possible, just to the village and back, or blast up the country roads listening to my favourite songs and then helps me not get overwhelmed when driving. I avoid night driving, if possible.
I've just started dating and the woman I'm dating doesn't drive so I've had to drive a lot more recently but it's been OK so far.
I plan any unfamiliar journeys really carefully, and I’ll work out where I plan to park in advance too. That reduces the stress of driving a lot for me. I avoid rush hour too if possible.
absolutely. I don't go anywhere without having the place I am parking set as a destination. If for some reason I cannot park there when I arrive I have to stop and look up parking on my phone to find somewhere else suitable and set as a destination and drive there. There's nothing worse than driving around aimlessly looking for places to park.
I have a folding bike which fits in the boot of the car and am happy cycling about the place (prefer this to driving as you can always just stop, turn around, walk for a bit, etc) so sometimes I plan to park outside the city (which depending on how far away you are is often free on residential streets), make a note on the map of where the car is then cycle the rest of the way. This save money and petrol and faffing about getting stuck in stupid one way loops / road works / dealing with other drivers in city centres. I used to do a similar thing with the trains but they're too expensive, unreliable and don't operate at the right times all the time.
At least with the bike / car set up I don't get that feeling of being trapped in somewhere although it's not always suitable.
Yes - I always park a bit out of town for most bigger places we visit. We walk in though (I like your idea of having a bike in the boot - but generally there’s 3 of us and one of us can’t ride a bike so that’s not something we can do). Also this way we hardly ever pay to park, and we don’t have to worry about watching the time for car parks either. I much prefer doing this and we have some interesting walks going into towns too. Much better!