On the road – Part 2

A large part of our trip has been spent driving, as that was the main point. Though we changed the original plan from driving from London to Singapore to driving around Europe, it has still been quite an adventure.

The first thing about driving is that someone needs to drive while someone else needs to navigate, and on this front we have our roles clearly demarcated. Obviously CS drives while I navigate, haha… Actually the GPS device navigates, I just tell him the instructions in advance cos sometimes it’s just too late. In all honesty, if we do not have the GPS and had to rely on maps, the trip would probably have ended within a month since we would have argued endlessly as I am not the best person with maps. Even with the GPS, it still took us a while to get used to the instructions, things like ‘bear left’ for example sometimes really means turn left, whereas at other times it just means bear left so you can imagine the amount of grief we had in the first month. So far, the GPS has been fairly reliable other than the one time it led us down a forest road, we actually drove on for quite a bit into the trees until we decided it wasn’t making any sense. It did break down one day (the day our hotel decided to close for the day and leave us totally stranded), but otherwise it’s worked fine *fingers crossed*

We did take a while to get used to driving on the ‘wrong side’ though those Europeans probably say that we drive on the wrong side when they come to Singapore. We have also made some turns into the wrong lane though thank god there has been no major accident *fingers crossed*. We do have 2 more days before we return the car so I'm trying not to jinx anything.

Friends ask if I get sick of living out of a suitcase but in actual fact, we have been living out of our car and not our suitcase. Having the car has allowed us little luxuries, such as

1. Having things such as an extremely large stash of snacks from different countries (Haribo sweets from Germany, beer from Belgium, biscuits from France etc), extended change of clothes, shoes, hiking gear, toiletries, ample winter wear, thermal and boiler pot, cooking stuff (rice, soya sauce, oyster sauce, instant noodles), etc. All these things have made a world of a difference to our trip, whatever we want it is there, it really doesn’t feel that I’m away from home as much when I have everything I need.
2. Making detours on a whim just cos we felt like it (e.g. Mount Vesuvius, Whisky distilleries, cheese factory) or visiting places that are just a little bit more difficult to visit if we don’t have the car (e.g. L’occitane factory, Herge Museum, Cinque Terre, Isle of Skye, Museum of Witchcraft)
3. And most importantly, not having to lug our luggage from airport/ train/ bus station to our hotel!!! You wake up at whatever time you like and set off when you feel like it (more or less, subject to the other hotel's reception hours).

However it has also came with issues like

1. Finding accommodation with parking which can sometimes really be a pain. You would think most hotels in Europe would come with free or at least paid parking but that’s not always the case, and sometimes when it does come with parking, the fees are just way too expensive.
2. Navigating the streets, even with a GPS, can be an issue, and some roads (e.g. Italy) can be ridiculously narrow and difficult to drive in
3. Getting our car broken into (!!!), long story which happened in London.

As mentioned, we are returning the car soon (in 2 days!), and as CS puts it, it will be the ‘end of an era’, so here is our top five list regarding driving

1. If you have money to burn – France and Italy. They have the most tolls out of any other country so you can spend your money paying tolls as you drive. Spain earns a mention here as we had to pay a crazy amount just driving in and out of Barcelona, otherwise within Spain itself, the tolls are negligible.
2. If you have the need to take a break often – Italy. They have the most rest stops along the highway and the rest stops are the best amongst all the countries. They are often equipped with petrol stations (obviously), restaurants, convenience stores and toilets. The toilets are usually clean and free!
3. If you want to like an F1 driver – Monaco obviously. I think the F1 drivers really can go crazy driving there, and the scenery is great though the country is ridiculously small and roads ever-winding.
4. If you want to take your car to the maximum – Germany. Contrary to popular belief, there are speed limits on certain sections of the autobahn, however unless it’s stated, you can drive as fast as you like. I got freaked out when CS drove at 185km/h so he didn’t drive any faster than that.
5. If you have lots of time to spare – Poland. It took us forever to get anywhere, as there are no proper expressways, the so called highways have traffic lights. We got so bored, I ended up watching ‘The Blind Side’ while CS drove. Diesel prices were the cheapest there though so that did make up for it a bit.

I cant think of anymore, so that’s all for now :p