Let loose on the motorway

Completing something at a different point in life to everyone else makes for an odd experience. I've recently done that with finally getting my hands on a driving licence, about 10 years after I first gave it a shot and, in hindsight largely due to a useless instructor and perhaps also the nerves of youth, after several failed attempts gave it up as a bad job. Now not everyone I know drives. There are still friends from Uni who haven't bothered yet and some who have similarly passed relatively recently, but on the whole driving is something which most accomplished ages ago and it's hardly given a thought these days.

Nevertheless on accomplishing a feat such as driving, however belated it may be, some thrill exists and celebration called for. Today I completed the last of my lessons, in this case some training on motorway driving, which given our proximity to the M6 is none too shabby a skill to have under the old belt. Now the land is potentially my oyster. No longer stricken by the possibility of weekend engineering works on the railways I can reach a good many places once out of reach. As an amateur photographer this is more than just a little exciting in prospect. Already I'm eyeing up potential targets for my lens that have hitherto been inaccessible: wind farms, panoramic views and the strewn remnants of a former industrial age all take my fancy.

Whether I'd go long haul with the driving is still to be seen. I have a lot of friends some hundreds of miles away and it'll still prove something of a challenge to reach them. Whether the train will continue to take the strain or not will have to be seen. I suspect it will in many cases, but the potential for flexibility in circumstances is a welcome addition. An upcoming trip to the Lakes with friends might benefit from my newly available transportation skills for one, and my parents are already making the most of being chauffeured about the countryside. It's all rather new and it'll take a while to work out just how much I'm wanting to indulge in this driving lark.

The most important factor is that it's available. Many options lay in store, and while by no means a cheap habit here in the UK, being able to drive will certain open a few new avenues that were previously well out of reach of public transport of my ability to trek there.