Road Trips

In 2004, I passed my driving test. Since then I have driven for a grand total of two summer holidays and the odd trip now and then. The last time I drove was getting on for three years ago. Living in Cambridge, then London, then the middle of nowhere then Cambridge again, I have either been too central to need a car or not been able to afford one.

But we have plans this summer, James and I. We want to go to Crick Boat Show, then Braunston Historic Boat Festival, and in general it would be nice to be able to pick up heavy things when required. So I took a refresher lesson, as I had no idea how much I remembered about driving. it went really well, and the driving instructor was impressed with how well I got on.

The next step was to join Streetcar, which is a fantastic network of fuel-efficient VWs parked around the country. Once you've joined (£59.95 per year) you simply book the car (from £4.95/hour or £49.95/24 hours) unlock it with your Smartcard, and off you go. 30 miles worth of fuel per day is included in the price. Way cheaper than owning a car! There are loads of them dotted around Cambridge, and its also more convenient than hire cars. For example, we are heading to Crick on the bank holiday Monday, and we'd have had to book a car from Friday until Tuesday, as the hire bases aren't open over the bank holiday weekend. In addition to the extra cost, we'd have nowhere to park it while we weren't using it!


The Streetcar and Streetvan at Cambridge Station

Braunston Historic Boat Show is the other big trip we have planned, hopefully to meet up with the Warriors and see Chertsey for the first time!