Rob
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Post by Rob on Sept 12, 2021 21:46:12 GMT
I'm starting to think I'll try out a Pug 208 auto or whatever else they have in that category for the hire car. Website suggests it might be a KIA Ceed or a Opel Astra.... But I'd have the Astra as a 308 equivalent.
Anyway it's a second holiday and exploration trip and less than 3 weeks away.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 8:15:35 GMT
I've joked we should ship our Seicento to Greece. Saw plenty of them on Corfu. Might cost more than buying locally though and I'm not driving a Seicento to Corfu. If I had the time I'd offer to drive it there for you. I'd relish doing that. Back in the early part of the year when I though Covid would be over by the summer, I was planning to drive to Bosnia for our summer holiday. I do love a good continental drive, and I'd do it in anything, even a Seicento. I'm getting all envious of your move, and hoping I'm only about 5 years behind you with my plans. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 8:19:08 GMT
I'm not sure what the process is for importing a car from the UK into the EU after Brexit is. I don't think there's a unified process, it's dependant on the specific country. Like most things, there aren't any EU authorities or agencies for administrative matters like this. |
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Post by Humph on Sept 13, 2021 9:08:41 GMT
With you on the road trip Al. I'd not hesitate to do it in anything pretty much, provided I knew it stood a bit more than half a chance of completing the journey.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 13, 2021 11:10:44 GMT
Company and attitude go a long way to making (or not) a road trip work. Probably more important than the exact vehicle you travel in.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 11:36:52 GMT
Absence of company would be my ideal if I'm honest. I did the Gibraltar run from the UK on my own, thoroughly enjoyed myself. Often went around other parts of Europe in a car on my own in my youth. Bliss. I don't want to have to listen to someone else's rotten music, or even any music probably, I'm not a great lover of driving with music on. I don't want to be disturbed/distracted by inane conversation. I don't want to be at the mercy of someone else's dietary needs/caffeine withdrawal/bodily functions/sleep cycle/accomodation choices/other random whinges, needs etc etc. I'd have an absolute ball pootling down to Greece in Rob's Seicento on my tod. Heaven. Don't tell the outlaws though, they'll expect me to stop in Belgrade and kill the buzz of some delightful solitude.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 13, 2021 12:05:15 GMT
As I reported here at the time, I did enjoy my one solo continental trip, to Brussels in 2018. But — and at the risk of giving too much away — I’d far rather share the trip and the driving with someone who enjoys it as much as I do.
But that’s not MrsB1, who really doesn’t like driving, does it only as a necessary relief to me on a long trip, and fills the entire car with her tension in the process. So, instead of being an opportunity to relax and enjoy the scenery while someone else expertly minds the machine, it becomes a fraught 90-minute wait for her stint to be over. The last couple of trips, I’ve put Boy1 in the navigator’s seat and popped into the back for a snooze instead, which at least made the time pass more quickly, but at the expense of the drive being part of the adventure.
I also regret the decline of the human navigator. Time was, the person in the left seat could handle an atlas and check the route notes from previous years about the good and bad service areas (Remouille Ouest, near Nantes, is a favourite). You’d imagine the advent of integrated nav systems would only help, but we’ve not managed to find a happy way to integrate the two. Instead, my former navigator leaves the atlas untouched and responds indignantly to any request for information beyond what’s on the dashboard screen.
So maybe Vić is right and solitude is the best policy after all. 🥺
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Post by Humph on Sept 13, 2021 12:54:08 GMT
I quite enjoy a long drive on my own. Which is just as well really, given the way my life worked out.
On an early start day, I'll put R4 on for the world service and the news etc, and on a late finish, I might put some of my own music on, or revert to R4 if there's something funny or informative on, but during the bulk of the day I prefer to drive with no distractions.
If the weather is nice, I love to open my sunroof for the extra light and fresh air. Of course, being old, I started making these trips long before sat nav was a thing, and developed a sort of "Scooby sense" of direction. Position of the sun versus time etc. Became a little bit good at pre-memorising routes and so on, but I also remember the joys of trying to find somewhere more obscure by trying to drive while concurrently reading a map on the passenger seat.
I do miss my long runs to Milan or Dusseldorf or Paris or Grenoble and back. I used to enjoy those. Not so bothered that I don't have to go into Birmingham as often though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 12:56:01 GMT
I did a couple of long European drives with a mate and a tent back in the day. Those were good. I could get him to lean out of the Regata's passenger window to see if the other side of the carriageway was free for me to overtake a slow Spanish lorry (or donkey and cart) for instance. Not every passenger I've been with since then would be quite so willing nor trusted a co-pilot as he was, despite the improvemnt in aesthetic terms offered by my main current passenger option...
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Post by Humph on Sept 13, 2021 13:01:46 GMT
We made a few overseas trips with the Westfield back along. Being so low slung, visibility was always an issue, and having a co-driver was jolly useful for overtaking when driving on the right.
We fairly quickly learned, in such a noisy car, the words "go" and "no" were not suitable alternatives...eventually replacing "go" with "safe".
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 13:07:18 GMT
A loudly yelled "hit it!" was my co-pilot's phrase of choice. I expect my 1.3 4-speed 70bhp Regata was as responsive and brisk on an overtake as your rollerskate...
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Post by Humph on Sept 13, 2021 13:09:56 GMT
The Westie was as capable of accelerating, stopping, and indeed changing direction, as a particularly fit housefly in the prime of life.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Sept 13, 2021 13:26:41 GMT
We fairly quickly learned, in such a noisy car, the words "go" and "no" were not suitable alternatives...eventually replacing "go" with "safe". Cricketers know this long before they learn to drive. ‘Yes!’, ‘Wait!’ or ‘No!’, never ‘Go!’ and only afterwards, ‘Sorry!’ |
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Post by EspadaIII on Sept 13, 2021 20:54:55 GMT
I'm in the solo long distance drive camp as espadrille just falls asleep and is terrible company. Daughter however is excellent company as she proved aged about eight or nine when we landed at Luton Airport at about 11pm, collected the car and drove home. She remained awake, chatting the whole journey.
My long distance business trips where I have eeked out the miles to the point the car is screaming for fuel is always best done solo. 722 miles on a tank was the trip last October. Looking forward to the next trip...
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Post by dixinormus on Sept 13, 2021 21:18:04 GMT
I don’t like playing fuel light Russian roulette, especially on a long run on unknown territory! But I have enjoyed crossing the length of France in solitude on many occasions. When nearing a “station service” the French very helpfully indicate the distance to the next one further away, which does allow people like me to sometimes gamble on making it to the next one!
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