Got my UK driving license
Sep. 22nd, 2022 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
noahgibbsWhat with pandemic and life happening, I managed to make my second attempt at the practical driving exam in the UK and passed.
My first attempt was in February. This was only my second if you don't count when I didn't take the test because my driving instructor's car had a wheel destroy itself, tire shredded, etc.
So I have been taking driving lessons and generally preparing for this for well over a year, and it was six months since my previous (and only) successful attempt to take the test.
It's slightly dizzying to have this *off* my plate and no longer be dealing with it. But it's done -- I should now be set for a lifetime, driving-license-wise, assuming we don't switch countries again and I don't do anything horrifically inadvisable in driving terms in the next few years.
Mostly I plan to continue not driving. We don't have a car and aren't planning on getting one. But now if we want to hire a car in a few years and see more of Scotland, we can do that. Turns out that a US license is no longer usable here after a year, and so we've been legally unable to drive in the UK for the last two years.
The not driving has been intentional. We bicycle or walk everywhere, and we picked Inverness because we *can* do that.
Still, this way I can go to a conference in the United States and rent a car if necessary. Don't think that's happening this year, but it *could* happen some other year.
I'm a little terrified about getting back on US-style roads where they drive on the other side of the street at this point. I've done both, but not done any significant switching back and forth.
S'okay. That's a problem for a different year. This year the travel will be to Helsinki next month and Bangkok in December. I'm not hiring a car in either of those places.
My first attempt was in February. This was only my second if you don't count when I didn't take the test because my driving instructor's car had a wheel destroy itself, tire shredded, etc.
So I have been taking driving lessons and generally preparing for this for well over a year, and it was six months since my previous (and only) successful attempt to take the test.
It's slightly dizzying to have this *off* my plate and no longer be dealing with it. But it's done -- I should now be set for a lifetime, driving-license-wise, assuming we don't switch countries again and I don't do anything horrifically inadvisable in driving terms in the next few years.
Mostly I plan to continue not driving. We don't have a car and aren't planning on getting one. But now if we want to hire a car in a few years and see more of Scotland, we can do that. Turns out that a US license is no longer usable here after a year, and so we've been legally unable to drive in the UK for the last two years.
The not driving has been intentional. We bicycle or walk everywhere, and we picked Inverness because we *can* do that.
Still, this way I can go to a conference in the United States and rent a car if necessary. Don't think that's happening this year, but it *could* happen some other year.
I'm a little terrified about getting back on US-style roads where they drive on the other side of the street at this point. I've done both, but not done any significant switching back and forth.
S'okay. That's a problem for a different year. This year the travel will be to Helsinki next month and Bangkok in December. I'm not hiring a car in either of those places.
