Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Going for a ride to unknown areas



I have not been posting for quite a while now, I think it is because driving is becoming less of a novelty to me, but there have been plenty of things happening while driving.

Kilometers driven:  5800 km.
Where: Mostly commuting, and using the same paths all the time.
Things I dread: Going to places I have never driven before
Preoccupied by: what others think of my driving, especially when I adventure taking roads I have not going through before.

If I plan to go somewhere I have not driven to before, I first check the route with Google maps on my computer, then, I use the street view on areas needing turning decisions and change of lanes to see how it really looks like at street level, still I use an external navigator while driving, but only as support device to remind me of those turning points. I like to know exactly which paths to take before I go. I laugh at myself just by writing this.

Even if I have seen the overall driving path, I have taken turns a bit before I should have to, and I have had to figure it out how to get back to the original road again. I have not really gotten lost, but figuring it out my way back, although quickly, it has not been stress free. I hate the “turn around when possible” instruction of my navigator, “hello, that I already knew”.

I’ve tried to drive on different roads without navigator and without using Google maps, mostly because I have been on the passenger seat before on those routes and I know the overall direction. The thing is, that I have to pay very well attention at the road signs indicating the direction to follow and check I have space to change lanes on time. What happens is those signs are not always very clear to me and I end up switching lanes unnecessarily, and at the last possible time, with caution of course.

Sometimes I wonder what other fellow drivers think of that behavior, maybe they think the driver is someone who does not know where is going, but is it really that bad?. I know that the next time I am driving the same road, this will not happen again because I will know which lane to take exactly.

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