Jonathan Thomas (00:00)
Welcome back to the Anglotopia podcast. This week, we are going to have a discussion about driving in the UK for Americans. There's a lot to talk about with this topic. Both of us have driven in the UK many, many times over our 20 or so years of travel. And so we kind of know all the ins and outs and things you need to look out for as an American traveling in the UK. But

If folks aren't, if this is your first time listening to Anglotopia's podcast, because we have new subscribers every day, welcome to the Anglotopia podcast. You are? I'm Jonathan and you are? I'm Jackie and we are your hosts for the Anglotopia podcast. We're the founders of Anglotopia .net, which is the world's biggest website dedicated to British travel history and culture.

And this is a weekly podcast dedicated to things on British topics. And so this week we're going to do Driving in the UK. This is like your favorite topic. It is. I love driving in the UK. So which is kind of a weird thing for an American to say because it's so different. But first, it's early in the morning when we're recording this. Yes. So which wedging in a recording before the day gets started. So for a little blurry eyed. Which means tea.

We need tea. So the tea this morning, and forgive the clanking, you're watching the video, it's can see there's tea service being set. When we record these podcasts, we always like to have tea. And so we're having Yorkshire tea this morning, because that's usually what I drink in the morning, because it's a nice shot of caffeine to get you going for the day. And I'm a big fan of Patrick Stewart, know, Captain Picard from Star Trek, and he's from

He hails from Yorkshire and he loves Yorkshire tea. And his philosophy is to do a double Yorkshire, which is you put two Yorkshire tea bags in the mug and then you have a double shot of caffeine for the day. I call it the Yorkshire espresso. Yes. But since this is a teapot, I put four Yorkshire teabags in this teapot. So in a few minutes we may start talking very fast.

It now becomes like a competition who can sit all the way through the podcast and not have to make a bathroom run from the heavy shot of caffeine. So you want cream? Yes. Well, milk, because you don't put cream in tea. Although I'm sure we have probably have some listeners that are like, I love cream and tea. Not my thing, but no, no shame. So we have a

Couple housekeeping items to go through real quick. We currently, because this will come out this week actually, so we have a contest going on right now. If you're watching, I'm holding up a book. It is The Illusionist by Robert Hutton. The true story of the man who fooled Hitler. It's about the special secret projects to use magic and illusion to trick the Nazis during World War II. It's a fun book.

We have two copies to give away and I will put a link in the show notes to the entry form where you can enter. actually next month we will be releasing an interview with the author. Very cool. So I'll be interviewing him in couple weeks. Fascinating topic. Yeah it is and I kind of got this backwards. I should have did the contest when we were doing the interview but timings didn't work out. So enter the contest to win one of these copies. I will put a link in the show notes. In addition to that book we have a new guidebook out.

It is 101 Oxford travel tips and tricks and I've been working on this for a couple years as Many longtime Anglotopia followers know I've been to Oxford a lot. I've done a couple summer courses there It's my favorite city outside of London. So I thought I'm gonna write a guidebook about it Well and outside of London, right? Like it's probably one of I would imagine it was it's probably one of the most traveled

cities in Britain. Definitely. Like by international travelers. So. And there's a lot of like interesting things about travel there. Yeah. And so it was a fun it was a fun book to write because I basically got to summarize all the fun experiences I've had in Oxford over the years and we've had in Oxford over the years. It's so much more than the university. mean the university is obviously like the main focal point but Oxford as a city is spectacular. There's so much to see and do.

enough for 101 tips about it. All I'll say is jacket potatoes. So yeah, at Browns, Oxford Cover Market. That's in here. Yep. So I'll put a link in the show notes. You can buy it from wherever booksellers sell books. You can get it on Amazon. You can get it from us. And it should be shipping actually later this week to everyone who's already ordered one. So 101 Oxford tips and tricks. Makes a great holiday gift. Yep. And

This marks the beginning of a new series of Travel Guidebooks that we're going to be doing. Next month, we're going to release the third edition of 101 London Travel Tips. So keep an eye out for that. And then the next one is going to be something we're going to be researching on our next trip, which is going to be about the 101 Cotswold Travel Tips and Tricks. Yep. So stay tuned for all that. So driving in the UK, let's dive right in.

or drive right in, ha ha ha. I'll be here all night folks. Put it in gear. Put it in gear, my god. Right? And so, a lot of Americans have anxiety about traveling or driving in the UK. Why? Because... So if people know nothing about driving in the UK, what is the big difference between driving here in the US or driving in...

United Kingdom. And that's because you drive on the wrong side of the road according to us. your letters to Jon. You just said the wrong side. The wrong side of the road.

So, You cannot like sip your tea. Like if people are listening they just heard like, sorry guys, like if I was listening to that and I was out on a run or something, well if I was running you should probably be running too because something's chasing me but if I like, better. Yes! Always learning in better manners from her. no, I just, I'm just protecting our listeners ears. So the biggest difference is obviously driving on the left.

And that's well, it's more than just driving on the left because in order to drive on the left, the car is different. It's right hand drive. First time you get into a car as an American, a British car, you're like, everything's on the wrong side. What? Yeah. And then so there's a lot to talk about this topic.

So the first thing I want to talk about is you should buy the Highway Code. Yeah, I'm actually with you on this one. Normally I'm like, that's a little over the top. this one is for those not watching the video, I'm holding up the AA Highway Code book. And this is like it was like £2 .50 from Amazon, UK. I think you can even get it on the regular Amazon.

And this is the, this is a little old. I should probably get a new version before our next trip. At this point, you've been driving in Britain for almost 20 years. I think you've got it. But if you've never driven in Britain. But it's your complete guide to how to drive on Britain's roads, all the rules and regulations, speed limits, behaviors. And the key thing is all the signs, because a lot of the signs are really different and it's not clear what they mean. Yeah. And so I highly recommend getting a copy of this.

And just peruse it. Like you don't have to like, you don't have to take a driving test. You don't have to get a special permit or anything like that if you're just going for a short amount of time and you just want to rent a car. But to your point, it's a really good idea to like, even on the front of the cover, like there's this. So if you're listening, there's a, there's a, it's a round sign with a blue background and a red X. What does that mean? I think that's don't enter.

I it's like one way. Okay, see I would never think that or like could be completely wrong. See I need to brush up. Well, okay, so Show the cover so on the cover here. Here's a round sign. It's white with a black slash through it I know what that one means. So do I but if you have never driven there like what That that means the national speed limit applies which is 70 miles an hour

But they are in kilometers per hour. No, no, they're not. Sorry, what are they? That's in Ireland. OK. It's miles per hour. That's still miles per That's the weird thing is they see both in the car on this. Right. In Britain, they still go by miles. They still go miles per hour and miles for distance. It's even though they use the metric system, but they still keep their distance measures. So we should probably summarize real quick the process of renting a car.

As she said, you don't need a special permit or anything to drive in the UK. Your American driver's license is good for up to six months of driving in the UK. So bring your driver's license. bring your driver's license. cannot rent a car without it. Yeah, you can't rent a car with your passport. You gotta have proof that you have a driving license. And then you'll, because in the rental car company will want to see it. They will not give you a car without a license. Yeah, just the same as here. Like you have to have the appropriate paperwork.

Renting a car in the UK is very much like renting a car anywhere else in the US. Make a reservation. You can either pay in advance or pay when you rent the car. Insurance. Yeah, insurance is a big issue. Make sure your credit card that you use to pay for the rental has... you have to use a credit card, Yeah, well... I think you can use a bank card. You can use a bank card, but they don't want you to. Well, and...

For insurance though, check with your credit card provider because your credit card provider may actually already provide insurance if you're renting a car. That is not always the case, so double check with your credit card provider. Like to give you an example, we have a British Airways Chase credit card that we use when we travel and it has complete collision damage coverage waiver and all that, but

It's one thing to say that to the car rental company when you're at the rental desk They're actually gonna want proof that your card has this or else they're gonna want a hefty deposit to rent the car Ireland car rentals are much different. No, I know I know but just saying my god. Yeah, that was a nightmare but And and if you don't have that proof you're gonna have to be prepared to actually pay for the car rental company's insurance

upfront because they're going to insist on it. while you may think you don't need it, they're not going to give you the car without it. And you have to be insured. And so whether you're insured through the car rental company or through your credit card, you have to carry some kind of insurance. And you're going to want to. I mean, because driving on the opposite side of the road, if you've never done it before, can be really challenging. And driving in

Jonathan Thomas (11:14)
Hi, Jonathan here interrupting the edit of this discussion on driving in the UK. I wanted to interject here and make a key point that we forgot to make when we were discussing this is that your US car insurance will not be applicable in outside the United States. So you have to get the third party insurance through your credit card or through the car rental company because you have to be insured and your US car insurance will not.

apply outside the borders of the United States. So I thought that was a key point that should be made. And I'm going to now back to Jonathan and Jackie back in the past.

Jonathan Thomas (11:51)
You know, if you drive in the US, at least Midwest and going further west, the roads are wide. Yeah, like they're very wide. Some of the lanes in England, you're like this was never made for a car, but yet you have car. Do yourself the favor, get the insurance nicks and dings and scratches happen. They're unfortunate they happen, but you are definitely going to want to be insured.

One key aspect of the rental car process that's important in the UK is that in Europe and in the UK, the many default cars are manual transmission and many people will only ever learn how to drive a manual transmission.

As you know in the US like 99 % of cars have an automatic transmission. We don't do manuals here. It's like a generation. I feel like it's a generational thing. It is. Here in the US. I never learned to stick. Our parents generation. Yeah, my dad could drive a stick. Could whip that car around like our generation like I I couldn't. If we had ever moved to the UK I would eventually learned but. Well, you have to. The key thing though is that

you need to make sure that when you make a rental car reservation that you choose an automatic. And the key thing here is that when you choose an automatic, that's the one you have to rent and that's the one that they're going to give you. And they cost more. They usually, in my experience, it's double the cost of a manual to drive an automatic. And sometimes they may not even have an automatic as an option. So that's why it's important to book ahead.

because if you leave it to when you not just show up. Yeah, if you just show up and try to rent a car, even at the airport, they may not have an automatic for you because they don't have as many of them in their lot as they would a manual. that's not - But if you could drive a manual, it's no big deal. Well, and I would recommend you're already on the opposite side of the road. I mean, there are people who are skilled enough to do that, to like learn how to drive a manual and do it on the opposite side of the road. I am not one of those people.

He just laughs you'll know why coming up later. I'm sure So obviously let's let's talk about driving on the left. That's the biggest issue and You know, I've been driving since I was 15 years old. So I'm used to driving on the right and The biggest challenge when you get into a British car for the first time is that? Everything is the opposite of what you have been trained to do. So It's not just that it's easy to adjust

to driving on the left because everybody else is driving on the left. So you just follow everybody else. But the hardest part is the spatial reasoning of thinking of the left side of the car in a way that you never have before because you're on the opposite side. So it's like we had a we have a real problem. We'll talk about this hitting curbs because you don't because you're still. Yeah. And realizing how big the car is versus.

how big the road is. Well, and because the road and the cars in a lot of cases, like as we've rented cars in the UK, we've rented car models that when you only ever see in the UK or you just don't not only in the UK, you just don't see them in the US. They're not they're not they're just not made here. So the cars themselves in some cases are a little they're usually a little smaller or a little wider. And then the road sizes themselves are

very different from here. So it all plays with your spatial reasoning. And I remember when we first, when you first started driving in the UK and I was the passenger, like you'd be a little too far to the, to the left. I'd be like, babe, babe, to right, curb, curb, curb, curb, curb, I'm so glad we bought the insurance. Yeah. Cause what, and they will look for, for rim burn.

on your when they return the car when you return the car and if they see a ton of scratches on the rims or on the hubcaps you're gonna pay for that and we have yep and we have so the spatial reasons the big thing curbs and like i said once you're on the road and you're you're on the road in the right lane and going in the right direction it's pretty easy to continue that way

It only really becomes tricky on single track lanes, which we'll get to later, or like in a car park because you get... It's really easy to get confused in British car parks. Which you mean... Car park is parking lot if you're not familiar. They're not designed by people who ever drove a car, ever. In my opinion. It's my opinion, controversial. We'll talk about parking in a bit because there's some nuances there with British parking. Believe me.

And so the second biggest difference that Americans encounter when they drive in the UK is roundabouts. Now roundabouts have become a lot more common, at least in Indiana, because our people who run our state love roundabouts. I always think of National Lampoon's Yeah, round and round and they get stcuk Round and round they go. That is, you know, it's a comedy, so it's a...

you know, a special kind of absurd like to get trapped in there like that is not you'd have to really work at it to get trapped in. Yeah, roundabouts. So you will almost never come across a four way intersection in the UK. I think they're so rare you can count them on one hand. Most intersections are either or either like a T or they're a roundabout. And the round the concept of the roundabout is really simple.

You just give way to the traffic that's already in the roundabout. And it's deceptively simple, but it can get challenging in bigger cities and in towns where there's multiple lanes of roundabouts. But the key thing about roundabouts is that if you give way to people who are already in the roundabout, you have to signal your intention in the roundabout, which is the hardest part. signal is your best friend, especially if you don't know, like you're coming in.

to the roundabout and you're like, I don't know. Use your signal because believe me, other people will go out of their way to avoid hitting you. I'm not saying that like you should just like barrel in there and be like so American about it. Like watch out if I obey, I'm here. But use your signal. It's how you communicate to other drivers where you intend to go. And they will, I mean, nobody wants to get into an accident. So people are gonna go out of their way to avoid hitting you.

Suggest use your signal. You have to use your signal. I know signaling is a challenging concept for many American drivers But so the imagine the circle and you've come up at the bottom of the circle And I'm doing gestures on the video, which I hope makes sense, but you know And if you're gonna turn right you signal to turn right. Yeah, right blinker your right blinker

If you're going to go straight through the roundabout, so you're going to go like you're going to skip the turn and go straight. You don't signal at all. Okay. Makes sense, right? You're not making a turn. You're going through and, if you're going to make a left, then you got to go all the way around, but you have to signal your left turn signal that you're going on, that you're going to the left turn in the roundabout. you go around.

But then you have to change your signal again, because you're now making a right turn when you're in the roundabout, because it's a circle. So and then if you get stuck in the roundabout and go back around. But you know what? There have been times where we've been like listening to GPS or even before we traveled before GPS with paper maps. Yeah. And like we'd miss the turn or I'd be like, go around again. I don't know. So like you go around as many times as you want. mean, don't spend your whole vacation in the roundabout.

So small roundabouts are easy to navigate and there's like varying sizes too. But then when you get into like a motorway junction, when it's a big roundabout with multiple lanes, that does get very confusing. But just move with the flow of traffic and signal your intention. some of them even have lights on them. They have lights on them. Some of them, a lot of them have signage. Some of them have like written on the road, like northbound, southbound, like.

Just pay attention. I mean, it's common sense. And once you've been through like one or two, you'll see how they work. And you're like, OK, actually, this is a brilliant way to move traffic. It is. It's a very efficient way to move through a busy intersection. now we're going to get letters stateside like, hey, roundabouts. Well, we have roundabouts all over. And they're great. So yeah, roundabouts.

Sometimes even roundabouts have roundabouts in them, which I think it's really confusing. We'll put a link to the Magic Roundabout in Swindon, I think it is, where it's like, it's like there's like four roundabouts and then the big roundabout, it feels like a carnival ride if you're a passenger. Well, probably and a driver too, like, woo, we made it! If you get car sick and your route has a lot of roundabouts, take measures to mitigate those symptoms for you because somebody who does get car sick.

The older I get, the worse it's gotten. just, you know, England is beautiful. And the rest stops along your route are really lovely. I know we've talked about that topic as well. They're not, you know, here in the U .S. Most of them are a little sketch, but, you know, get out of the car a little bit if you have to. So there are lots of places in England to do that. Well, I'm reminded of that time we drove the length of the Cotswolds.

to get to our next hotel and it was roundabout after roundabout after roundabout. my god. Like every few hundred feet there was a roundabout and even both of us were like, stomach. This is too much to go around. And it took forever. And that's another topic is you have to be patient when driving on the UK's roads. Well. Because they're not designed for cars. OK. So you want to talk about the speed limit?

Yeah, so speed limits. you know, obviously you must pay attention to what the speed limit is and why. No, I'm serious. I'm like, because it's a little different and you're going to learn real fast other than you're going to get pulled over. Yeah. Touch wood. I've never been pulled over. man. You just said that. I've never. I like to think I'm a better driver when I'm in the UK because I don't want to deal with a ticket.

Well, not only that, I think you're, but I do would agree with you. You are a better driver in the UK because you're more alert and your senses are more heightened because your concentration is like really laser focused because spatial awareness, right? Different traffic patterns, different traffic signs. Like you really are paying attention in a way that you probably should be here as an American driver, but

I mean, when else can you be on your phone sipping a coffee, making a call, I'm kidding, I'm totally kidding. So the national speed limit on motorways and A -roads is 70 miles an hour, which is about what it is here. at least Well, in the Midwest. Yeah, in the Midwest. And then going west. It varies between 55 and 75.

And so it's a very comfortable speed to drive at if you're used to driving like a motorway or a highway. You're used to driving in the US. You're you're used to driving at about that speed. But obviously, people still speed. And so there will be people going faster than that. And that's probably a good time to talk about giving way on the motorway. So in the US, in theory,

when you're riding the far left lane of traffic and you're driving along the passing lane you're not supposed to do that you're not supposed to stay in that lane and when somebody comes up on you and I know in Indiana this is actually the law but no one follows it if somebody comes up on you even if they're speeding you're supposed to get out of their way well in the UK that is an ironclad rule of law there

If you do not get out of the way of somebody, like you're endangering everybody around you on the motorway and they will pull you over for not giving way. You will get a ticket for it. Like you have. So if you're driving along 70 miles an hour in the fast lane on the motorway and somebody comes up on you, you have to get out of their way. up on you from behind. behind. Yeah. And is like really kind of riding your bumper like you get out of the way. And.

As they're driving on the outside of the road, the far right is the passing lane. It's this fast lane. There'll be a quiz on this later, folks. Left, right, left, right. Woo, woo, woo, woo! But now, the British have an interesting attitude to their speed limits on their country roads. my god. The national speed limit on country roads is like 50 miles an hour, I think, or 55. And a lot of these...

And a lot of these roads, you should absolutely not be going that fast on. that's the speed limit. an American perspective. Yeah, like you'll, we'll be driving down a single track lane and we'll So it's one lane. Yeah, one lane. And you'll see the national speed limit resumed sign and you're like, there is no way I'm going 55 miles an hour on this country lane. Like, yeah. So, yeah. Would now be a fun time to share an anecdote of why that's kind of crazy from an American perspective.

So many years ago, we went on a trip to England and we were in the Cotswolds and rented a car and Anglotopia Jr. was, he was a toddler and he was in the car seat and Jon pulled over and we were like out in the middle of nowhere and I was really apprehensive about driving in the UK and he said,

They were in the middle of nowhere. This is a great spot for you to learn. Like, why don't you, why don't you give it a shot? And I'm like, okay. Our toddler was sleeping in the back of the car. And I'm like, all right. So I got in and very weird to sit in the driver's seat for the first time. Just, and I'm a knock on wood, touch wood, very safe driver here in the U S have never had an incident like.

I think I've only ever had one speeding ticket. Like I take car safety very seriously. No, one. Anyway, so we're driving, I'm driving along and I'm like, okay, I kind of got this. It's really weird, but, and then you get a blind corner. Like the roads are real curvy and hilly down in the Cotswolds and you're, know, driving along and a car comes around.

And I panicked because you're literally coming like it's like chicken almost. Like head on. And so what did I do as an American? I pulled to the left to pull off the road, to pull off the road. So literally what I should have done was pull to the right. And then the other, the oncoming car would have come past, but I panicked because my spatial reasoning and all of that being an American driver.

I pulled to the left, which essentially put the car completely in the middle of the road, like diagonally. And the person in the other car was like, what? You like burst their bubble of reserves. I totally did. And I was like, I'm sorry. And meanwhile, you know, my toddler's in the back seat and I'm like, my God, I'm going to crash the car. so, you know, like.

Jon was like, Jackie, like at this point you're already committed, like all the way to the left, let this person who is freaking out and rightfully so, because I'm in the wrong, let them past, pull over. And I'm like, I'm sorry, I'm an American, I'm so sorry. And you know, they just were like, whatever lady and drove past. And I literally, got out of the car and I'm like, I'm done driving. And I probably didn't drive again in the UK.

unless it was like under duress, like where you've been ill or something like that. I'm like, nope, this is just a nope from me. But probably for like 15 years. And now I can comfortably say, did a lot of driving when we were in Ireland. now I've got it. But yeah, we're not going to talk about Ireland, but yeah, they drive the same way in Ireland. The roads are like.

They're on the left and everything the principles are the same I think the roads are a little wider though. It's a lot of them are newer. That's Anyway, so track lanes. Yes. No. are flying. Yeah, and So something important to notice when you're on those single track lanes You will see like little notches on the side of the road

And so pay attention to where those are because we've been on some country lanes that are really, really narrow and people will reverse like a quarter of a mile back to that notch and you'll have to pull into the notch. So the, oncoming traffic can come through. So you really have to pay attention. it's kind of the etiquette is kind of who gets to a notch first is the one that gets to pull aside and let the other pass. And, so you kind of have to anticipate.

If somebody is coming, like, you see a notch, you're like, well, I should actually pull over now because they're coming. Exactly. Just be polite. Just don't go that fast. and, you know, okay. But here's the thing though, too, if you have a local who comes up behind you now, right. Cause now we're almost talking as a contradiction. Pull over in the notch, let them go past like the same as driving here in the U S right. If you don't want to drive that fast, just get out of the way.

Let the person behind you go and then pull back on the road. So, signs. We talked about signs already. Like I said, either get the highway code or go online and just study the signs. Yes. Because that's, that's really the key thing is you need to know what the signs are communicating to you. You don't need to know them all. You know, are self -explanatory. You know what we didn't talk about with speed limit, but it also ties into signs. What? Monitored speed limits. okay. Yeah. So.

Yeah, this is a big topic. didn't think of that. This is why I'm here. is why this is a team effort. you know, they'll pull you over for speeding in the UK just like they would here. But they're a little more serious about catching speeders in the UK. And so they have speed cameras everywhere. Yes. They have to tell you where when there's a speed camera. So pay attention when you see a sign, a little white sign with a black camera on it.

On the side of the road, on highway? That means that there's a speed camera in operation and if they catch you speeding, your car rental company is going to get a speeding ticket and your car rental company is going to send you the bill and they will send you administration fees for having to deal with the speeding ticket. Yes. And you'll get a black mark on you when you try to rent a car again. And so.

It's pretty easy to keep an eye out for where the speed cameras are and a lot of them are actually in villages and towns where they want you to slow down before you drive through. you need to slow down. Now, the worst kind of speed camera is what they've actually ranted about this on Top Gear quite a bit are average speed cameras. These are tricky. Yeah. From like maybe they're tricky for everybody, but as an American, it kind of like it does your head in a little bit like. Yeah.

pay attention to where if it says it's an average speed camera because what that means is it doesn't mean that you what it means is that it's basically monitoring your speed the entire time you're in the zone and if you get through that zone faster than the average speed limit speeding ticket yeah because they know how long at the rate of speed it should take you to get from point a to point b

And if you reach it before you're supposed to, they know that you're driving too fast. Yeah. And then they will, they will ding you. So like they're always watching and that's a bit disconcerting for Americans to deal with is. But I will say this though, in all the years that we've been driving in the UK and traveled by car in the UK, I would say that British roads as a whole feel safe. They feel like, I think we've only seen really one

really bad accident and it was out on a motorway. was a holiday weekend and the car was flipped over. I was just like how did that even happen? Like I couldn't quite understand but... Well the the worst stretch of road for average speed cameras we experienced this and when we drove from Lansden to Jon O 'Groats. I know where it is. I know, I know. Can I guess? Can I guess? Yeah. It's Scotland. Yeah it's the A9 in Scotland between

where you're going through the Cairngorms National Park. Gorgeous. Gorgeous scenery, which, you know, it's awful having to go the average speed while you're looking at this amazing landscape. Well, it's easy to lose to lose your concentration it's so beautiful. Right. And then you're like, crap, have to slow down. But thankfully, because everybody who drives on that road knows that there's an average speed limit, it crawls through there.

While we were enjoying the scenery we just really wanted to get to our hotel because we were exhausted. So we're like, yeah, this is awful It's moving so slow, but they have to have to be safe and it's they're making us you know, it's yeah But anyway, so we talked about signs. We talked about speed limits parking. Okay, so There's different kinds of parking there's on -street parking, but if there's a yellow line on the road, you cannot park there Get yourself a guy. Yeah get the guide

A lot most towns and villages will have a town car park Pro tip that's worth it. That's worth that's usually it's usually within walking distance of the center and you have to pay your most of the time you will have to pay to part a pound or two Yeah, but pay attention because like if you don't put the ticket in your window, then you're gonna get a parking ticket Like you don't want that Then there's parking garages

So that's a that is a straight up no go. Yeah. As a drive like as an American driver, it just to no go. Like she said, we joke that British parking garages were designed by people who had never been in a parking garage before. They are too small. They are to the lanes between cars are too narrow. And for some reason, and this is the same in any kind of British car park.

Everybody backs into their parking space, which is not something we do here. We pull right in. so if you don't, but like if you're in these narrow parking garages, you have to back it because you can't there's because no one else you maneuver the car, you can't pull in because everyone else is back in. so it's like, it's really stressful because well, thankfully most cars have cameras now on it they have the sensors. So it makes it easier.

but it's really stressful trying to back in on the wrong side of the car, you're on the opposite side of the car. I so many letters. Because you're like, whoa, guy. And it's just like, it's a mess. I consider British parking garages for advanced driving in the UK. Like avoid those if you can. or OK, if you. Newer parking garages are better, but yeah, if you don't know, like if you have no other choice.

try and go further up in the garage or below in the garage depending on the orientation of the garage is up or down. Just try and park if you can where maybe the garage is.

Jonathan Thomas (35:31)
so crowded and you can really take your time getting into the spot and that kind of thing. And just remember like overall, no matter whether you're in the countryside, you're in the city, just be polite. Like, remember you're a guest in somebody else's country. Yeah, we'll talk about etiquette a little later. But before we move on though, really quickly, because I it's that's a great spot, but even actual like

parking lots or car park that's not in a parking garage, they're very narrow. the one time, so quick story, the last time we were in Ireland, which is again, different, we've talked about how that's different, but we were out on a day, like a day trip, you and I, and we were having a lovely time and we were in a city center.

and we were in the car park and during our day out, you got like a blinding migraine, like really bad, just like could not function. And Jon turned to me and said, I need you to drive us back to the cottage we were renting. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? And it's about an hour of the driving. Yeah. So I did drive us home.

And it was great. And I loved it. It was a great experience. He slept on the way home or just tried to kind of rest because he was so ill or poorly, as the Brits say. But and I drove home without incident. Like it was fine. Country lanes, motorway. Like it was fine. Roundabouts. did great. But I could not get the car out of the car park. I could not get the car out of the parking space. Yeah, I remember that. And the could you not pull it into the driveway to?

No, I could get it into the driveway. couldn't get it out of the parking space, which you're like, I'm sorry, what? Like, was so narrow. It was very narrow. And it was very narrow on either side of the car. But it was narrow behind the car, too, because you're like, Jake, you just pull out straight and then but you I couldn't. I'm sitting here with a migraine like.

And the other people in the car park were so lovely and polite and I'm like, I'm sorry I'm trying to the point where I finally I pulled into the back into the parking space and let the you know the two or three cars that had queued up like going what is this woman doing? So I'm like, okay, I can drive us home, but I need you to please pull the car out of the parking space. So I don't hit anybody. I don't ding us like and then from there I was fine, but

Parking your British car can be really tricky. So what were the key takeaways? Like, be calm, be polite. Like, you will get it. Well, and it's to you, and as we talked about earlier about the spatial reasoning, you have to be aware of the size of your vehicle in a way that you don't normally have to be aware in the US. That is so true. Because we have more space here. Like, if you have a big vehicle,

Well, it's designed for big vehicles here. Yeah. Whereas in England or in Britain and in Ireland, there's not they don't have as much space. So, you know, the car parks are small. Everything. The roads are smaller. The car parks are smaller. Your car is usually smaller, too. But you but you still have to be aware of your volume in a way that you're not here. Absolutely. And really, I think really when it comes to parking, like we've been

Experienced it ourselves and we've been we've got we've we're very fortunate to have some great British friends And we've you know rode with them and to watch a British person park a vehicle is a master class Yeah, it is a master class in parking a vehicle like not to toot my own horn, but I'm a I'm a pro at parallel parking. Yeah here in the US like

If I gotta parallel park the car, I am like, I got it. I have to give you props there. Like, because there are spots I'm like, and you drive a good sized vehicle. I drive a Land Rover. So I'm like, there is no way. And he's like, watch me. And I'm like, my God. And sure enough, you get it like every time. But you have not experienced parallel parking until you've tried to do it in the UK, where everything is opposite.

This is where we introduce breakfast wine. Jackie, we're going to be out in the car today. OK. Honey, is that tea? Mimosa time. Are you having tea or is that wine in you? Because I'm not driving. I want to make very clear. I'm not driving. But yeah, it can be little nerve wracking. A little bit. So let's move on to distance. Yes.

So distances, and they're like, what are you talking about? Okay. British miles. British miles. So when you're looking at the map and you're mapping yourself to your next destination, it says, it's 30 miles. As an American, you immediately think, that's like 25 to 30 minutes away. No, it's not. It's not. Nope. Those are called British miles. They're called British miles because we call it British miles.

because Britain's roads aren't straight, the speed limits can vary, and they can go up and down. A 30 mile drive will usually take you an hour. Which I know, this is gonna be one of those things that people are gonna be like, what are you guys not about? You gotta experience it to kind of understand it. To give you an example, when we stay in Shaftesbury in Dorset.

It's only like 40 miles from the coast, which an American thought's like, that's not our, that's nothing like, we just drive down there and be down there. No, because of the way the roads are, it takes like an hour or more to go those 40 miles. If you get behind, stuck behind a truck and you can't pass, it's going to take even longer. my God. We've had that happen out on the country lanes or no, it's not the, it's not even a country lane. It's a two lane, but there's not an appropriate spot to pass. Yeah.

And as non -native drivers, we're very rule following when we're... I mean, we are here too, but I would say more so there. And a lot of highways actually go through village centers too, through the middle of a village. And not a highway, but like an A -road. An A -road. So like a main thoroughfare. So a lot of times you're gonna have to slow down significantly as you're going through a village. You can't keep a consistent speed.

Because there's so many villages, like you'll be going the national speed limit and then it goes, you gotta go down the 30, you slow down the 30, and then you get through the village and then it says resume national speed limit, you speed up, and then there's another village, and then you gotta slow down again. Which rightfully so, you should not be peeling through a village. This is not a complaint. No. And that's why we say it's British miles, as in you have to sit back and relax and enjoy the drive.

because it's gonna take you longer than you think. This rule doesn't really apply to the motorways because those will take... Yeah, that's like a highway. That's like an American Expressway or freeway. The miles calculated there will take what it says because you're going 70 miles an hour and you don't have to stop. It's when you get onto the secondary road. Yeah, it's when you get onto the A roads and the B roads and the single track lanes. You have to slow down.

simply because of the geography and the way the roads are laid out. And so it's always going to take you longer to get somewhere than you think and build that into your itineraries because otherwise you're not going to be able to fit everything in you want to do. Sit back and enjoy the ride. You know, we didn't what I don't see on your list. Petrol. That might be further down the list because we have more topics

So moving on from British miles, this is an important topic too. What happens if something goes wrong when you're driving or you get caught speeding?

So, or you eat a curb on Christmas, on Christmas day, or you back into somebody in a National Trust car park on a day out. You could see maybe speaking from experience here.

I mean, the same kind of rules apply. If you get into an accident in the US, what do you do? Well, immediately you assess the situation and then immediately call the emergency services if it's serious enough. needed, you're gonna... I mean, even for most fender benders, we call the police. Well, because you want an accident report for insurance and all of that. And so if you're in the UK and you get into an accident and one of you is gonna have to, whether you or the person you've...

hit or whatever someone's gonna have to call or they hit you someone's gonna have to call emergency services so it's 999 in the UK yes you are going to need that report for the rental company yeah like you're gonna document document document everything and if you don't have a cell phone on you or your phone is damaged on most on most motorways in dual carriageways

There are emergency phones every few hundred feet. So just walk to one of those and make a phone call. Obviously after you've gotten safe and getting off the road and all that. Right. Don't just like take off and not tell the other person either. That's not gonna work at all. your next call should probably be the rental car company. After emergency services and all of that. And you're in the packet the rental car company gave you. There should be a number for you to call in case of an emergency. Yes.

And then you can figure out like next steps, next steps. Cause if you've totaled the car, well, you should probably be going to the hospital. Right. You're going to, and then you get to meet the NHS. yeah. And we should probably mention that real quick. So if you're traveling in the UK and you have an emergency, you can go to the NHS and get treated and they will take the hospital. Yeah. And they will take care of you and you will probably not get a bill if, however, you end up being admitted to the hospital and have a hospital stay.

they're going to send you a bill. you right. makes sense. We don't pay into the well, it's a it's a new thing. It's it's in the last 10 years. It makes sense. So you'll you will have to pay for the care. But if it's an emergency, you probably won't. I don't we don't have firsthand knowledge on this. So please don't like please don't like hold us to that. But like that's generally from what we've heard discussing other people who have had issues like you will get treated. There will be no questions asked. But if you end up with a long hospital stay,

That's a whole nother thing. then what else? You know, I think it's again, just remembering your guests, you know, and I would say like, don't don't auto automatically admit fault or that kind of thing. Like, yeah, really careful as you would here in the US. Like it's a really serious accident. You may want to call the embassy in London. I don't know about that.

I don't know. I just I don't know. I mean, I guess if like you've been drunk driving, yeah, you're gonna. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, hopefully that would probably wouldn't hurt to let the embassy know there's an American seriously hurt. I don't know. Again, just queue GI Joe. This is American seriously. It's really funny. It's your team six is like a rescue. my gosh. my gosh.

We're gonna get so many letters. This is a situation that we have not experienced. And thankfully like I keep knocking on wood, but yeah, you know England is a very competent very warm friendly country It's you know, there are they have the structures in place to help you get through the situation. That is not gonna happen. Yeah, right like operate like I mean, yeah Anyway, the most likely thing to happen is that you might get a speeding ticket

So what happens like, let's say you do like eat a curb, like speaking from experience, where you completely just like. Yeah, so I had this issue in 2017 when we went with the kids. No, no, I was I did an Oxford course and then I rented a car. that's great.

story. Yeah, so I went because I have a wonderful wife, I went on my own to do this Oxford course. And then she loves me dearly. So she's like, you can have a whole nother week to do whatever you want in England. It's the best, wife ever best trip ever, almost. And so, I was in Oxford for a week and I thought, okay, well, it's

easier to pick up the rental car in Oxford while I'm there. And so there's an area of Oxford where the rental car companies are. a taxi over there, got my rental car. like, you know, again, this goes into the whole thing with an automatic. Like when you run an automatic, you kind of get what you get at the rental car company, which means sometimes you get a really tiny car with automated transmission, or you get a fully specced out Land Rover.

Yeah, it lands into Jon O 'Groats. was... you know, and you've paid for an economy... It's like lovingly long carried down You've paid for an economy car, but for some reason the rental car gods had aligned and the person who had returned an automatic to the Oxford Europe Car rental station returned a Mercedes convertible sports car. Like an AMG. Like an AMG. He sent me...

He's like, babe, he sent me a text, babe, you're never gonna believe the car I got. And I'm like, are you, pardon my French folks, gonna swear here, are you freaking kidding me? The one time I don't go, you have this gorgeous convertible, just totally over the top, ridiculously wonderful, I'm like, I hate you so much right I would never rent this car consciously.

Because it's so much more cars than well, and I'm not a car guy, so like, don't like, I don't like, I'm not impressed by I would rent this car consciously any day, any day. It's so... Gorgeous car. But it was the only option because like, they have like four cars and they're all manuals, so like, I would you like a minivan? I had to take this car. Or a Dodge Sprinter? Or do you want this gorgeous Mercedes convertible? And so, I'm like... Souped up like...

It was black with a red interior too, folks. Like he's there by himself driving this gorgeous, I'm like, So here I am driving the sports car around, around southern England and it is too much car for me. It is too fast. like, okay. It was a lot of fun to drive. I will admit. but the problem with it was,

I had an issue, I kept hitting curbs because one, I didn't have her to tell me that the curbs are nearer. To the right, to the right, to the right! two, like, the car was bigger than I thought it was. It was wider. It was wider than a usual British rental car because it was a sports car. And I kept hitting curbs. I hit quite a few curbs and I swear to this day that

The person who had it before me had it had the same problem because there were scratches on on The rims when I rented the car, but I didn't take pictures. I didn't yeah, we should have talked about this didn't talk about this. So while you're doing that, I'll do that. Okay, so Same as it here in the US if you rent a car You should do a walk around before you sign off to take the car take pictures of any nicks dense scratches

all of that because what's gonna happen is they're gonna pin that on you because you know i'm not and i'm not picking on the rental car companies either you know maybe it was missed when the last person brought it in and you didn't do it but boy you're gonna get charged for it so yeah so i hit all these curbs and i you hit or did you graze because there's a difference yeah i mean because i've been driving where i've completely ate a curb and you're like curb car

And so, you know, I, I had grazed a few curbs, you know, it happens, no big deal. But when I returned this car, guess maybe because it was a sports car and it was a high value car. like went over the car with a fine tooth comb and they're like, well, you scratch the rims. This is like you've, you've, you've damaged this. We're to have to replace these rims. I'm like, no, it was like that when I got it. And they're like,

doesn't say that on the sheet that you signed when you picked up the car and I'm like no they were there for, he's like well no these are new scratches in addition to the scratches that were already there and I'm like so you know I, one thing I hate about traveling and returning a rental car is that you have to return the rental car right before you're

trying to get on an airplane to leave and they know that and they know that it's a very stressful situation no matter where you're renting a car yeah and I I've rented from several different outfits and it's always I'm just saying there or states like you know they know you're in most cases people are trying to make a flight yeah and that kind of thing so but just to clarify you did put some scratches on the rim yeah I did problem was you were getting charged for the scratches from the last person

all the scratches. they want they basically wanted me to replace all the rims on the sports car. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, it was already scratched. I'll pay for the damage that's that I made on it. But it was already like you were already going to have to replace these. And you didn't because you were an Oxford and you didn't have the facility to do it. They're trying to get me on the hook for this. And this is a situation where you may have to call your credit card company and activate the insurance on that.

Yeah, so what did you do?

they they basically negotiated it down to the damage I did. Which is fair. And it was like so it was like seven or eight hundred dollars in damage to the car. I'm like, this is great. Well, I mean, given it was Mercedes AMG. Yeah. Fancy schmancy. Like so that. But you know, I did the damage I did. I paid. I paid the damages and, know,

Yeah, like you did the damage and In defense of whoever you returned the car to at the car rental place Yeah, they had no way of knowing right like whether that was old or new or you know, and I'm speaking from a place I don't know a lot about cars, but yeah, and and so

If you scratch or damage your rental car, they're going to know. Yeah, you can't hide it. can't hide it because they their their business model is predicated on finding damage because you know, and thankfully they were able to win in this situation. I was able to pay for the damage I did. But then they also they also talked to their insurance people and were like, well,

Our insurance is going to pay for this. So you have to pay like our basically what we're to have to pay them. And so it all worked out in the end. And I should say, though, that in all the years that we've been driving and renting in the UK, I think that was the only time that I can think of where we ever had kind of something bubble up like that.

Okay driving in Britain cities of yeah, actually hard avoid okay, so

No, it's not horrible. It's the same as driving in any other like if you're driving in a major metropolitan city, it's not like like what I'll do usually is If we rent a car and London is part of our trip We will actually go back to the airport and get the rental car So then we're on the edge of the city so that we don't have to Yeah, so you have to avoid driving in London's traffic because it can get really bad

I was just gonna say Then there was the one time I think that was in 2018 no 2016 when we visited Birmingham Great city. Yeah, we visited the back to back to backs, which was super cool like If you do anything in Birmingham like book a tour for the back -to -back super awesome but

Birmingham a lot of it was destroyed during World War two so like a lot of it was built back up and they built these freeways around the city in a ring road and I'm sorry Birmingham, but these roads are very confusing if you've never been there before and your GPS because like cuz you're on the road isn't gonna work very well and I think we circled Birmingham two or three times because we couldn't figure out how to get off the ring road and but here's the thing we're cuz that sounds like

If I was listening to this, I'd be like, that is the most asinine thing I have ever heard. But like we're well versed in driving British roads and we still like, you know, just made jokes that like we live in Birmingham now on the ring road. Like, well, we we got stuck in rush hour traffic too, didn't help the yeah, sending love to Birmingham. And then I don't even know if there's a way to mitigate this. Like

You know, you can can study the map all you want. But when you're on the road and the traffic is crowded and you can't get over, you're going to you might circle the city a couple of times. Do you want to talk about congestion charges? Yes. That's another reason why we recommend not getting your rental car in London is because cars that go inside the congestion charge zone in London have to pay an extra toll. And if you don't pay this toll, your car rental company has to pay it for you and they will.

send you a bill with fees and whatnot when you get home for the privilege of it. And so if you rent a car within Central London, pay the congestion charge like within 24 to 48 hours, I think. How do you do that? You do it online. I didn't know that. Yeah, you can go. I'll put a link in the show notes. Your car rental company may offer you when you're at the desk, they may say, well, we'll pay it for you. Just pay attention because there is a congestion charge. So in Central London, I don't

I'm not sure. I don't think there's congestion charging in other British cities, but don't hold me to that. After we've done this, I'll do a quick research and see if there was, but I don't think there is. I think only London has congestion charging. And it's meant to kind of pull some of the cars off. does. And it's central London. You know, and it works. And actually, I have we have driven in central London. And actually, it wasn't that bad. No, it's not. It's the same as driving in any other like major metropolitan cities, Chicago, LA, New York.

Yeah, D .C. there's a lot of roads that only go one way though. Yeah, it's not. So it's funny being a Chicago from Chicago. Like I'm like, this is not a grid. It's like somebody threw spaghetti. It was like roads. Here you go. And in October for our upcoming trip, we're renting the car from the from the Victoria Train Station. So we'll be like we're picking it up in central London.

But we're going to that's going to be a newer experience. We've never done. No, I I did when we went with the kids. I did the same thing. I didn't go with you. You did. Because I and picked you up. Yeah, I had a toddler and a six month old. And I was like, we are not all going to car rental desk. You can come get us at the flat. Yeah. And so we'll be we'll pick up the rental car and then we're leaving London right away. So toll roads. Britain does have toll roads. They do have like open road tolling with the passes, I think, but

Since your rental car probably won't have the thing in it, you need to stop and pay the tolls. There's not that many toll roads. And the British really hate toll roads. They hate them as an idea. And so the most controversial one is the M6 toll road. we rode that one, right? Yeah, which there was no traffic on it because the British are offended by the idea of this toll road. As an American, we're like, this is awesome. Yeah, a mile from our house is I -90.

It's the toll road that runs coast to coast and it's fine. We don't mind toll roads, but Gas this is wait my favorite one of my favorite driving experiences is that there I'm gonna like murder this so I apologize going into Bath. I wrote an essay about There's a little tiny toll bridge that has been like in existence as a toll bridge for hundreds of years ever. That is a fun experience. It was like 30p for the toll. There's a toll house there.

I'll link, I wrote an article about this for the Friends of Anglotopia Club. cool. I'll put a link in the show notes and open it so everybody can read it. It's super cool, like it's this weird little thing in the Bath it's yeah. Yeah, it felt like something secret. But there's little toll roads like that all over, like little these little vestiges that like someone got a law from parliament that let them toll this river crossing and then they've had it for 400 years.

So pro tip, just keep a couple pounds in the car. Yeah, some change. You know, the coin like, yeah, well, like you can only do well on some of the bridges like the like the famous bridge in Bristol is a toll bridge. You got to have paid the toll. Yeah. Or if you're going to go to Wales, you pay a toll going but not coming back or that's really confusing fuel. OK, so this is like this can be a minefield for Americans because

Diesel cars are very uncommon here. Most diesel engines are in trucks and in semis and all that. So most drivers, like consumer drivers, never touch a diesel car. In the UK, diesel cars are very common. They've become less common lately because of emissions changes. So you may not even get a diesel when you rent. But if it's an automatic, it may be a couple of years old.

It may still be diesel. Pay attention to the kind of car you have, because if you fill your unleaded car with diesel, you're going to get a you're going to your car's not going to go anywhere. And you're going to get a big hefty bill from your rental car company to come and fix the problem because they have to drain the engine, drain the fuel system like it's. And I've heard of it happening to friends we know. And it's it's a nightmare. Yeah. So.

The rental car company helpfully will put on the gas tank and the gas cap what kind of gas to put in. I think it's even on the key fob, right? Like usually it's on the key fob like they do their best so that you can like read and pay attention. And then when you're at a gas pump, you know, make sure you pick the right pump because like, trust me, you don't want to make this mistake. Thankfully, we've never we've never made this mistake. I know a lot of rental car companies want you to rent electric now.

I know when I was looking for our upcoming trip, Hertz was trying to put us in an electric car. So I'm not ready to rent an electric car because of the infrastructure. don't think the infrastructure is quite there. I don't know. like I zero point of reference. Yeah. So I'm still going to run a petrol car. We're not really going to be city center. So I don't know what charging would look like. Yeah. So I just there's too many unknowns for me.

But, it's not called gas, it's called petrol. yeah. The gas pumps are forecort right? Yeah. And usually you can pay at a pump now, but oftentimes you'll probably still have to go in and pay. And it's liters. Yeah, and it's in liters. the pricing is in liters. Again, this doesn't make any sense because you're like, it's in miles. Well, it doesn't make any sense to you as an American.

But in England it makes perfect sense. We measure in gallons here, but listen, liters there. And the price is on the signs is in per liter. And so, I mean, there's what five liters in a gallon or I don't know how. The cat is sleeping in the corner over there. That would be a better entity to ask. I don't know. But usually because because of taxes and because of fuel costs, like you're going to pay like three or four times. Fuel is very expensive.

Yeah. And pro tip, fill your car up yourself before you return it with a full tank to. Yeah, that's a pretty common rental car thing is don't return it. Yeah, because the car rental company is going to charge you for that. They will charge you like seven or eight dollars a gallon if you return it empty. Well, don't do that inflation and all that. might even be more. Yeah. So our pro tip is like if you're returning the car to Heathrow.

Right before Heathrow, there's a bunch of service stations on the main road outside of Heathrow. Is that Slough? No, maybe it's, I don't know. It's where the Heathrow Village used to be. Do the Ring Road, round, you'll find them. They're hard to miss. Refill your gas tank right there and then your tank is completely full when you return it. And you know people know this tip too because you can see the line of rental cars, right? Yeah. so, etiquette. Okay.

Okay, so our last topic is etiquette when driving. And I would say that being a courteous driver, whether you're doing it stateside or you're doing it in the UK, be a courteous driver. Have respect. You're a guest. For your fellow human being.

you know, remember that your vehicle is more than just a mode to get you from point A to point B. If you think correctly, it can be very serious and cause a lot of harm. Just be patient, allow others to merge, signal your intention. When you're when you're using the passing places, you're going to get a wave from the other person. Be to sure to wave back.

Sometimes you only get a finger like this the steering wheel like you get a little finger like thanks That's that's the that's the most wave you're gonna get but it's still a wave and I'm not I don't mean the middle finger I mean just the index finger just a little index finger points up and they they give you a little wave. It's the most hilarious thing You know, they don't really use their horn that often No, I don't think I've ever used my horn and anger in England Not an anger, but I did pulling across the road. Yeah

No, they did use their horn at me, which I was in the wrong. I was completely in the wrong. So going, what is this crazy lady doing? Yield to pedestrians. Yeah, pedestrians have the right of way. But if there is a yellow line, you can't park there. I believe it's a white line you can park.

I would say too, I think keep it be mindful of when you're driving too. Like if you're driving on the outskirts or in decent sized town, village or city and you're, you know, just crawling along at, you know, 7 a people are on their way to work. Kids are on their way to school. Like just the same as home. Like so if you can put off your time, like, you know, just be mindful, just be mindful and remember you're a guest. Don't be in a hurry.

Well, and not only that, like, for example, again, the incident in the car park in Ireland, right? Like I gave it a go. I tried to get out of the parking spot. I realized I couldn't. I realized that I was actually holding up other people in the car park. So I pulled in, let them pass. Right. Went at it again. Still couldn't get out. I mean, this is it's embarrassing that I couldn't get out of this parking spot. But, and that's the thing again.

just mindful of other people to the point where I'm like, okay, you know what? You're really good at this. I don't want to inconvenience others again, like trying to get out of this car park. So it's just, you know, just be mindful of other people. and, don't be afraid to ask for help either. I wouldn't ask some, a stranger driver. Like for example, we visited a friend and on the Dorset South coast and she wanted to show us around and we had a baby with us and

was a very stressful time. So she offered to drive our car to the things she wanted to show us. And because our car was big enough to accommodate all of the party. And so and so, yeah, because she's licensed and then she could drive our rental car. And so she drove around. was it was funny because it was automatic and she never driven an automatic before. So like it was like it was a learning experience for her as well. But what was funny about that story, too, is that

you know, speed limit. Yeah, like I mean, because it's it's her hometown. She knows it very well. And well, and that's

Jonathan Thomas (1:07:13)
the thing, maybe we forgot to mention this, is while you are maybe unfamiliar with driving in the UK, British people are not unfamiliar with it and they drive differently than Americans do. was the point I made earlier, is folks are going to go out of their way not to hit you and so I mean that only goes so far but you know. on those narrow country lanes and they come barreling down at you it's. It can be a little intimidating so just.

You know, the final thing we should talk about is GPS and navigation apps. OK, do not attempt to get around Britain without without navigation aid. It's not advisable. No. Speaking from years of experience before before smartphones were a thing, we would have an atlas with us and we would use the atlas. And that was I would use the she would be my navigator. You would be driving and.

You know, we got lost a lot, which is fun in its own. Hey, are you knocking my navigation skills? Not at all. OK. But careful, pal. Just make sure that you Bluetooth your phone to the car. And I actually bring a car mount with us when we travel. Pro tip. The kind that sticks on the dash so that my phone will mount on the dash. But it doesn't. It's not sticky because it gets into the.

the vents. Yeah, because what you don't want to damage the rental car. Well, and the rental car company would love to sell you a GPS and charge you for it, but you don't need that. You need your phone. You have a smartphone. You have a smartphone. You're fine. So get it. Bring them out with you. Put it in. Plug it in and follow its directions. Apple Maps is usually pretty good in UK roads, except sometimes it gets really confused about where a tourist attraction is. Like if you put in Highclerk Castle, it takes you to the to the.

the private entrance, not the main entrance. I was just gonna say it is not bulletproof in that you can end up in some really weird spots so common sense should always... because wasn't there somebody like a couple of years ago in England using GPS and it like drove them into a lake? Yeah, we gotta use common sense. Common sense, folks. Waze is... a lot of people say Waze is better in Europe than it is here in the US so try using Waze but change the voice to the British voice and...

stuff because it's you should talk about that because that's a really fun and weird tip like why you should change it from American English to British English yeah because if you if you don't change the voice in any of your navigation apps it's gonna mispronounce everything and it's hilarious like a roads and a numbered roads like yeah it's in I think it's the if you leave it in the US narration it's like the what is it

it's set to a road it's like four five six yeah you're like did you just say four five six or what so it's it's actually really funny so i think that's a good place to wrap it up i think we've wittered on long enough about about this topic we didn't witter on we shared fun experiences and hopefully have given a good primer all in all

Don't be afraid to drive in UK. It's actually a lot of fun. I don't even think I've talked about how much I love to drive in the UK. It's your favorite thing. It's my favorite. Like, believe it or not, okay, crossed my heart when we were planning this upcoming trip for this conference and we decided to tack on a few days in the countryside for fun. I actually didn't plan to rent a car and Jackie is going to roll her eyes and be like, we were totally always going to rent a car. You just were in denial about it. Yes.

And so then we decided, we're to go to the countryside. We're going to need a car. I immediately became very excited. very American about it. You can go to the countryside just about anywhere, just about and get by without a car. But just being very Americans about it, got to have a car. There's some things we want to do that would be easier to have a car. Yes, it's ease. Yeah, it's ease because taxi services are great in England and like trains and bus and all that.

We'll be renting a car and I cannot wait to get on the open road to the West Country and drive. That's your most favorite thing. Turn on Classic FM on the radio. I know. So don't be afraid to drive in the UK. It's a fun experience. know what we didn't talk about? What? We didn't talk about services. We should probably talk about that really quickly.

So motorway services. Yeah, our last topic. Our last topic. And actually, I wrote my last book and and Britain from Lands End and John O 'Groats. wrote a whole chapter about motorway services, which is a weird thing to write about. But it's so you don't know what motorway services are. It's not a tow truck. Yeah, it's the rest stops. Well, we think is a truck stop. But they're not for trucks. They're for cars usually. And they.

They're not okay. Like in America, we have tiers of rest stops, you know, and some of them are varying levels of gross. And some are pretty gross. I mean, you've got the ones like in the middle of nowhere that are basically a hole in the ground. You've got truck. Okay, I've not been to that though. Well, like remember like the rest stops between Indy and Northwest Indiana that actually completely rebuilt them. well, yeah. know what I'm talking about. Yeah. Yeah.

Or, you know, or their truck stops, which are very, they're very big places where transient trucks are coming through all the time. And they're not really for people who are driving cars. And they are, but they tend to be a little seedy. Yeah. They have a seedy reputation. You don't, you don't spend time there. Okay. But British motorway services are not like that. The British approach a rest stop, conceptually different than an American does. you park your car and you're meant to get out.

and you're going to go sit in there and have either a meal or a cup of tea or like it is completely different. You approach it in completely different way. I'll give an example like the one we stopped at when we were driving Land's End to John O'groats in the Midlands and it was basically like an indoor mall. There were all these different places to eat food. was a Marks and Spencer's. There was like we needed umbrellas and there was a store we could buy umbrellas from. You could get like today's newspapers and tea and coffee and

But very, very clean bathrooms. Very clean. Yeah. The whole place. Yeah. Very, very clean. Like the food. And I can only go off of like what you could find in an American rest stop. Like it's usually like your your options are going to be very limited. It's usually not the healthiest food options. And I'm not saying that this is the same for all British rest stops, but there are some like you're meant to sit.

you're meant to have a cup of tea and have a nice meal and really spend some time out of the car. And some of the rest stops that we've been to are just it's not like just your average. We've been to like average rest stops in the UK and they're usually nicer than the most of the of the US rest stops. But there are some straight up bougie rest. I call them bougie. Well, and but

gorgeous. And it's not just the like this is a rest stop. And it's not just the facilities. Usually there's like a drive up Starbucks or coffee place. There's a hotel. You can obviously refill your car, but that's a whole development that is only actually accessible from the motorway. Yeah. And so when you when you're driving, look, keep a lookout for service signs that say services.

and on the motorways they'll be much more developed on the smaller roads usually just a gas station with a grocery store in it but it's usually a good place to find a bathroom good place to get a meal good place to stop i mean it's not fine dining but yeah okay ireland's the same way they have very nice motorway services as well yeah if you're prone to car sickness too it's a nice place like i don't like i do get car sick here in the u .s but it's rare

in the UK a little more because the roads are a little curvy and well and so it's a nice place to like stop you might not you might not get many British people who will admit this but they actually have sort of an affinity for their motorway services because they're there they mark places where people stop when they're going on holiday that makes sense there's even a television show the fly on the wall documentary series it's now had four seasons about a motorway services in the lake district

And I remember you like pitching this like I'm gonna watch this and I'm like are you for real? This is a thing and then like you turned it on one night and I was like this is show's great look at she's got artisan cheeses. and there's a resident artist and like you're like wait What is happening? there was a spinoff to that show set in the Cotswolds Yeah, and believe it or not. I think we're gonna try and fit that motorway services in the door

the silk scarves? Yeah. You're on notice girl, I'm coming to buy a scarf. So you're gonna have to put a link because people are gonna be like, are you buying scarves at a motorway? What is going on? We're not making this up. There really is a fly on the wall documentary series about motorway services. I'll put a link in the show notes. And then on that note, I think we should wrap it up. We have talked for quite a while about driving in the UK and we both have to get on with our workday. Okay, so

In a nutshell, driving in the UK is a lot of fun. Just do a little bit of homework before you go. Remember, Jon's holding up the highway code if you're listening and not watching. Remember, just be courteous, be kind, use common sense. Like if you are a good driver here in the US or maybe not a great driver here in the US, just, you know, at the end of the day, you still know how to move a car. Yeah.

So the principles are the same. Exactly. Your spatial reasoning is going to be a little different, but you'll get the hang of it. And the rules are a little different, but by and large, driving is driving. Sit back, enjoy the drive, and enjoy your time in the countryside. So thank you for watching, and we'll be back next time. Sounds great.