Last night I asked my mom why she didn’t teach me how to drive. I actually thought I knew the answer…and I did. She basically didn’t have the time. And, it was true. When I was a teenager she was working 2-3 jobs at a time and going to college. In fact, I remember that my mom was just tired, grumpy, and crazy focused on achieving her dream and teaching me to drive just wasn’t possible with the time that she had.
During high school I took the yellow bus as a freshman (seriously) and the started taking the public bus when I got older. It was not a hardship, super easy to do, and I got around. We lived in Denver at the time and it was a heck town with a lot of promise, super safe, and it wasn’t a big deal.
My mom is also of the generation that had access to drivers education during high school one of the many resources that schools used to provide that they no longer do. Last year I decided that enough was enough and that I had to force myself to learn how to drive because being a non-driving adult can be a little awkward.
Not Driving
- Makes dating awkward…because guys want to feel like you are self-sufficient and aren’t always depeneding on them for a drive.
- Your friends wish that ONCE, just ONCE, you would be the designated driver. No matter how many times you buy gas.
- It’s an adult life skill. Like balancing your check book, investing, helping others, and working.
- Can affect your job. There have been numerous times when my student assistants had to do drive me around because I didn’t know how to drive. Yes, we bonded over this and yes I am great friends with them-but, it’s a little (a lot) embarrassing.
- Road trips-The is nothing better than driving around the state of Colorado on a road trip. There are places that I would like to visit again, for the first time, or just go to because I can.
What Took Me So Long?
Honestly, I was getting around via: bus, bike, taxis, walking, and the light rail. I can walk to 5 grocery stores and I regularly walk downtown. I can take the light rail and it takes about 12 minutes to go from my house to downtown Denver.
And…it pains me to admit this…people would drive me around.
And, I was o.k. with that until I wasn’t. But, I stopped being ok with that when I had a lot of debt and I couldn’t, just couldn’t get even further in debt for a car loan.
So, when I was able to purchase a good car for cash-I did. And, it wasn’t a perfectly executed purchase as my income slowed down right when I made the purchase-but I got it done. My goal is to always pay cash for my future cars.
Learning To Drive is Expensive!
It is shocking how expensive it is to learn how to drive. Typically you will pay around $360 for 6 hours of instruction. Which also explains why so many adult drivers suck. Because you need more than 6 hours of instruction to become a good driver. I wanted to practice as much as I possibly could before releasing myself onto the roads.
Last fall I bought my friend’s car for $1500. It was not the most well executed purchase but I did pay for it with cash so I own an amazing used car that NO ONE can believe is old as it is because my friend hardly ever used it because she was living in Boulder and walked/rode/or bused it around town.
Kind of like me LOL!
I bought the car for cash because I thought I would be able to practice with that car in addition to taking some lessons. Having the car has forced me to learn how to drive but what I didn’t count on was the following:
People are just a teeny tiny bit nervous about being in a car with a new driver. Ahem.
And, I was getting around too easily without a car.
Having the car has basically forced me to learn how to drive. But, during the process I’ve often wondered what do people do if they don’t have the money or access to a car and fearless friends who will drive around with you as you learn?
My Midwestern Family
Doesn’t understand what took me so long but they are very loving and just think it’s just “Michelle being Michelle.” My Grandma had the same car for 18 years and used duck tape to fix the seat. Yes, I have super frugal people in my family. She just leased a new car last year-but she has a paid off house so in this case I’m not judging her decision.
Thoughts on Public Transit
I love it. I don’t understand cities that don’t prioritize getting its citizens around town and to work. One of the reasons that I believe has helped Denver grow and prosper so much has been its continued focus on growing its public transit access.
This year we will have 3 train lines (this includes the train to the plane) that will open connecting Denver to outlying towns. We also have increased our bike access and there is even a bike path between the edge of Denver to Boulder. That’s a day activity that I plan to do soon. It’s about a 20 mile bike ride on way. So cool and yes people use it everyday.
I love that myself and others can make more earth friendly and pocket friendly transit decisions when we feel like it.
My mom asked if I would drive to the grocery store and I laughed…because I live within walking distance to about 5 stores and I’m a bit of a hippy and frugal. She then asked if I would drive downtown and I was like-no. Because I don’t want to waste money on gas when I can get there so easily.
Road Trips
It’s all about the road trips. Great Sand Dunes, Estes Park, Breckenridge, Piedra River Hot Springs, Steamboat Springs, Crested Butte, Mesa Verde, Gunnison, Glenwood Springs, the Back Country, Canyonlands Utah, wine country Colorado (yes, we have vineyards) White Sands, New Mexico, the Renaissance Festival, outdoor dinners at farms, and the list goes own. Being able to drive is a wonderful skill but knowing how to drive without having a car…sigh. I’m excited to have a deeper level of independence and the ability to reciprocate the driving responsibilities. Can’t wait.
Vroom Vroom.
When did you learn how to drive? Who paid for it?
Latest posts by Michelle (see all)
- How Work Policies Against Black Women Birthed a Love of the Soft Life - 20 March, 2024
- How Taylor Swift’s IP Victory Could Change the Business of Music - 28 February, 2024
- Why Don’t More Personal Finance Content Creators Talk About Policy - 16 January, 2024
It was harrowing, but my mom taught me how to drive. I think people should really teach kids to drive on an automatic THEN teach them stick. Because trying to learn both at once was pretty frustrating. I turned out okay, but the fatigue can make me flighty. So Tim’s always nervous when I drive. Then again, I get horribly stressed out because he’s a speed demon, even on surface streets. I’m sure he’s going to rear-end someone sometime or at least get a heinous speeding ticket. But it’s how his ADD works. He better zeroes in on stuff that way. Still, now that he’s back on Adderall I may nag him a bit more. If for no other reason than I don’t need MORE gray hairs.
Congrats on finally learning, but yowza those lessons are expensive!
I enjoy driving but I find that I get anxious about other people because they are so f$cking distracted. As a pedestrian I observe on a daily basis: people on their phones, dogs in their laps, people looking down, people eating, just doing everything but staying at least 90% focused on the task at hand. Colorado is weird too because for a bunch of mellow people they drive like freaking speed demons. A lot of unexpected and unnecessary driving aggression so I’m a little nervous about that but I will get over it.
My aunt taught me how to drive a little bit. I got my license at 20 or 21 while I was in college. One of my friends let me borrow his car for that. I purchased my first ride in 2007 and I’ve gotten better (minus two accidents) since then.
If I lived near my relatives in Illinois I would have been driving at 12. But, I didn’t. I actually asked my mom why she didn’t teach me and she was like-Michelle I always had the car with me because I was working. Which was true.