I have a conundrum. Well it's not really a conundrum but more of a dilemma. And when I mean a dilemma, it's a First World Problem.
I have planned to do a small tour of the southern United Kingdom some time in the middle of 2015. Being the obsessive compulsive person, I have already mapped out my trip in advance. After landing at Heathrow, I embark to Newbury to see a friend, followed by stops at Stonehenge, Bath, Cardiff, Abergavenny (to take in the majesty that is the Brecon Beacons), Oxford before finally seeing another friend in Cambridge. That will be six towns (UK doesn't really have cities) in eight days.
The quandary here is my method of transport. I didn't have this problem when travelling in USA earlier this year. With the American public transport system being so poor and automobile travel being so popular in the United States, choosing a road trip was an absolute no-brainer. In UK the railway system is considerably better to make travelling by train a viable option, although a bit expensive. Also adding to the equation is that renting a manual transmission car is cheaper than automatic in UK, and I haven't driven manual since I passed my driving test over ten years ago.
So the logical part of me, researched the problem and come up with the pros and cons of travelling by car or by train
Pros of travelling by car / cons of travelling by train
1. The journey time will be quicker - 10 hours 30 minutes compared to 12 hours 31 minutes by train. And the car journey time is including a trip to the Stonehenge, which is not feasible if I go throughout my whole journey by train. If I was going to include Stonehenge in my train journey, I would need to travel to Salisbury and get a bus from there to go to Stonehenge, and that is not something I want to do.
2. I have more freedom of where I can go and I am not limited by public transport. That would definitely help for certain places where public transport is not great, such as Abergavenny and going to St Fagans Castle in Cardiff.
3. I am not limited to train timetables. I can leave and arrive by car whenever I want.
4. I can select hotels or bed & breakfasts in the outskirts of town If I was travelling by train, I would have to select accommodation near the train stations or near the city centre.
Cons of travelling by car / pros of travelling by train
1. Cost: the cheapest price for an automatic car for the dates I have selected is £190.83. That figure doesn't include additional costs like petrol and parking. If I was going by train, it would be £159.80.
2. I would need to get a satnav for the car. If I get the system through the car rental company, it's going to cost £100. So the car rental companies can F.R.O. A better option is to get a prepaid SIM card for my smartphone and use Google Maps or Waze to navigate. At least that is a cheaper option of about £10 and I was going to buy a SIM card anyway.
3. I need to find hotels or bed & breakfasts with car parks. If the parking is free, that would be even better.
4. With a train journey, I don't have to drive. I can sit down and enjoy the view. I can take a lunch on to the carriage. I can catch up on my sleep on a train. When I drove in USA, I got sick of driving at the final days of my trip. I didn't note how many kilometres I drove when I returned the car in San Francisco but I've gone back and calculated I drove a minimum of 2400 km in eight days. For the same time period, I will be driving about 800 km. Not so bad this time but I still would like to keep my driving experience to a minimum.
My problem is basically convenience over cost. If I was stretching this journey out over a longer period, I would consider going by train. With the tight schedule I'm having, I think I might opt to travel by car.
Showing posts with label road trip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label road trip. Show all posts
Friday, November 21, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Vacations I want to go on.
For the past two vacations I have had, going back to work was so bad I suffered a relapse of my depression. Thankfully I'm much better but still having residual symptoms at the moment.
I probably shouldn't go on such fantastic holidays such as a three week road trip in the Western United States or going to see the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, with concerts by Robbie Williams, John Legend and Jennifer Lopez. Despite all this, my mind wanders to what trips I want to go in the future. Currently I'm planning going to back to the UK between March and May to see my younger brother and his family, with a quick detour to Wales.
Yet there is always another part of me think about other ideas about where I can go on holiday...
1. Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Having turned my back on movies and started enjoying British comedy more, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has more appeal for me. I want to see shows my comedians I watch on TV or listen on the radio. I want to see the next big thing in comedy and the best place is the biggest arts festival in the world. It would also give me a chance of visiting Scotland.
2. Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is another arts festival I want to go to because it's a hotbed of comedy talent. I was planning to go in March 2015 to coincide with the ICC Cricket World Cup final. I had already researched the attractions I wanted to go to, including the National Sports Museum, the Melbourne Aquarium, the Melbourne Zoo and the Royal Botanic Garden. However having spent a gazillion dollars on my last two dalliances, I've postponed going to Melbourne to a later date.
3. Scandinavia trip
I was planning this trip recently, mainly because I have never been to Scandinavia and I wanted to see most of it in one go. The simple trip would be Oslo - Stockholm - Copenhagen but I have an extended version here. I wanted this to be a road trip but having looked at the exorbitant prices of car rentals, it would be most likely done by train instead.
4. Eastern Europe
Due to troubles in the Balkans and the recent infighting in Ukraine, the only places which have any appeal to me in Easter Europe are Budapest, Krakow and Prague. Budapest and Prague have reputations of being beautiful cities and Krakow is most famous for the Nazi concentration camp. I remember going to the Dachau concentration camp in 2003 and it was horrifying and eye-opening at the same time.
5. Eastern USA road trip
Returning to the theme of the road trip, I had ideas of this way back in 2005. The main cities would be Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. but anything could have been tagged to that.
6. Caribbean cruise
Another idea I had ages ago. Even though I can't swim, I would love to lounge around and go to exotic locations. I even did the research and found that it would be very expensive to go alone. It would be best if I could go with my significant other on this one.
7. The Pan American Highway
Probably the ultimate road trip for me. I don't want to transverse the whole of the American continent; only the Central American portion between Mexico and Panama. Again I need the time, money and logistics for this. The main worry for me is the car - do I rent one and return it at the end, if it is possible, or buy a car at the beginning and sell it at the end.
You can get the general theme of my fantasy vacations: either comedy festivals or trips cramming as many places in one time.
I probably shouldn't go on such fantastic holidays such as a three week road trip in the Western United States or going to see the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, with concerts by Robbie Williams, John Legend and Jennifer Lopez. Despite all this, my mind wanders to what trips I want to go in the future. Currently I'm planning going to back to the UK between March and May to see my younger brother and his family, with a quick detour to Wales.
Yet there is always another part of me think about other ideas about where I can go on holiday...
1. Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Having turned my back on movies and started enjoying British comedy more, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has more appeal for me. I want to see shows my comedians I watch on TV or listen on the radio. I want to see the next big thing in comedy and the best place is the biggest arts festival in the world. It would also give me a chance of visiting Scotland.
2. Melbourne International Comedy Festival
Like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is another arts festival I want to go to because it's a hotbed of comedy talent. I was planning to go in March 2015 to coincide with the ICC Cricket World Cup final. I had already researched the attractions I wanted to go to, including the National Sports Museum, the Melbourne Aquarium, the Melbourne Zoo and the Royal Botanic Garden. However having spent a gazillion dollars on my last two dalliances, I've postponed going to Melbourne to a later date.
3. Scandinavia trip
I was planning this trip recently, mainly because I have never been to Scandinavia and I wanted to see most of it in one go. The simple trip would be Oslo - Stockholm - Copenhagen but I have an extended version here. I wanted this to be a road trip but having looked at the exorbitant prices of car rentals, it would be most likely done by train instead.
4. Eastern Europe
Due to troubles in the Balkans and the recent infighting in Ukraine, the only places which have any appeal to me in Easter Europe are Budapest, Krakow and Prague. Budapest and Prague have reputations of being beautiful cities and Krakow is most famous for the Nazi concentration camp. I remember going to the Dachau concentration camp in 2003 and it was horrifying and eye-opening at the same time.
5. Eastern USA road trip
Returning to the theme of the road trip, I had ideas of this way back in 2005. The main cities would be Boston, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. but anything could have been tagged to that.
6. Caribbean cruise
Another idea I had ages ago. Even though I can't swim, I would love to lounge around and go to exotic locations. I even did the research and found that it would be very expensive to go alone. It would be best if I could go with my significant other on this one.
7. The Pan American Highway
Probably the ultimate road trip for me. I don't want to transverse the whole of the American continent; only the Central American portion between Mexico and Panama. Again I need the time, money and logistics for this. The main worry for me is the car - do I rent one and return it at the end, if it is possible, or buy a car at the beginning and sell it at the end.
You can get the general theme of my fantasy vacations: either comedy festivals or trips cramming as many places in one time.
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Stuff I learned and observed on my USA road trip - driving in USA & road trip
Two months ago, I went for my longest vacation on my own. I spent
seventeen days in Las Vegas, San Diego, Los Angeles, Yosemite National
Park and San Francisco, with part of the journey driving on the Pacific
Coast Highway. I'm not going to write a typical holiday blog, showing
where I've been and sharing photos. Ever the practical person, I'm going
to write about what I've learned and observed on this trip. For this entry, I'll sharing what it is like to drive in USA
There must be some forgetful drivers in USA if they require all cars to automatically turn on their headlights when you start your vehicle
I already find automatic headlights annoying in cars in Hong Kong. They suppose to only turn on when the brightness level goes below a certain point but they turn on when it is still bright. You see a few cars having their lights on in broad daylight and the driver is none the wiser.
In the US it is even more of a nightmare. The headlights automatically turn on when you start the car, even if it is the sunniest day on record. You have to turn the headlight switch to off to make sure your lights are not dazzling the car in front. It was bloody annoying have to do that every time I had to start the car, since most of my driving was during the day. The only way to explain this situation is there must be enough forgetful drivers in the US who don't switch on their headlights to cause enough accidents that car manufacturers have to install this function in.
I'm surprised there are not more traffic accidents in USA
My mother still worries about me, even though I'm thirty three years old. She was worried since it would be my first time driving in a foreign country and driving on the right side of the road. I didn't get into any accidents while driving in USA. Driving on the right side of the road was easy-peasy but it did take some time getting use to the gear shift and the handbrake being on the right hand side and the seat belt being on the left. I was constantly clutching at thin air, trying to grasp the seat belt when I was setting off.
What my mother should have worried about are other drivers on the road. I thought Hong Kong drivers were bad until I drove on the freeways in California. US drivers use indicators and yield to other motorists less than drivers in Hong Kong. I had to be on constant alert and checking my mirrors whenever I wanted to cross lanes.
What is even more confusing are traffic lights. I knew you could turn right on a red light as long as you yield to other traffic and pedestrians. What I didn't know is that when turning left at traffic lights at cross junctions, the opposite direction could be green as well and you had to yield to the traffic coming towards you. It makes traffic more efficient as there are less stoppages for cars. However your are more likely to have traffic accidents. Yet the system seems to work since I didn't see one traffic accident while I was driving. I would thought roundabouts would be a more efficient way to sort out this traffic conundrum. Yet I only found one roundabout in the whole of my trip in USA and I'm sure it boggles US road users.
If you are going for a long road trip, get a good car
I learnt this the hard way. I was driving for eight days, from Las Vegas to San Francisco, via San Diego, Los Angeles and Yosemite. I thought a cheap car would do, so I got a Chevy Sonic. It's a small compact car with good fuel economy.
However it was shit to drive. The handling was awful, as it didn't respond very well to the steering wheel and the balance was not quite right at high speeds. The car was so small that when there was a strong wind you could feel the car being pushed to the side. I honestly felt I was going to tip over at two points during my journey. The footbrake was very bad, especially when stopping suddenly at high speeds. I expected the acceleration to be very poor but I didn't expect I had to put my foot down all the way to get some decent speed. The Chevy Sonic would be OK for 1-2 days for city driving but a whole week drove me crazy.
Next time I do a road trip (which I plan to do in Eastern USA or Western Europe in a few years time), I'm definitely getting a sports car. At least it would be decent drive and I get a sunroof to enjoy the light.
If you are going on a long road trip, take somebody with you
Driving for long stretches is a knackering ordeal. You might not expect that, being constantly sitting own. Yet you have to be vigilant all the time and I did find myself nodding off, having to pull over and take a rest. I planned to drive for one hour and then rest. However, with my time constraints and having difficulty finding somewhere to stop, I had to stop every two hours instead.
It would be good if I brought somebody along (even though I wanted this trip to be some alone time for me). At least the other person could share in the driving. Even if the other person couldn't drive, at least he/she could keep you awake by talking to you. Blasting your iPhone or radio at full volume doesn't keep you eyes open.
The other reason you should bring somebody along is to take photos. I knew I shouldn't be operating my cameraphone while driving and I highly DO NOT recommend this practice. I only did it when I knew I didn't have any cars around me, driving on a straight bit of road and driving at low speeds. I didn't take my eyes off the road either. I just basically pointed the camera and shot photos blind. With somebody else, they could take decent photos and not blurred photos of other cars.
If you are going to take the Pacific Coast Highway road trip, go from Monterey to San Luis Obispo
The Pacific Coast Highway, or California State Highway, starts in Monterey in the north to San Clemente in the south. For most of the journey, the road goes through some towns with a lot of traffic lights, so it was quite annoying having to start and stop all the time. I started off in San Clemente and by the time I reached Huntington Beach, I was so bloody annoyed. I said to myself, "Sod this!" and used the freeway to get to Santa Monica.
From Santa Monica to Arroyo Grande (where I was staying for one night), there are a few nice beaches and views. However the best part of the trip was from San Luis Obispo to Monterey. That section of the Pacific Coast Highway is free of any traffic lights. It is a long winding road and if I had a sports car, I would have enjoyed driving along it. The views are great with big mountains, large stretches of ocean and dense forests to take photos of.
It would be better to drive from north to south than from south to north as the ocean is on your right hand side and it would be easier to stop off and take pictures. I was driving with the mountain to my right and the ocean to my left. This meant if I wanted to take decent photos of the ocean, I would have to stop off and cross the road or cut across oncoming traffic.
There must be some forgetful drivers in USA if they require all cars to automatically turn on their headlights when you start your vehicle
I already find automatic headlights annoying in cars in Hong Kong. They suppose to only turn on when the brightness level goes below a certain point but they turn on when it is still bright. You see a few cars having their lights on in broad daylight and the driver is none the wiser.
In the US it is even more of a nightmare. The headlights automatically turn on when you start the car, even if it is the sunniest day on record. You have to turn the headlight switch to off to make sure your lights are not dazzling the car in front. It was bloody annoying have to do that every time I had to start the car, since most of my driving was during the day. The only way to explain this situation is there must be enough forgetful drivers in the US who don't switch on their headlights to cause enough accidents that car manufacturers have to install this function in.
I'm surprised there are not more traffic accidents in USA
My mother still worries about me, even though I'm thirty three years old. She was worried since it would be my first time driving in a foreign country and driving on the right side of the road. I didn't get into any accidents while driving in USA. Driving on the right side of the road was easy-peasy but it did take some time getting use to the gear shift and the handbrake being on the right hand side and the seat belt being on the left. I was constantly clutching at thin air, trying to grasp the seat belt when I was setting off.
What my mother should have worried about are other drivers on the road. I thought Hong Kong drivers were bad until I drove on the freeways in California. US drivers use indicators and yield to other motorists less than drivers in Hong Kong. I had to be on constant alert and checking my mirrors whenever I wanted to cross lanes.
What is even more confusing are traffic lights. I knew you could turn right on a red light as long as you yield to other traffic and pedestrians. What I didn't know is that when turning left at traffic lights at cross junctions, the opposite direction could be green as well and you had to yield to the traffic coming towards you. It makes traffic more efficient as there are less stoppages for cars. However your are more likely to have traffic accidents. Yet the system seems to work since I didn't see one traffic accident while I was driving. I would thought roundabouts would be a more efficient way to sort out this traffic conundrum. Yet I only found one roundabout in the whole of my trip in USA and I'm sure it boggles US road users.
If you are going for a long road trip, get a good car
I learnt this the hard way. I was driving for eight days, from Las Vegas to San Francisco, via San Diego, Los Angeles and Yosemite. I thought a cheap car would do, so I got a Chevy Sonic. It's a small compact car with good fuel economy.
However it was shit to drive. The handling was awful, as it didn't respond very well to the steering wheel and the balance was not quite right at high speeds. The car was so small that when there was a strong wind you could feel the car being pushed to the side. I honestly felt I was going to tip over at two points during my journey. The footbrake was very bad, especially when stopping suddenly at high speeds. I expected the acceleration to be very poor but I didn't expect I had to put my foot down all the way to get some decent speed. The Chevy Sonic would be OK for 1-2 days for city driving but a whole week drove me crazy.
Next time I do a road trip (which I plan to do in Eastern USA or Western Europe in a few years time), I'm definitely getting a sports car. At least it would be decent drive and I get a sunroof to enjoy the light.
If you are going on a long road trip, take somebody with you
Driving for long stretches is a knackering ordeal. You might not expect that, being constantly sitting own. Yet you have to be vigilant all the time and I did find myself nodding off, having to pull over and take a rest. I planned to drive for one hour and then rest. However, with my time constraints and having difficulty finding somewhere to stop, I had to stop every two hours instead.
It would be good if I brought somebody along (even though I wanted this trip to be some alone time for me). At least the other person could share in the driving. Even if the other person couldn't drive, at least he/she could keep you awake by talking to you. Blasting your iPhone or radio at full volume doesn't keep you eyes open.
The other reason you should bring somebody along is to take photos. I knew I shouldn't be operating my cameraphone while driving and I highly DO NOT recommend this practice. I only did it when I knew I didn't have any cars around me, driving on a straight bit of road and driving at low speeds. I didn't take my eyes off the road either. I just basically pointed the camera and shot photos blind. With somebody else, they could take decent photos and not blurred photos of other cars.
If you are going to take the Pacific Coast Highway road trip, go from Monterey to San Luis Obispo
The Pacific Coast Highway, or California State Highway, starts in Monterey in the north to San Clemente in the south. For most of the journey, the road goes through some towns with a lot of traffic lights, so it was quite annoying having to start and stop all the time. I started off in San Clemente and by the time I reached Huntington Beach, I was so bloody annoyed. I said to myself, "Sod this!" and used the freeway to get to Santa Monica.
From Santa Monica to Arroyo Grande (where I was staying for one night), there are a few nice beaches and views. However the best part of the trip was from San Luis Obispo to Monterey. That section of the Pacific Coast Highway is free of any traffic lights. It is a long winding road and if I had a sports car, I would have enjoyed driving along it. The views are great with big mountains, large stretches of ocean and dense forests to take photos of.
It would be better to drive from north to south than from south to north as the ocean is on your right hand side and it would be easier to stop off and take pictures. I was driving with the mountain to my right and the ocean to my left. This meant if I wanted to take decent photos of the ocean, I would have to stop off and cross the road or cut across oncoming traffic.
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