S4E5: Chris – Leaf All His Money in a Stranger’s Car (Transcript)

(sneak peek)

CHRIS: I did go to Australia and I bought,
well, first I worked at a wine harvest and then when I finished the wine
harvest, I bought a van and it was a 1990s Ford Econoline. It was one of those
commercial vans, and it had manual steering, and it was a manual gear shift.

I don’t know how
to talk about cars, but, it was a manual and and I didn’t know how to drive
that.

And so I have this
really funny memory of taking it to a mechanic and the mechanic gives me the
keys and I’m trying to drive it out of the parking lot and I keep stalling it.

And the mechanic’s
just with his arms crossed, looking at me like, ah, are you sure man?

and I was like,
no, it’ll be cool. It’s cool.

And I just kept
driving, rolled it out of the mechanic shop, went to a roundabout, and just kept
rolling it through like, no, I can’t stop.

Everybody make way for me.

(intro music)

BHAVNEET: Welcome back to another episode of drive
with us podcast, a podcast where we explore driving cultures around the world,
by bringing on a new guest each episode, to talk about the crazy things they’ve
experienced on the road, who they are as drivers and how they became the
driver. They are. I’m Bhavneet..

TARANJIT: And I’m Taranjit and I feel like I say
this every week, but this was another really great interview we had, I love
being able to chat with drivers from all parts of the world, because I feel
like we get to take this like virtual road trip around the world and explore
those different driving cultures.

And it kind of
makes me want to start taking actual road trips.

BHAVNEET: Yes.

TARANJIT: But today’s driver is Chris

Chris from
Stockton, California has spent his adult life wandering around aimlessly,
getting jobs abroad, like teaching English in South Korea for a year selling
credit card processing machines for two years in the bay area and working for a
recruiting agency for three years in San Francisco, Austin and London, he left
it all to backpack around the world for a year.

And went on some
fun adventures like participating in the rickshaw, run in India and hitchhiking
across Nepal throughout his travels, across the world. He started
wanderlunge.com a website where he posts creative short fiction stories. And
he’s, co-authored the book time to be let’s meet today’s driver, Chris.

(transition music) 

BHAVNEET: Welcome Chris to drive with those
podcasts. Thanks so much for joining us today.

CHRIS: Thank you so much for having me.

BHAVNEET: We’re super excited to talk to you about
your crazy driving experiences. Before we dive into that, let’s get to know a
little bit about your background of driving. What are some of the places that
you’ve driven and where are you currently?

CHRIS: I’ll start at the end. So I’m living in
Mexico city right now and not driving at all. , just walking or taking, Uber’s
, to get to wherever I need to go. So I really miss driving. , but I grew up, ,
in Stockton, California. Didn’t really have any crazy driving stories growing
up.

. And then in
college, I went on a million road trips with my rugby team. We did road trips
all over the country and it was super fun. And then since graduating from
college, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling. One of my favorite things in the
world has become, getting a scooter wherever I go and just zipping around on a
scooter.

 And so I did that in India, Nepal, I’ve done
it in a lot of places. It’s just really fun and a totally different experience
from driving in the states.

TARANJIT: Well, that leads into my next question
what would you say is your relationship with driving? I guess you love driving
and you prefer being the driver over the passenger

most of the time?

CHRIS: I do love driving and then I actually, I
I’m pretty passive when it comes to that because I love road trips maybe more
than I love driving. So, somebody else wants to drive that’s fine

BHAVNEET: what would you say are your craziest
driving experiences?

CHRIS: Without a doubt, the first one, is, , it
was called the rickshaw run. So there’s this company called the adventurous,
and they put on these, races or rallies all over the world. , and one of them
that they do. , is the rickshaw run in India. So you go to India. , when I did
it, I think there were like 80 teams that participated.

, and so we went
to Rajasthan up north, and then we got in our Tuk Tuks or our rickshaws and all
80 teams are just set off, with like no plan or no route or no support. And the
company basically says we’re going to throw a really fun party, 2,500, 3000
kilometers south. , so if you get there.

We’ll be having a
good time. , That’s pretty much it. And then you’re just set off to drive, , in
a little golf cart that goes like 35 kilometers an hour.

BHAVNEET: That’s crazy. I mean, no directions, no
nothing. And it’s like have

fun.

CHRIS: Yeah. Enjoy.

BHAVNEET: how many times did you get lost?

CHRIS: Every day, all day. in the beginning, I
was with, , two of my closest friends. And in the beginning we were using, ,
internet or Google maps , and then maybe a day or two in. We all agreed that it
was too simple. We were there to explore and to get lost. And so we like turned
that off, , and just use the little blue dot on Google maps and started like
zooming in and zooming out and there’d be a copilot.

And so they would
like zoom all the way in and make an immediate route and then zoom all the way
out and make like a big plan for the day. , and yeah, doing that, we got lost?

all the time and
it was great.

TARANJIT: What was you favorite part to like drive
through?

CHRIS: For me that there was some like
beautiful countryside. That was really cool. When you get out into the roads
where, you’re in some rural parts of India that are just really, really, really
beautiful. But personally driving, , like the roundabouts were crazy.

 You go into a roundabout and I, , it was a
manual, so it had a clutch, , on the left hand and then, , a gear shifter on
the right hand. And none of us were particularly good at driving manuals. So we
stalled a lot, , and stalling in roundabouts in India with traffic just buzzing
all around you, , is a really, really surreal experience.

BHAVNEET: Yeah, I can imagine. Oh my God. Cause
we’ve been there once and I can just imagine how crazy it must have been first
you don’t know where you’re going. , how scary was it going into a roundabout
for the first time

CHRIS: I enjoy situations like that. So for me,
it was just like, whoa, like, here we go. This is going to be crazy. , one of
my friends Reed that was with us, , he got scared. I’m going to call him out,
but I think he got a little bit more nervous and he still talks about how every
day, , like he was doing?

something while
driving.

And he was like,
if I would’ve just not paid attention for one second, we would have been in a
horrible crash. And I was like, yeah, that’s why it’s so fun.

TARANJIT: Your definition of fun is a little
different than most people’s

definition.

CHRIS: Yeah.

TARANJIT: how many were there of you in there just
you and your friend, or was there more

of

CHRIS: Carly was there too. I want to shout
them out for sure. But it was, my friends Reed and Carly were with me and most
teams were two or three people. So there was like a bench seat in the front, ,
with one person driving and then a bench in the back. And the other two people
would be in the back.

, we ended up
doing about 10 hours of driving?

a day. So somebody
would take the morning shift and then we would get hungry and stop and eat and
then somebody else would drive the afternoon and then somebody would drive the
night.

TARANJIT: Did you

make it

to the party?

CHRIS: We did make it, the, the company that
puts that on is so fun. , and one of the things they really try and stress, is
, it’s not a race. So the team that finishes first gets made fun of it’s like,
what are you doing? Like get back out there, , go see what’s going on. , and so
, most of the teams got there right at the end of the two weeks, and just
zoomed in with their little Tuk Tuks.

 And then , they had a final party and it was
really fun.

BHAVNEET: How many times did yours break down?

CHRIS: , at least two that I remember, and the
first one, , the fuel line just broke off. It was just like a plastic tube and
it just came off and it was the first day, maybe an hour or two in, and, , the
little Tuk Tuk rumbled off to the side of the road and was dead. My friends.
And I were like, oh, And none of us know how to fix things like that.

And I got really
lucky that day and I saw that it was the little fuel line and we had zip ties.
And so I zip tied it back on. , it started back up. We kept going, we felt so
cool. We fixed, , our, our little piece of machine on the side of the road. ,
and then we were pretty much good. And then there was another time we broke
down and that’s one of the coolest parts of the race, , is that we broke down
and within five minutes, , local people had surrounded us and brought us to a
mechanic and we spent the whole day, just watching, , as these mechanics fixed,
our Tuk Tuk and hanging out, eating some food and stuff like that.

And then they
charged us the smallest amount of money and we’re so happy. , and they were
just happy to, to fix the Tuk Tuk and they thought they were part of the race
and we’re like, yeah,

of course, this is
the coolest, and then we were back on the road

BHAVNEET: Since you were driving rickshaws i, I
wanna know how many times did people try to stop you and be like, give me a
ride.

CHRIS: Not very many times, but asking for
selfies, So, many selfies, , which was really, really fun.

BHAVNEET: What would you say is your second
craziest driving

experience?

CHRIS: Right after that, , I w my plan was to,
, buy a motorcycle. , and drive across Nepal. , that was, that was my big
romantic plan. And I was in Darjeeling, , and my, , debit card had a limit of
how much money I could take out. And so I was taken out like, I dunno, a
hundred, 200, $300 a day, trying to get enough cash so I could buy a
motorcycle.

And one of the
days. , I had one of those Fanny packs that you wear under your t-shirt, where
you put your passport in your money. And I have all the cash that I had been
taking out in the Fanny pack. , and I hitchhiked down the mountain a little bit
or down the road, a little bit to go to these, , different motorcycle shops and
on the way there was a really cool tea house.

So I had the car
dropped me off at the TA. , I went to the Diaz, got a T I went to pay and I
realized I had put my Fanny pack on the seat of the car and just left it. And I
was like, well, That just made, , those people’s day. They’re going to have the
best day of their life when they find a Fanny pack with a bunch of cash in it.

, and I
immediately realized I was not gonna, I have enough money to buy another bike,
or to buy a bike. And so I decided to hitchhike, I ended up hitchhiking from
Darjeeling to Rishikesh. , but like through Nepal

TARANJIT: Wow. That’s crazy. And you said your
passport was in there too.

CHRIS: No, it’s one of those things you do put
your passport and money and yeah. So my passport was not in there.

TARANJIT: Oh, that’s good because that was, really
difficult. I feel like it’s really hard to get your passport back and go
through that entire process. Once you lose your

passport.

CHRIS: It’s not fun.

BHAVNEET: Oh my God.

I just,

 I wish you’d got your money back. , I mean, I
don’t add doubt. They would like turn around and be like, Hey, you left your
money.

CHRIS: Yeah. There was like a moment of hope
where it was like, maybe, , I’ll go outside and they’ll come back or something like
that. They’ll turn around and they’ll be like, man, you forgot so much money.
And then I thought about it or like, you get home from a long drive where you
picked up a hitchhiker and there’s a Fanny pack full of money.

And you’re like,
yeah, I’ll just take that. That’s fine.

TARANJIT: Never got to see him

CHRIS: Yeah. That’s free money.

TARANJIT: How was the hitchhiking experience? Was
it. Were there any moments when you’re in the vehicle with the other person?
And you’re like, whoa, I shouldn’t have gotten in

this one.

CHRIS: I’ve , I’ve been lucky. I do think in
general, what I’ve found is that hitchhikers pick up hitchhikers. I really
haven’t had any, , Situations where I felt threatened, which is really lucky.

BHAVNEET: Oh, that’s a good, I was going to say,
cause like, especially now it’s like hitchhiking can be very dangerous.

CHRIS: Yeah. , it felt safe. , and I honestly,
I got picked up mostly. By big rigs. So most of the, especially the long
stretches I did, , were in big rigs. in those situations that there’s usually a
comfy little, , not full bed, but almost like a couch or whatever in the back.

And I would just
be perched up on the couch reading or something, trying to talk to, to the
driver a little bit. It was pretty fun.

BHAVNEET: Oh, that’s cool. You must have heard a
lot of like interesting truck drivers stories.

CHRIS: My favorite was the guy who did not
speak very much English. , and one of the first things he communicated to me
was Trump was too much bad. And I was like, yeah, man, I can, I can agree with
that.

BHAVNEET: That’s hilarious.

CHRIS: Yeah.

BHAVNEET: What would you say is your third
craziest

driving

experience?

CHRIS: I did go to Australia and I bought,
well, first I worked at a wine harvest. , and then when I finished the wine
harvest, I bought a van. And it was a 1990s Ford ICAN aligned. It was one of those
commercial vans, and it had manual steering, , and it was a manual, , Gear
shift.

I don’t know how
to talk about cars, but, , it was a manual and a, and I didn’t know how to
drive that. And so I have this really funny memory of, , taking it to a mechanic
and the mechanic gives me the keys and I’m trying to drive it out of the
parking lot and I keep stalling it. And the mechanics just with his arms
crossed, looking at me like, ah, are you sure man?

And I was like,
no, it’ll be cool. It’s cool. And I just kept driving. Rolled it out of the
mechanic shop, went to a roundabout, , and just kept rolling it through like,
no, I can’t stop. Everybody make way for me.

TARANJIT: is

this, the van that

broke down on you?

CHRIS: Well, it got stolen with my passport in
it. So

TARANJIT: Oh no.

CHRIS: yeah, like right when I was really
starting to feel good about driving it, , I parked it in this city called
Ballarat . I was really excited to get back to the city. I thought it was
really cool it was an hour and a half outside of Melbourne. And so I was, I
took the train.

I parked the van,
, In the train, parking lots and got on the train, went to Melbourne, had a
final lunch, with my friends, from the winery. And then the lunch included a
lot of wine. So it turned into a night out. And then the last thing I knew, I
was on the last train back to Ballarat. And so I got to the parking lot.

Two or three in
the morning. , and I went to where I was very confident. I parked my van and it
wasn’t there. And I was like, oh no. , and I went to the police station, and I
was like, Hey, I think my van got towed. Is there, somewhere where vans get
towed around here. And he was like, where did you park your van?

And I said, the
train station, he was like, mate, it’s gone. And I was like, all right, there
goes all of the things that I had.

BHAVNEET: Wow. Even the place is like, Nope,
you’re not.

CHRIS: no, no, no, no, it’s gone.

TARANJIT: Then how did you get your passport?

CHRIS: It’s the worst. , there were a lot of
payphones involved, which I think is funny because. In the United States, at
least I feel , payphones are not being used very often anymore. , but my phone
was in the van, I guess as well. , and so I was using payphones to just call
different, , places to try and figure out the insurance for the van to try and
get some money back and then like set appointments at the consulate.

But it’s. A really
terrible process. You just have to go do a bunch of paperwork. And then you,
you’re kind of trapped you get a temporary passport and then you have to renew
that just don’t lose your passport. It’s the worst.

TARANJIT: I’m sure that was a, an important lesson
you learned and you probably make sure you have your passport

CHRIS: Yeah, no, it just stays in my pocket. ,
I’m just going to tap every once in a while to make sure it’s there.

TARANJIT: Yeah.

BHAVNEET: How hard was it for you to, do you, have
you ever driven a manual before? I think you said the Rickshaw was also

CHRIS: That was a hand gear shift. Yeah. I
mean, I, like I had. But never consistently, I had had a couple jobs where I
would need to drive a truck or something like that, but I feel like it was
driving it, short distances and not often. So getting in that van, knowing I
was going to actually be doing it all the time, , that was going to be
interesting.

TARANJIT: And then on top of that, driving on the
other side of the

road,

CHRIS: Yup that, you do get used to that. I
actually, in Australia was so focused on that, , that I never messed it up. And
then I got back and I was in the United States. And a guy that I had worked
with in Australia at a winery, , was in the same town and we were about to
start another wine harvest.

And he got in the
car. And I like talking to him, started driving on the wrong side of the road.
In America, a car started coming right at me and I was like, Oh, right, yep.
Other side when I got really confused. Yeah.

TARANJIT: Oh, yeah. I can see how that can get
confusing though. Like, why don’t you get used to one side, then you have to
like, really think about it and be like, okay, which side of the road should I
be on right now?

CHRIS: Yeah. And that is the worst thing to
have to be thinking about. Like it should, that should be a very obvious and
natural feeling. What side of the road to be on.

TARANJIT: Yeah. Switching gears just a little bit,
since you have been to so many different places, how would you describe the
drivers in the different places that

you’ve been

CHRIS: the thing I think about a lot is the
attentiveness, , I’ve tried to tell people this in the United States, but I, I
prefer driving in an environment where everyone’s honking at each other. And
everyone is very, very much focused on what is going on right in front of their
vehicle.

And then I feel in
the states, everyone’s texting and listening to music and the car’s driving
itself. it’s like an attentiveness, versus a passiveness

BHAVNEET: Yeah, I have

noticed

like our uncle had
told us in India that is very much just windshield driving. You don’t look at
your rear view. You don’t look at anything is so I was like, okay, you’re only
focused on

CHRIS: Yeah, you just don’t hit whatever’s right
in front.

of you , and that
seems to work out for everybody.

TARANJIT: How has it, oh, you don’t drive in
Mexico right now. You just get an Uber. So.

How would you
describe, the drivers there versus maybe the U S or some other countries that
you’ve been to.

CHRIS: one thing I have noticed here, Is that,
when a light turns yellow, usually most cars stop, , or start to stop . But if
you’re at a crosswalk, even after the light turns red four or five more cars
are still going to go. so I’ve noticed that in Mexico city, you should really,
really wait before you cross the street because there’s some drivers that are
going to.

take a red light

 as, as an optional, sign.

TARANJIT: That’s good to know.

CHRIS: Yeah.

TARANJIT: Just watch out wherever you

CHRIS: go.

Yeah. Just keep
your head on a swivel. You’ll be fine.

BHAVNEET: I I’ve always worried about that here
though. It doesn’t really happen that much in the states, but I’m always
worried that , someone’s going to be like, no, I’m going to cross this red
light. I don’t care. I’m going.

CHRIS: It’s my turn. Whether the light says so
or not.

BHAVNEET: Now that we’ve heard a little bit about
your crazy driving stories, let’s dive into the type of driver that you are. So
how would you describe yourself as a driver? And would you say that your family
and friends would agree with that?

CHRIS: Despite telling the crazy stories. I
think I’m a very, calm driver. I don’t try and speed. I like, I like to go
right at the speed limit and put it in cruise control and then just talk to
whoever is in the car with me, or listen to music , I find driving really relaxing.

, so I feel like I
just settle in and drive nice and smoothly. And I’m sure my family and friends
would be like, no, man, that’s not what

it’s like.

But I feel like I
get the keys to drive often when, when I’m going somewhere with people. So
there’s a sign of confidence or trust there.

TARANJIT: Yeah, that’s a good sign , if we’re
giving you a keys , so they trust you a little bit behind the wheel.

CHRIS: Hopefully

BHAVNEET: I mean, I hope they’re not giving it to
you and be like, I don’t really trust you, but here

go.

CHRIS: likely to get us to the destination.
Here are the keys.

TARANJIT: Make it interesting. Would you consider
yourself someone who is a

BHAVNEET: honker?

CHRIS: Yeah, but not for angry reasons. , so I
grew up with parents that really loved honking for, celebratory and sporadic
reasons. , so that just got ingrained in me. And now it’s like, just drive by
something that you think looks cool and it’s like, woo. Honk the horn a couple
of times.

But I, I rarely
honk at people like in anger.

BHAVNEET: We’ve heard that, like I was saying in
the states, it’s more of people honk In anger at others, other countries, like
I know India, for sure. And other Asian countries, honking is more of like a
communication, like, Hey, I’m here. Have you noticed that

in

other

places?

CHRIS: For sure with the scooters and then the
richshaw. , you’re honking all the time, but it’s in, I mean, it’s fun , you
start to develop , a bit of an ear for what sounds, , not rude. Cause you’re
not trying to just lay on the horn you pick up how it’s going on around you and
you just you’re just tapping the horn all the time.

 We were talking about, only focusing on what’s
in front of you. You’re listening for the horns behind you. And it’s just a
form of communication, so everybody’s participating in it and it it’s really
cool.

TARANJIT: Is that

something that you
would, implement your own driving?

CHRIS: like you need, you need the whole
system, I think. Cause I think if you gave me a scooter and I just went and
drove around San Francisco honking at everybody, I don’t think it would work as
well.

TARANJIT: Yeah, That’s true.

Well, they you’re
working on the U S.

CHRIS: Yeah.

TARANJIT: People will probably look at you, like
what does this person do? It

CHRIS: And if you were just like right on
somebody’s bumper, just like honking at them, I would go over really well,

BHAVNEET: That’s

a great segue into
our next question. What would you consider your biggest driving pet peeve? And
I, you say you don’t honk at people for like angry reasons,

CHRIS: my biggest driving pet peeve. Oh, it’s
like when something terrible has caused traffic, not, not something terrible,
terrible, but.

when there is
terrible traffic, that’s what I meant. , when there’s terrible traffic. And
then somebody cuts all the way to the front, of a line of like 10 or more cars
and just starts weaseling their way in that gets me to start honking.

I get really upset
when people try to pull that move

TARANJIT: That’s something she does.

CHRIS: and then the worst part is when you’re
inevitably that person, and then you’re just yelling at yourself. Like I know
I’m terrible, but I’m really late.

TARANJIT: Yeah, we were driving to Pennsylvania
once and in Pennsylvania, they don’t go around as much. We’re in Maryland. So
like people here go around, they don’t even wait a second. If you have your
signal on they’re going around you.

BHAVNEET: As Taranjit was saying in Pennsylvania,
drivers tend to , like, they’ll sit in line if there’s two lanes. They’ll just
happily wait behind the other person. Even though the left lane is completely
empty. If it’s completely empty, I don’t know if it’s a Maryland thing or not,
but , it was like, it’s the roads there.

It’s empty. Why
are you not using it?

CHRIS: There’s space for my car. I’m going to
use this space for my car.

BHAVNEET: Exactly.

TARANJIT: It just depends on where you grew up
learning to drive and what the behavior of the drivers are. And you just carry
that with you. So other states might not have the same kind of drivers then
you’re just like, why aren’t you doing

this?

CHRIS: Yeah. I don’t know what the reputation
for California drivers is. But we do roll through California stops, so there’s
one thing we do.

TARANJIT: That’s what we’ve heard a lot about
California.

CHRIS: If there’s nobody around you just kind
of roll through it. It’s okay.

TARANJIT: Have you ever had an experience where
either you had road rage or someone else had road rage

towards you?

CHRIS: I’ve never had road rage. , but I definitely
have I’ve like cut people off on accidents, . And then they’d just start
zooming as close to your bumper as possible and screaming and yelling , but
road rage is the strangest thing. People lose it.

BHAVNEET: They do. And you being in California,
I’m pretty sure with all the terrible traffic that there always is, you
probably have seen it, even if it wasn’t towards you. Probably seen

CHRIS: Yep.

BHAVNEET: every day.

CHRIS: Yeah. If you, if you get people all
congested like that, somebody’s going to start screaming that that’s going to
happen. .

TARANJIT: I just feel like some people get so mad
that you’re just like, okay, it’s okay. We’re all on the road. Or if it’s
traffic or something and like, oh one car gets in. It’s like, just to let it

go.

CHRIS: Yeah. Have you guys seen any crazy road
rage?

BHAVNEET: Yeah. And I’ve actually had someone gets
super mad at me for idol. No. What reason? That was the strangest part. I’m
like, I don’t know why you’re mad at me. We were in a neighborhood and I got to
the first stop sign and then they lay got on my bumper and started screaming.
Pointing at the stop sign and I’m like, oh, okay.

Yep. That’s a stop
sign it.

CHRIS: right.

BHAVNEET: We’re stopping. And then that happened
at every single stop sign and there was five of them. And then we get to this
four way intersection and he gets into the lane next to me and rolls down his
window and starts yelling at me and like, I’m not looking at you, I’m not
engaging.

Nope. And then he
just zooms off and gets really close to me and cuts me off as he’s going in
front of me. And then I see him at the next light and I’m like driving really
slowly. Like turn green, turn green, turning green, please leave.

CHRIS: Yeah.

That’s terrifying.
You said there were five stop signs. Was he getting progressively more mad at
each one?

BHAVNEET: Yeah, and I felt like he was gonna
really rear end me and I seriously considered turning at one of the stop signs.
Cause I’m like this road loops back around, maybe I’ll just, and I was going to
school and I was I just want to get to class. I don’t know what’s going on.

TARANJIT: Leave me alone.

CHRIS: Just go into school, man.

BHAVNEET: exactly. That was, that was crazy. ,
people get mad and I don’t know why, like for the

strangest

reasons.

CHRIS: I can’t wait for someone to come on this
podcast and tell you a story about them. , going all road rage crazy. Cause
there’s no way anyone can tell a story like that and sound normal. It’s the
whole story is about how they just completely lost their marbles. It’s going to
be awesome.

TARANJIT: Right for them, they accept that they
got mad and actually share

that.

CHRIS: Yeah, I would I hope you guys find
someone that really wants to vent about their road rage

BHAVNEET: I would like to hear the other side,
like what was going through your

mind?

CHRIS: Yep. I will be tuning in to see if that
episode happens.

TARANJIT: We’ll see. Maybe if someone’s listening,
it’s like, oh, that’s me.

CHRIS: Finally, my chance to tell my road rage
story.

TARANJIT: Yeah. Let’s go a little into your
driving first. So how would you describe your first time driving experience

and who was it
with?

CHRIS: One of the first times I remember
driving was driving home from a friend’s place, 15 minutes away from my house.
Cause I was like 13 or something. And I think my dad had had a couple drinks.
He was like, Hey, why don’t you drive home? And I was like, okay. And I was So,
excited and we played music really loudly and I drove for 15 minutes and I
thought it was the coolest.

And then I had two
older sisters and they let me drive every once in a while. And then one of our
neighbors, ratted on us and told my parents that they saw me driving. And then
I finally got my license. I was 16.

BHAVNEET: How was your driving test experience? Were
you able to. On the

first try.

CHRIS: There was an urban legend that the
Stockton driving test was hard. Because of the one way streets downtown. And a
bunch of people I knew went to Manteca, which is the small town, like 30
minutes south, and the driving test was super easy. And so I went there and I
passed on my first.

And I, I do
remember passing and then I remember my dad being like, do you want to drive
home? And I was like, no, I though that was, there was so much buildup to
getting this little certificate I got. I want to relax. You can drive.

TARANJIT: My dad did the same thing after I pass
it, like, okay. Do you want to drive home now? I’m like, um, no, thank you. I
just went through an intense experience.

BHAVNEET: What about like a lot of people will
like drive to the next town over the next city over. Cause the test is so much
easier. The place where we would go get our test is also known for being really
hard and everyone would drive to the, the headquarters in Maryland that our
test is super easy, I guess.

Cause they were
super busy. I don’t know. But like everyone would go there and be like, yeah, I

got my license.

CHRIS: And then of course the people in Mantica
went to Stockton because the one in Stockton was easier. Like, I feel like, uh,
like people, people just are . Maybe they don’t want to fail the license.

test in their own
city. Cause then if they fail somewhere else, it’s like, oh, it was that other
place.

BHAVNEET: Is because I did not hear that area. You
know, it wasn’t me.

CHRIS: definitely wasn’t me or my driving
skills. It was that, that other place it’s their fault.

TARANJIT: Did you have to parallel park on your

test?

CHRIS: I feel like, no, cause that seems like
it would have been really hard, but I don’t remember. The only thing I remember
about my driving test?

is, the guy asked
me to take a right turn. And I think there’s a specific you’re supposed to turn
your blinker on within a specific distance. , I remember being three football
fields away from where I was supposed to turn and I just turned the blinker on.

I was probably
going like 25 miles an hour and we both just sat there in the quiet car while
my blinker was blinking. And that I remember he marked me down for that. , but
that’s the only thing I remember. I don’t remember parallel parking. I just
remember that awkward silence with the blinker.

BHAVNEET: Well, I was always just like turn right
down there. Oh, turn right. Okay. Let me remind myself.

That’s crazy.

TARANJIT: So now that we’ve heard a little bit
about your past driving experience, your current driving experience, let’s talk
a little bit about the future of driving with the possibility of self-driving
cars, becoming a thing sometime in the future. What are your thoughts on this?
And would you get

it?

CHRIS: I would totally get

in one. That
sounds cool. I don’t want one. I love driving.

It is really
interesting. It’s it’s going to happen, but there’s , there’s a driver in me
that wants to go on road trips forever. So unfortunately I think I might push
back against the driverless cars for awhile.

BHAVNEET: I

agree. I enjoy
just that being able to drive that, like, I don’t know if I would be willing to
give that up.

CHRIS: Yeah, but they’re going to trick us when
the inside doesn’t look like cars were used to anymore. And it’s just like a
super comfy little room and you’re playing cards and watching Netflix and stuff
like the day that happens, I’ll probably give up.

on

TARANJIT: Or just the built in override feature of
like, okay, I feel like driving today,

BHAVNEET: I’ll take the wheel.

CHRIS: Yeah. There you go. Just give drivers
the option. That’s all we’re asking for.

BHAVNEET: Final bonus question time. Are you
ready? . If you could make one new driving law, what would it be?

CHRIS: Your, your horn should be able to track
this somehow. And for every, , angry honk you let out, you have to let out a
happy honk as well.

BHAVNEET: That’s awesome.

CHRIS: So if you let out, if you let out your
anger yeah. It’s coming back.

TARANJIT: I wonder how they would detect that.
Would it be like a pulse thing? You know, like those mood rings

BHAVNEET: have like a mood horn.

CHRIS: Uh, Chris, when you hit your horn.

your heart rate
was, off the charts. So I think that was an angry one. Let’s try That again at
a normal pace.

TARANJIT: That would be hilarious if that actually
happened.

, do you have any
final pieces of advice for new drivers or any driving tips that you would like
to give other

drivers?

CHRIS: I would love to give a job tip that’s
related to driving. UPS every Thanksgiving ish, every like Christmas season, ,
hires seasonal helpers. And it’s a part-time job for like six weeks. , and I’ve
done it twice and I did it in Petaluma and then the route that we went on, uh,
it was through all the vineyards in Sonoma.

And so my point is
there are people out there listening that just love driving and seeing, seeing
the road in a different way. That is a really cool job. And you get paid pretty
well too. So I wanted to shout out that job opportunity for the drivers
listening.

BHAVNEET: Oh, that is a, that’s an interesting way
to think about it. You can explore the roads

CHRIS: and then yeah, you get paid.

bring people,
their Christmas presents.

TARANJIT: That’s a great tip.

 Before we let you go, where can listeners find
you

CHRIS: I have a website. It’s a wanderlunge.com, which I thought was. Funny play on words with wanderlust when I was
in my twenties and I’m gonna stick to it now, but that’s the website. And at
this point I write, short fiction. So I’m trying to get one piece of short
fiction out, just a little short story every month.

, and , I’m having
fun doing that.

BHAVNEET: Thank you so much for joining us today.
Fun talking to you here about your crazy rally experience, breakdown,
experiences, hitchhiking experiences.

CHRIS: Thank you so much. , this was, this was
a blast, so I can’t wait to keep listening to some episodes.

 (transition music)

TARANJIT: I truly loved the driving law that Chris
wanted to implement the celebratory horn. I feel like that’s such a cool thing
that their family does as, instead of using the horn as like an angry gesture
while you’re driving, they use it as like a fun, little celebration sound. I just
love that.

Just imagine if
cars were customized with happy horns, as opposed to like, I don’t know, angry
honks and they could be used for like happier purposes. Like I understand a
horns there for a warning, but sometimes I feel like people abuse that power.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. I totally like the ability to be
able to customize that because there’s no other way to communicate. Other than
basically your horn and your lights. What if it can be interpreted like so many
different ways?

TARANJIT: Yeah. What if it was like, how do you
customize your ringtone? But you could like put phrases into it and be like,
oh, have a nice day.

Or like, thank
you. Like that’s what came with the honk as opposed to like, But like, you
know, angry honk,

BHAVNEET: but they need to also have a way that
they can’t let you program angry stuff. Only positive vibes and comments can

go out into the
world.

TARANJIT: Just reject it.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. Try

to get like, like,
uh, uh, how that was an angry honk.

Now you have to do
a happy honk to balance it out. Let’s try that again. That wasn’t happy.

TARANJIT: Exactly. That was when we were
discussing of like, if there was like a mood detection, horror, which I feel
like would be hilarious if cars could sense your mood and be like, I’m not
going to, like, you can beep all you want, like hit the horn all you want.

There’s gotta be
no sound coming out until your blood pressure level decreases at this moment.

BHAVNEET: But see then also, like, it needs to be
able to detect whether you’re just in a foul mood or if you’re actually trying
to like, beep it like in an emergency situation. Cause like your blood pressure
could go up when you’re like an emergency adrenaline and you’re like, ah, so
the car needs to be available to be really good at understanding you, you must
really connect with your car.

TARANJIT: I mean, I feel like we all will probably
get to that point. Like our smartphones got to a point where I feel like they
understand you to a point that they can, like more than, you know, I feel like
their technology right now exists where it can get to know you as a person and.
Target you with certain ads or things that are for you, you know, like
something that you would actually like.

So I feel like it
would get to that point.

BHAVNEET: Yeah, definitely.

TARANJIT: But I love that idea. Now, the thing that
we always talk about is they need to invent a reverse horn so that you can
communicate with the driver behind you, because we have been a numerous
situations where we’re like, oh my God, that person is not paying attention.
Like I wish I could somehow. But Hawk for them, not the person in front of me.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. I

was like, no, no,
I know the sounds coming forward, but I mean it for the person behind me,
you’re

good.

TARANJIT: , what if it just like said for behind
me, huh?

BHAVNEET: Dear passenger behind me. Beep

driver, not
passenger driver yelling at

the past. Maybe
the passenger you’re just acting.

TARANJIT: That’s your fault. The driver is
driving.

BHAVNEET: Yes. I mean, eventually you’re gonna get
to the point of cars driving themselves. So maybe they are just a passing.
They’re not paying attention. So technically they are just a passenger

TARANJIT: in their car. Yeah. If you put it that
way,

BHAVNEET: look, I spun it around and made your
point, correct?

TARANJIT: Yes. But I’m curious to hear your
thoughts as listeners. Do you think that there should be a celebratory or like
a mood horn comment down below or DM us on Instagram at drive with us podcast?
We’re curious to hear your thoughts.

BHAVNEET: And that was Chris. So we hope you enjoyed
hearing his driving stories and be sure to stay tuned until the end of this
episode, to hear a sneak peek of next week’s episode with driver Shannon
Martin,

TARANJIT: who shares with us about the time her
car kept overheating in Sri Lanka and getting rear ended by a new driver.

BHAVNEET: Thank you for tuning in this week. And
if you enjoyed this podcast, you can help support the show by sharing it with
your friends subscribing or leaving us a review. It truly does help us get

discovered.

TARANJIT: Thank you for choosing to drive with us
and we’ll see you next week.

(outro music)

SHANNON: We went to the great wall in Beijing and they have these toboggans you can go down and you, you have sort of a break and a thing that you push that makes you go faster or slower, but otherwise, you’re not really steering, it kind of goes around. But I…

My husband said, I’m going to get in the one in front of you. I’m going to go first and you can go second. He was really smart because I kept pulling the brakes so I was so slow.

So he was, they kind of yelled at him for speeding. It’s typical of our driving personalities. They were like, Hey, slow down!

And me, they were telling me to hurry up because I was going so slow cause I kept, I was like, eh, break. And he finished before me, so he was there and he had his phone, he took a picture and I need to delete it somehow because it’s me and a lineup of people behind where you’re spaced out at the beginning but they had gotten jammed up behind me..

So I was causing a traffic jam.