S4E10: Erin Hynes – Car Shut Off in the Desert + Scratched Rental (Transcript)

(sneak peek)

 

 

ERIN: when we visited Jordan, which was
actually one of the last places we went to before, the pandemic started, we
decided we would road trip the entire country.

 Most of the trip, no problems, everything went
smoothly. until finally we were driving one of the last stretches of our trip
from Aqaba up to the Dead Sea.

My partner, like I
said before, likes to speed. And so he was speeding a lot of the way and we
were in the desert. So we’re most of the way through the trip, when suddenly my
partner looks at me and says the car shut off.

I looked back at
him and I was like, what do you mean that we’re still moving?

 

 

(intro music)

 

BHAVNEET: Welcome back to another episode of drive
with this podcast.

I’m Bhavneet

TARANJIT: and I’m Taranjit. And can you believe
that this is our 100th episode?

BHAVNEET: No way. I mean, yes.

It was super
exciting. I didn’t realize that. Wow, we’ve done a hundred

episodes. this is
special.

TARANJIT: So in celebration of our 100 episodes,
we are planning to do a small little giveaway of air fresheners, other things.
For supporting the show. So all you would have to do is fill out your name and
where you would like us to mail it in the Google form that we have linked
below.

And that’s it. And
we’ll send you some air fresheners

BHAVNEET: And they smell really good. Really,
really

TARANJIT: good, anyways, let’s meet today’s
driver. Aaron Hines. Aaron Hines is a travel blogger and podcaster. She writes
about her travels on her blog, peanut travels.com and shares how to travel
responsibly on her podcast.

Alpaca my bags
today, she dived into the crazy adventure. She had abroad like the time her car
shut off in the desert and she scratched a rental. Here’s what.  

(transition music) 

BHAVNEET: Welcome Erin. Thanks so much for joining
us today.

ERIN: Thanks for having me. I’m excited to be
here.

TARANJIT: We’re so excited. You’re here to share
all your crazy driving stories.

BHAVNEET: We like to start off to get to know more
about you in your driving experiences. So where have you driven and where are
you currently?

ERIN: I’m currently in Toronto, Canada, ,
which is in the province of Ontario. And that’s where I grew up. Although I
grew up in a different city, Ottawa, which is where I first learned how to
drive. I was about 20 years old when I started learning. And I’m not sure how
much you know about the system for getting your license in Canada, but there’s
basically three stages you have.

First your
learner’s permit and then what’s called a G2 and then you get your G. And when
I started driving, I got up to G G2. And then I moved to Toronto and I never
used a car anymore. I didn’t have access to a car. I didn’t really need a car.
And so I ended up losing my license. And for the last about six years, I
haven’t had a license and only recently did I start, Working towards it again.

So right now I’m
back at G1 because I waited so long, I had to restart the entire process, which
is super annoying, but I guess the nice part is that because I’ve driven
before, , the G one is really easy for me to do I pass the test, no problems.
So back at it. but in terms of driving around the world, I’ve driven, of
course, around Ontario.

 I’ve also driven in other parts of Canada,
like out west in Alberta. British Columbia, I’ve driven parts of the U S and
I’ve also traveled quite a lot. And although I don’t drive when traveling, I’m
always the passenger which is really fun. My partner has his international
driver’s license, so he always gets to be the driver and then I get to take
care of navigation.

 He and I have driven all around the world and
we plan to drive in more places because we love renting cars in other
countries. We think it’s a really cool way to get to know place.

TARANJIT: Do you think you would ever get an
international driving license?

ERIN: I definitely will. I’m super excited to
finish my full license this time. The whole process takes about two years. So I
think in about two months, I’ll be eligible to go for my G2 test and then I’ll
have to wait one more year and then I can get my G and once I have that, I will
definitely be getting my international license so that I can help my partner with
the driving whenever we’re abroad..

BHAVNEET: I do have to ask, since you mentioned.
Navigation as being the passenger. Are you good at navigation?

ERIN: I think that I am, but we get into a lot
of fights while we’re traveling and so if you asked my partner, he would
probably say no. , I beg to differ though. I think I am good at navigating. And
I find when I’m driving myself, I am pretty relaxed and good at following the
instructions on the GPS.

So I think I’m
good at navigating.

TARANJIT: I feel like she was only asking because
I’m terrible at giving directions and following them.

ERIN: Yeah. Sometimes when we’re driving
together, I just end up saying, okay, I’m going to put it on the GPS and then
you can listen to the GPS voice and just there’ll be responsible. Not me. I
don’t want responsibility for missing the turn.

TARANJIT: Yeah,

I know you touched
on this a little bit when you’re telling us about your driving so far. What
would you say is your relationship with driving right now? Do you love it? Do
you hate it?

ERIN: I would say, it’s interesting. You asked
that because when I first started driving, I was 20 and I wasn’t nervous about
it at all. I remember feeling like I was a super confident driver. I really
loved driving. I I’m honestly really upset that I never finished my license at
that stage. It was just, it didn’t make sense when you live in the town town of
the big city and coming back to driving now, I do still love it, but I noticed
that I’m more nervous about it than I was when I was younger.

And maybe it’s
just like a maturity thing or an age thing, or. Not driven for a couple years,
but I’ve definitely noticed that difference between when I was younger and, and
nowadays when I’m driving, but overall I do still, still really enjoy driving.
I just find huts so relaxing and I love just like focusing on the road and
zoning out and listening to podcasts.

Sometimes it’s
just, I really enjoy it, especially when I’m traveling because. When you’re
traveling, it’s just such a great way to get to know beyond the places you
stop, you would then have the opportunity to see what’s outside of the
landmarks that you visit within a place. So, yeah, overall I’d say I really
love driving.

TARANJIT: Have you ever had a passenger experience
where you’re like, oh no, this is not a good idea.

ERIN: Yes. I have many times. This is probably
why my partner and I fight so much when we’re driving. , he has been driving
for years. I think. So. 16 or 17. And so he’s super confident and he definitely
likes to speed. Especially when we’re in a foreign country. That really makes
me nervous. And so there’ll be many times where I’m just yelling at him to slow
down or to be more careful.

 I remember particularly in Vietnam, driving
there is quite scary, especially if you’re from, north America, because the
driving rules are completely different and there’s cars on the road and more
motor bikes. And we rented a motorbike to drive around the city of Ho Chi Minh.
And the first time I got on it with him, he was just so confident driving
through these seas of motorbikes and I was on the back, so, so afraid.

, but overall he
was really good. We didn’t get into an accident. So any freak outs that I had
were just, just in the moment.

TARANJIT: Well, that’s good. Nothing happened. I
feel like driving in some countries or just being on the road in countries
outside of north America can be pretty scary.

ERIN: Definitely.

BHAVNEET: And if, Vietnam is anything like India,
I can totally see how crazy that would be, especially to be on

ERIN: definitely similar.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. Not even in a car, you’re on a
motor bike. Oh my God.

ERIN: Yeah, it’s, there’s definitely a lot of
similarities. I would say, actually that Vietnam and India of all the places
we’ve driven were probably the wildest. And we were the most nervous in those
two countries. Although when we drove in India, we drove more in the
countryside. We didn’t have to deal with the big city traffic.

I’m not sure we
could handle that.

BHAVNEET: Yeah, that was crazy intense. But since
you mentioned Vietnam and the craziness of driving. That’s a great segue into
what are your top three craziest driving experiences.

ERIN: the first one I’ll tell you about is
probably the most recent, , it happened when we visited Jordan, which was
actually one of the last places we went to before, , the pandemic started,
which has kept us locked down in Canada for the last year. , we decided we
would road trip the entire country.

, so we flew in
and we rented a car and, , most of the trip was desert driving. , which is one
of my favorite kinds of landscapes to drive through. I just think deserts are
so magical. And so we weren’t nervous at all. We felt like super confident
about driving there. And for the most part, it’s probably easy country to drive
through.

 Most of the trip, no problems, everything went
smoothly. , until finally we were driving one of the last stretches of our trip
from acaba, which is a port city. That’s just on the top tip of the red sea.
And we were driving from there up to the dead sea. And the drive is only
supposed to take about two hours and 45 minutes.

, my partner, like
I said before, likes to speed. And so he was speeding a lot of the way and we
were in the desert. So there weren’t any other cars around, it felt very safe
to view speeding there because , we weren’t really liable for anyone else. It
was just a straight road through the desert flats.

Felt very safe. ,
and we’ve, we’re most of the way through the trip. I think we’d been driving
like an hour and 45 minutes and we were getting really excited because we were
about to reach the Southern part of the dead seas. So it was going to be our
first glimpse of the sea. So exciting. When suddenly my partner looks at me and
says the car shut off.

I looked back at
him and I was like, what do you mean that we’re still moving? And he said, the
gas when I push on the gas pedal, there’s no gas, the car’s off. And he was
right. The car just slowed down and we slowly pulled to the side of the highway
and we just sat there, staring at each other with no idea what had just
happened.

And. This part of
the story, really gives credit to Jordanian people because within minutes, all
of these people had come from a nearby village, , to see what was up. And they
were all trying to help us. And later, like half an hour later, we got to the
point where we had no clue what to do, what was wrong with the car or how we
would fix it.

So we were
flagging people down on the highway and people would stop and come out and try
to help us. Eventually I got on phone with the car company that had rented to
us. And the first thing that guy said to me was were are you guys speeding?

 At first I was like, Hmm, no, I don’t think
so.

And he was like,
okay, I’ll call you back in a few minutes and you hung up on me and he calls
back and says you were speeding. By this much, that’s illegal. So we shut your
car off and he just said, we’ll look into it for you and we’ll let you know
what the next step. so we sat there for about an hour and a half before he
finally called back and said, okay, we’re turning your car back gone. And what
do you know, the car came right back on and we just drove away. Like nothing
had happened, after sitting there for nearly two hours in the middle of the
desert.

 That’s when we learned that you shouldn’t
speed in Jordan, actually, probably in any country that you’re not familiar
with. That was a big lesson to us. We just didn’t realize they had the
technology to , actually see what a speed we were going.

BHAVNEET: Yeah, that’s crazy. I didn’t know that
car companies they can track your speed. Oh my God.

ERIN: Yeah.

BHAVNEET: How terrified, where you went, all of a
sudden your car is just stopping. Like, luckily you were in the desert and
there was no one around you. What if you’re on a highway?

ERIN: That’s what we thought too. It was like,
okay, this would be very unsafe if we were on the highway with a lot of other
traffic where even if we were in the middle of a city and multiple lanes, that
would have been like really difficult to figure out because we had to pull over
to the side, immediately, , I have to say, like, we’re pretty anxious people,
but we were pretty calm in all of that.

I think because so
many people came to help us. We just knew right away that we would figure it
out. and we also took a lot of solace in knowing that it was the middle of the
day. I think if it had been like evening, we probably would have gotten a bit
more nervous about the idea of perhaps having to spend a night on the highway.

 But overall, we were pretty common padded.
Cause we just, we just knew it would get worked out.

TARANJIT: Yeah, I just, when you’re describing
this story, it was just like, wow. I didn’t know that rental companies actually
did monitor. And then when they asked you or you’re like, oh, um, no. And then
they’re like, wait, we got proof.

ERIN: I don’t think they would have the
technology to have the receipts actually we know.

TARANJIT: Okay, so let’s hear your second one.

ERIN: This story takes place in Dubai and the
United Arab Emirates. We were super lucky to be able to stay there for a week
and stay with a friend of ours. She worked for the Emirates airline. She lived
in this beautiful apartment that was in a high rise that I guess the airline
owns. And we had been backpacking in India and she had extended an invite for
us to fly over and just stay for a week.

And we were super
excited to just take that short flight and check out UAE. We got there. And of
course the first thing we set up a car rental and it all seemed super
straightforward. but before we left the car, lot, the guy who rented the car to
us told us, be very, very careful about driving law.

 He told us that there’s cameras all over the
UAE, even where you wouldn’t expect it. And if you do anything wrong, like
don’t make a full stop or. 10 kilometers over speed that you will get a ticket
for it. So, because we had that warning this time, we, we decided, okay, we’re
not going to speed.

We’re going to be
the most careful drivers possible, and driving around. You know, you was super
fun actually, because again, it was a lot of desert driving. There were times
where we would have to slow down and let packs of camels, go across the road,
which was fun to see. And traveling around there by car was fun.

I think a lot of
people just go to Dubai and don’t realize that outside of Dubai, there’s just
so much to see and beautiful nature and ocean. By driving me the opportunity to
really explore all of that, , the one that tough part was that driving in Dubai
is really hard because it is such a developed city with so many highways.

That all interlock
and interconnect and navigating, there was impossible. This is where we had our
worst driving fights because there would be like six lanes and I would say,
okay, the turnoff is coming and he would say, There’s four turnoffs coming in
which lane do I get into? Which turn off is it? And I could never figure it out
because I’d look at the GPS and there would be literally 10 lanes and I’d be
zooming in trying to see.

And it was just so
hard. So we would miss our turnoffs all the time. And then it would put like an
extra 30 minutes, sometimes an hour on the GPS, because we had just missed that
one exit. we had a lot of driving frustration in Dubai and then it all came to
a peak towards the end of our time there, because we were parking in this
parking lot that was connected to the building that our friend lived in.

And for some
reason, The lanes in there were super, super slim. I feel like in America and
Canada, when you’re in a parking lot, the lanes are really wide to make sure,
you have enough space to clear the turn and these lanes were so, so, so, so
slim. And so one day when we were trying to make the turn to go up the ramp to
the second floor of the parking lot, We ended up in a tight spot and we
couldn’t get out and we tried to reverse out.

And what happens
the entire side of the car got scratched on the cement. I don’t know what it
was like, something sticking out of the ground that was cement and it just
scratched this huge long scratch into the side of the car. And you know, when
that happens and you’re backing up and you can just hear it happening, but you
can’t stop because, you know, I still have to back up it’s going to happen regardless.

So it was just
that like horrible moment of knowing, oh no, we’ve scratched the car. We had to
return the car the next day and we go back back to our friend’s apartment and
we sit there catastrophizing, just thinking, what do we do about this car? We
don’t have a lot of money. We were at the end of a very long trip around the
world.

And so we were
pretty too much at the end of our budget. And I remember calling my little
brother. He’s really good with cars and asking him Brian like, how, how do we hide
this? How do we hide this huge scratch in the side of the car? And it was a
black car and my brother says to me, oh, go get a Sharpie and just color it in.
So spoiler alert, we did not do that. Basically what it came down to is we had
to return the car. We had to fess up to, what had happened. And this was
something we learned, which was quite interesting and reflects how seriously
driving is in the UAE. When we went to return the car, they told us we had to
file a police report, reporting what had happened to the vehicle.

And we thought
this was so interesting because in Canada, if you scratch your car, no one
really cares. The only time you would file a police report is if there. A lot
of damage to vehicle or if a person’s, hurt in a car accident. We had to call
the police and they had to come and we had to explain to them what had happened
in this parking lot.

And they wrote out
this whole report and sent it to the car rental place. And in the end, I think
we ended up paying something like $200 for, for the scratch.

TARANJIT: I can imagine when you’re first talking
about using the GPS and like all the different lanes of figuring out how to get
to the exit on top of that, you have that, little warning in the back of your
head of like the strict driving laws and all the video cameras. So you can’t
even, like, in the U S people like cut across lanes when they’re like, oh my
God, my exit.

So you couldn’t do
that there

ERIN: No, definitely not.

BHAVNEET: And I love your brother’s advice.

They’ll never
know. They’ll never know. No, that’s the thing I would do call my brother.
Cause you know, he has a knack for cars too, is just be like, what do I do?

ERIN: Brothers are good for that.

TARANJIT: Just that.

BHAVNEET: you’ve had your car shut off in Jordan.
a police reporting counter because you scratched a car in Dubai. What could be
crazier than that?

ERIN: This is the craziest story, because in
this one, technically neither my partner or I were the driver. but it’s still a
fun one. This one takes place in Hampi, which is a beautiful place in Karnataka
India. We spent a week there and had decided we would spend the first. Bit of
the week in one region and then move to another region of Hampi for the second
half of the week.

we had no car, we
didn’t rent a vehicle for this leg of the trip. so we had just been paying Tuk
Tuk drivers to bring us from place to place. but the way that Hampi is, is that
part of it is actually an island. it’s really difficult to get. One part of
Hampi to the other. you essentially have to drive like an extra hour all the
way around.

so we had figured
this out and realized, oh, okay, we’re going to have to call a Tuk Tuk it’s
going to take long time because tuk-tuks is going to have to drive here and get
us. And then we’ll have to drive all the way back just to get to this other
part of Hampi, which is not actually that far away, we just would have to cross
water to reach it.

 I ended up explaining that as to the host of
the hotel we were staying in and he said to us, Oh, no, don’t, don’t worry.
I’ll drive you. I know shortcut. And we thought, how would you have a shortcut,
like driving there? Isn’t a way we’re on an island. We have to cross water. And
he said, oh, don’t worry.

Don’t worry. Like,
we’ll figure it out. Just, just come with me. And we think, oh, okay. He must
have a car. He’s going to drive us a car or a Tuk Tuk And we grab all our bags.
We go outside the hotel and he pulls out around the corner on a motorbike and
we’re standing there with, we each have a huge pack that we’ve been traveling
out of for eight months each.

And we have a
small pack as well. Plus we’re two humans and he is a third human. And we’re
like, how are we going to fit three people? And two massive bags. On this tiny
motorbike. And we told them, we don’t think this is going to work. And he just
kept saying no, no, no, no, that’s fine. It’ll work. Just watch.

 Basically what he did is he strapped one of
the bags down to the back of the motor bike. Then he caught up on the front and
he sat as close up to the front of this motorbike as he possibly could. And
then my partner got on behind him and just like hugged him. And I caught on, on
the very end and was literally only half on this motorbike, clasping onto my
partners thinking, oh my gosh, I don’t know what’s going to happen.

And then the guy
calls his wife and she comes over and picks up the final bag and puts it on my
back. So there’s three people, plus the pack hanging off person, number three,
who’s me. Plus the pack. That’s strapped to the back of a motor bike. And I
wish I had a photo of this because it must’ve been such a spectacle seeing this
many people and this much luggage on the small motor bike.

It’s funny though,
because I think in some countries like in India and Vietnam and Thailand,
that’s actually not that abnormal people manage to transport a lot of things on
a small motorbike. but if you’re from north America, it’s still, it’s still
pretty surprising to see you or how people actually manage to pull it off.

and he ended up
driving us to the ferry. And we were able to hop on the ferry and crossover to
the other side of Hampi really easily.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. How many times were you thinking,
oh my God, I’m going to fall off. Oh my God.

ERIN: the entire way.

TARANJIT: I know you were talking about renting
cars in other countries. Is it typically a manual or automatic and which do you
prefer or have you driven both?

ERIN: We’ve done both. , although I’m pretty
comfortable driving automatic. I don’t have a lot of experience driving manual.
, but my partner does, he actually had a manual car here in Canada for years
and he loves driving manual. So whenever we’ve the option to rent a manual
vehicle, he always gets it. , in Jordan, they only gave tourists automatic, but
then when we went to Italy and rented a car there, we had to take, , What’s it
called shift.

We call it the
shift car. Yeah. , so we had to take that style in Italy. And I actually
noticed in Europe, cause I have family in the Netherlands as well. That
automatic is super uncommon there. So if you decide to rent a car there, you’ll
probably get to non-automatic.

TARANJIT: I do have a question because you have
driven so many rentals and then you did have that instance of a scratch. What
do you recommend for someone who is looking into renting a car? Is there like
certain insurance or anything that you would recommend to get in order to
protect yourself? If something like this were to have.

ERIN: Definitely. , we have since learned that
was actually one of our first times renting a car in a foreign country. , so we
weren’t super clear on how insurance worked and we didn’t realize that if we
had used a different credit card, We would have had coverage from that credit
card company. , but it all depends on what the credit card is.

So I have a really
good travel credit card, which gives really, really good insurance. So now when
we rent a car abroad, we always use mine because it has better coverage. , but
I would say insurance is a must. If you can get it for free through your credit
card, do that. If you travel a lot and we rent vehicles a lot, it’s worth it to
look for a credit card that gives you really good auto insurance.

otherwise you can
always purchase insurance through the rental company, which is a must do,
because if we had ended up with damage worse than a scratch, I think the costs
would have been really suffocating.

TARANJIT: Yeah. So out of all the places that you
have driven or been a passenger, have you noticed that there are certain types
of drivers in those certain areas? For example, here in Maryland, we noticed
that a lot of drivers don’t like to use their indicator. So that’s like a thing
here. Have you noticed certain driving types in different areas?

You.

ERIN: Yes, definitely. I would say in
Southeast Asia, we noticed. That’s the way that you approach driving is
different. So like you were just saying here in north America, you would always
use an indicator to tell the person behind you, which direction you’re about to
go. We noticed that in Southeast Asia, it’s more.

Yeah. You don’t
always signal. You just assume that the person behind you is paying enough
attention to avoid crashing into you. And so every driver is responsible for
whatever’s in front of them, and you’re not responsible for what’s behind you.
And somehow the system works because we would be driving on a road, surrounded
by motorbikes, but as long as you focused on.

What was in front
of you? It was okay. . We noticed in India, for sure people honk their horns a
lot. I even asked a friend of mine who’s from India. I asked him, why do people
honk their horns so much?

And he couldn’t
give me an answer. He said, I don’t know. People just we’re just taught to
drive that way. So I always found that so funny because anytime we were in a
city, it was just like constant honking.

TARANJIT: Which country did you find it the
hardest to drive in? And which did you find it? The easiest.

ERIN: I would say the hardest is probably it’s
a tie between Vietnam and India, but I’m going to say Vietnam because we drove
there more and the easiest,

probably my home
country, Canada, honestly.

TARANJIT: because there’s, you know, rules and
people follow them.

ERIN: Exactly.

TARANJIT: Now that we’ve heard some of your crazy
driving stories, let’s dive a little deeper into you as a driver. How would you
describe yourself as a driver? And do you think your family and friends would
agree?

ERIN: I would say right now, I’m definitely a
rookie driver, but. I’m a cautious and a good driver, probably because I had
that initial experience when I was younger. , so I know the ropes already
pretty well.

And I would say
that I’m cautious, but I do also like to speed in situations where I feel that
it’s safe. But I will only speed if there’s no one else around and the road is
completely straight.

BHAVNEET: And not in the Jordan desert.

ERIN: Yes.

BHAVNEET: Would you say that your family and
friends would agree with that?

ERIN: Yeah. I would actually like not to toot
my own horn, but my dad always said that I was really good driver, but I think
that’s probably cause he compared my driving to my brothers and my brother’s a
little more reckless.

TARANJIT: Yeah, I feel like that would be the same
in our family. I feel like boys in general just are a little more right now. I
guess. I just like to test out the car more than I feel like girls do.

ERIN: Yeah,

absolutely.

BHAVNEET: Well, speaking of type of driving, would
you consider yourself someone who honks or , would you consider yourself a
honker?

ERIN: No, definitely not. I’m very passive. I
will never like get upset with another driver. I’m more likely to, just to like
slow down and let them do their thing and move on. , I’m like as opposite of
red rage as possible, I don’t think I’ve ever even honked the horn maybe once
or twice, but I can’t, I can’t even remember the last time I would have.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. In those same way. I, for the
longest time, I’d never even touched my horn. I’m like, what does this even
sound like? I just want to hear it. And then one time I had to use it. I’m
like, oh, that’s my horn. Wow. I did it bucket list.

ERIN: I should test it out. Next time I get in
the car.

TARANJIT: I feel like I have a hard time when I
had to do it, use it once or twice. Pushing it hard enough to make him make a
sound.

ERIN: Wow. In what situations have you
actually used it?

TARANJIT: Usually it’s at red lights when people
don’t pay attention and the light turns green and you’re like, okay, come on.
But one time, somebody just pulled out in front of me when I was coming really
fast and it could have ended really bad if I didn’t slam on the brakes. Yeah,
well, only time, only time I’ve used.

BHAVNEET: My horn is somewhat well. So this was a
phase where I’m like, okay, I’m going to use my horn. The next time someone
does something that they deserve for them to be honked. So this person almost
like went into my lane and into me without even looking. So then I was like,
yeah, you’re getting a horn. I felt very proud of myself because I never use
it.

So I was like, you
deserve that.

TARANJIT: speaking of honking and other drivers,
what would you say is your biggest driving pet peeve

ERIN: Oh, it’s so easy. Aggressive drivers.
They really bother me. I just don’t understand why like driving aggressively is
not getting you to where you need to go any faster. Annoying people. And I
find, especially like now, because I’m a newer driver for the second time, I
find it really intimidating and it throws me off, especially when I first got
my G1 , people that would aggressively come up behind you or cut you off.

 There’s no point to it. And it just creates
tension. I would say that’s like hands down, my biggest pet peeve.

TARANJIT: Yeah, and that, and I feel like they’re
only harming their own health and like raising their blood pressure and like
being reckless.

ERIN: Yeah, exactly.

BHAVNEET: Well, I know you mentioned that you
don’t get road rage, but have you ever been a situation where you’ve
experienced road rage? Or someone having road rage towards you.

ERIN: I haven’t experienced it firsthand
because , I’m just not the type of person who would ever end up in that
situation. And neither is my partner, honestly. , but I’ve actually seen it
happening and it was quite scary. We saw this, , truck, it was driving down
along alongside us in the city of Windsor, which is near Detroit, but still
Canada.

And, , it was like
a long stretch of industrial road and this truck cut off a motorcyclist. And I
think like initially it was an accident, but the motorcyclist got really angry
and he pulled off the road for a minute. Probably two minutes later, he came
speeding up behind us and came up alongside the truck.

And the guy rolled
down his window and they were screaming at each other and their arms were going
like this. And they were swerving all over the road and we thought they were
going to either crash into each other or cause a collision or pull over and
fight physically. It was pretty scary until finally the motorcyclist I think,
decided to back out and he drove away.

TARANJIT: Oh, my gosh, I I’m glad that it wasn’t
you who was getting the road rage towards you, but that’s still seeing it
happen right near you. It also makes you worry. Like, are they going to come
towards me?

ERIN: Yeah. Yeah. We were like, we don’t want
him to be involved at all, so let’s just slow down and stay as far away as
possible.

TARANJIT: You don’t know what’s going on. We’re
not part of this.

ERIN: Exactly.

TARANJIT: I know you mentioned that, that you,
this is your second time, your second, first time learning to drive. how would
you describe both of your first time experiences?

ERIN: The first time I learned drive, I felt
very confident I was excited and. I don’t know, my brother taught me, which was
fun. It was just very lighthearted. The second time I have felt much more
nervous. So I’ve found like I have to deal with anxiety more with driving
again, second time around, but I’ve been driving now the second time for about
a year.

And I think just
now it started to like relieve itself a little bit. I feel much more confident
driving again, but it’s interesting how, like the age difference I’m pretty
sure is what made me feel like. it just must be like, you know, when you’re
young and you think you’re invincible, I definitely had that feeling. The first
time I started driving. Whereas this time I’m old enough to know how bad it can
go. So I feel much more anxiety about it.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. I definitely agree when you’re
younger, you’re all like, oh, nothing can go wrong. It’s all great. I’m free my
license, but then as you start driving or the older you get, you’re like, oh
no, this is serious business.

ERIN: Yeah,

BHAVNEET: a lot could go wrong.

ERIN: absolutely.

BHAVNEET: , how would you describe your driving
test experience?

Well, well, I
mean, you haven’t had it yet. I have you for the second one.

ERIN: I had it the first time and I did really
well. It went super well. I parallel parked like a champ.

BHAVNEET: Hello?

ERIN: see. You got the second drive though.

BHAVNEET: Yeah. And you had to parallel park on
your driving test.

ERIN: Yes.

TARANJIT: Is that something that is still on most
Canadian driving test? Or was it just in your area? Because in the us here, I
feel like a lot of tests have either not had it or have started to remove it
from the test.

ERIN: Really that’s so interesting. You do,
you still have to parallel park. At least across Ontario. , and for most
people, that’s the toughest part of the test. That’s what makes people the most
nervous, cause like it’s hard to do and they make you do it for your G2 test,
which is the second phase of your licensing. , so for that test, you really
just like drive around a neighborhood, go through a couple lights and then
parallel park. And then for the G test, it’s a highway test. So they bring you
onto the highway.

but yeah, parallel
parking is always the thing everyone’s the most worried about with their
driving.

TARANJIT: Oh, that’s interesting that you actually
take a driver’s test on the road twice for your different levels. I didn’t know
that.

ERIN: It’s not like that in the states.

TARANJIT: No, we, you get your, you take the
written test where you get your permit and then you have to drive for X number
of months before you can go for the, on the road test. And then you just take
the on the road test, which is like everything included.

Well, it used to
be parallel parking, but then like forward parking, reverse parking. And then
like on the road test all in one.

ERIN: Oh, that’s so interesting. Cause we in
total take three tests. Cause we do written tests for the initial permit and
then two driving tests.

BHAVNEET: Wow. So they really want to make sure
that you know how to drive,

ERIN: Apparently, apparently I should come to
the U S to get my driver’s license and just transfer it the easier.

TARANJIT: which would you prefer? But I answered
it.

ERIN: Yeah.

BHAVNEET: I mean, you’re close enough, right? So
possible. So with the future of cars possibly changing and what the idea of the
potential of self-driving cars coming, maybe not really soon, but in the
future. What are your thoughts on this? And would you ever get in a car?

ERIN: Mm. Okay. That’s a tough one. I’m
generally pretty open to new technology. So I could definitely see myself
getting in one. I think though that I wouldn’t ever become like a whole
convert, like, oh, I only take my self driving car places because I enjoy
driving. So, I don’t know that I would use that function all the time.

I’m assuming that
like, these cars of the future will have both, you can drive yourself and then
other times you can self-drive. I think I’d like to use a mixture. , but it’d
be fun to see it. Like, I think technology like that is so exciting. So. I
definitely look forward to it. And I also think it’ll be really awesome in some
situations, like say you need to drive somewhere overnight and you want to nap,
then you can still be moving, but also sleeping.

It’s perfect.

TARANJIT: I guess it would also be helpful if you
want to derive in another country. Don’t a hundred percent feel comfortable
driving so you can like half depend on the car and half depend on yourself.

ERIN: That’s so true. That’s such a good
point.

TARANJIT: bonus question. Are you ready?

ERIN: Yes,

BHAVNEET: If you can make one new driving wall,
what would it be?

ERIN: you’re not allowed. Okay. I don’t know
what this is called, but you know, when people make their cars sound really
loud, like their engine, I would make that illegal.

TARANJIT: I feel like someone else has said
something like then a past season episode of which, and I think they were also
from Canada. So.

ERIN: It must be. I don’t know. I think it’s
the pandemic too. Like, people have been so bored that a lot of people have
taken to just jacking up their cars. And so we always hear it all the time,
people that just have these super obnoxiously loud engines and I don’t know,
they probably like it, but I find it really annoying.

BHAVNEET: Yeah, no, I agree. It’s like, you can
just hear them like a mile or two away and you’re like, oh my God, here comes
another one.

Yeah.

TARANJIT: We also live on a pretty main road,
which I’m surprised when no car has driven by during this, but usually you can
hear the really obnoxious really loud.

ERIN: Whoa.

TARANJIT: before we let you go, I know you have a
podcast of your own , where can listeners find it if they want to listen.

ERIN: I’m the host of a podcast called alpaca,
my bags, and it is a travel podcast. , but it focuses on responsible travel
topics. So every episode I interview. Someone from the travel space about a
responsible travel related topic. So for example, we’ve covered things like
dark tourism and over tourism, , how to travel authentically and other similar
topics.

So if you’re
interested in listening, you can go to alpaca, my bags, dot CA, and you can
find us on any podcast app,

BHAVNEET: well, thank you so much for joining us
today. You’re listening to your crazy driving stories and I need the speed in
other countries.

ERIN: thanks for having me. This was really
fun.

 (transition music)

 

TARANJIT: I learned quite a lot from her about renting cars and other countries, and especially the importance of having insurance. I personally could not imagine what I would do if our rental car just stopped in the middle of the desert.

Like, how would you react to that?

BHAVNEET: And I feel like you’re driving like full speed on a highway. And then all of a sudden you’re just like, I’m losing, I’m losing gas. Like. It is so lucky that there was nobody around. I like imagine being on a highly trafficked road and you’re doing this. And then all of a sudden, you’re just like, you start slowing down.

Like, please let me over. Excuse me,

TARANJIT: excuse me. I wonder what they, I don’t know how busy it gets over there. And if you were to speed and your car just shut off. Oh, I know this is like more close to people who live in Maryland or have been on this area. Know, like, imagine you were on 6 95 and your car just shuts off.

BHAVNEET: Uh, I feel like, okay, so if they can track your speed, they could probably also be like, okay, this is where they are. It’s safe for us to turn off their car. Like, I would hope that if they’re like, oh wait, but they’re in this heavy. Like heavily trafficked road. There’s traffic around. We’re not going to shut off their car at this moment.

Once they turn onto a side road, we’ll shut it off.

TARANJIT: Is this something that’s controlled, like at a headquarters or whatever, or something like put in the car where it automatically detects? Oh, they’re over the speeding and shut it off.

BHAVNEET: Yeah, that’d be so scary though. Like, I think they were in the desert where there’s no one around.

TARANJIT: Yeah, I agree.

BHAVNEET: Well, that was Aaron. We hope you enjoyed hearing her driving stories and be sure to stay tuned until the end of this episode, to hear a sneak peek from next week’s episode with driver Scott guardian,

TARANJIT: who shares with us about the disastrous, but fun ride he had during the Mongolia.

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

(outro music)

 

SCOTT: it was called the Mongol Rally and it’s, it’s an annual event that takes place to raise money for charity where there’s like a few hundred teams each year that drive starting in the uK and they end, nowadays it’s ulan-ude, Siberia. It’s just north of Mongolia.

And you choose your own ride in between. So there’s no winners or losers. The goal is just kind of to get to the end without breaking down too badly.. And the main rule of the event is that there’s, there’s not a lot of rules of the event, but one of the rules is that they make you take a tiny car, a car that’s kind of totally not suitable for a journey of this sort.

So they actually limit the engine size. And we ended up taking a Nissan Micra, which is like a little tiny, hatchback. Basically, someone described it as like a middle aged woman going to get her groceries in central London or something.

It’s not like a car you take over mountains and through deserts and everything like we did.