I smiled all through reading this 🐻, when I should really have been nose to the grindstone sorting out my mother’s flat. Whilst I was working I had to do a lot of travelling over the years, we had offices in the north west, the north east, the midlands and of course London. I loved driving it when I was younger, but as I reached my mid fifties it got harder to do and I took the train much more. Now I’m retired and in my mid sixties I’ve taken to doing the long drives again to visit family and friends… and I don’t really enjoy it, but it’s convenient to drive so I do it. I used to blast out music and sing my heart out, now I mostly listen to books on audible that aren’t too taxing whilst driving. But your beautifully written piece took me right back to those days when I enjoyed driving, and did a lot of it. Thank you for a very welcome break from my labours on a hot day ❤️
Good for you. I had that conversation recently — how and why did without-a-second-thought responses of our thirties become angst-ridden, ‘yeah maybe another time’? My view was life experience making us more aware of risks and outcomes and, yes, being more fragile and possibly less able to handle anything that goes wrong. But go out there and do it anyway is the only answer!
That's sad, but not inevitable and you may find as you get even older (I'm now 66) you find it will come back, and in fact there's "this is not a rehearsal so hell, yes! Let's do it!" spirit in place among my friends as well.
I think maybe the older you get, the more risk averse regarding doing certain things. I’ve been driving for 47 years and did long trips in the days before mobile phones and Sat Navs. Now, I think twice before driving anywhere other than locally.
However, after a major life change my friend told me that she thought I was brave because I, ‘faced my fears and did it and got on with living my life.’ Now in my 60s, I do things that I would never have considered doing such as solo holidays. Stepping outside your comfort zone is scary. I’m glad you did it and it worked out great.
I was a student in Manchester in the late 70s. After reading your post, I think I should go back for a visit.
This post reads as if I had written it! Been there, and slowly crawling out into the open. It is the overthinking that trips me up again and again, which is silly considering what I did in my youth. :)
We headed to Manchester last year for a trip to see Ian McKellan on stage, and liked the place so much that we keep looking for excuses to go back. Last month it was an exhibition we wanted to see. We could have gone there and back easily in the day but instead we decided to make an overnight stay of it. Love the place! Glad I'm not the only fan of the place.
Sounds like a smashing weekend. I know how you feel, I used to feel the same way, until my husband died and I had to drive myself. The M1 and M6 became a regular weekend route as I used to go up to Liverpool and spend lots of weekends there visiting cousins. I love Liverpool, another friendly city where people talk to you and make you feel welcome. Another very interesting city with different quarters. It's a few years since I've driven in or around London, it's a bit too busy for me to feel confident in driving round these days (I don't doubt my own driving abilities, just others) so it's now public transport when I go. Enjoy the challenge, argue with the SatNav and always make sure you have a paper map somewhere in the boot in case the SatNav has a benny.
I lived in the NW and studied/worked at Manchester Uni. It really is a lovely and welcoming city.
I'm going well out of my comfort zone tomorrow - singing for a traditional Breton dance (fest diez) on Fête Nationale day. Feels a bit imposter syndrome, but we are with a nother couple who really ARE Breton... 🤞🤞🤞
I should have gone to the Byline Festival but it was my sister’s 80th birthday. Hopefully next time.
If ever you want to stop for a break whilst travelling on the M1 give a shout. We are just off junction 23. That is if you fancy a beer and a chat with the hoi polloi 😍
Good to read your praise of my birthplace…as a resident of France, my last visit was 14 years ago! Amazing how it had changed even then since my days of living there. Reading about your recent visit, I doubt that I would even recognise it now; however, your story reveals the enduring warmth of Mancunian life, which makes it a special & unique UK city.
I would politely take issue with your assertion that "the M1 and M6 remain strong contenders for “most boring stretch of grey in the UK”".
You clearly have not driven the M11 from the M25 to Cambridge. Now -that- is a bit of road which has quite literally sent me to sleep at the wheel before. Fortunately my husband (then boyfriend) was able to guide the car to the hard shoulder, wake me up and suggest he drove the rest of the way home.
Hey Bear, congratulations on solo motorway driving I totally get where you're coming from. I learned to drive in my 40s and have never driven on a motorway since passing my test (which took me 4 attempts and was 22 years ago!) Maybe I will give it a go now....🤗
My son lives in Manchester and I love visiting the city. The John Rylands library is the most fascinating and inspiring of places. Worth a visit next time you are there.
Well done you 👏! As a non driver by choice ( tried to learn 3 different times with 3 different people. Hated it. Stopped and never looked back!) I admire the courage it must take to drive. I am so glad my darling husband is a feisty Scot who isn't afraid of anything, whose language when driving is navy blue, and whose sense of direction is incredible.( I get lost in the ladies loo in Tesco. I can find my way in but not out again. I've walked into cleaning cupboards in a vain attempt to find the right door, and have often had to ask for directions!) So I'm suitably impressed by your wonderful feat.
Manchester - well it's "oop north" isn't it? As a born and bred Scouser I know how warm, caring and friendly the majority of northerners are. I miss that now because we live in the south West and it's just not the same vibe. Thanks so much for making people aware that oop north we don't eat "bloody southerners" for breakfast ( except on very rare occasions.) Im so glad you enjoyed Manchester. Sending you loads of love and Scouse hugs dear Bear ❤️🫂🐻 xxxxxx
We went to Manchester recently for a wedding, and I really wouldn't have liked to be the one driving...
Seems to me that Manchester has a completely different vibe from London - busy but not as relentless. And the architecture is interesting, I would like to ho back at some point and have a better look.
When you are in your twenties you are immortal; in your thirties you are still immortal, but a small corner of your mind starts having doubts: from forty onwards you know that you are as fragile as anyone else.
So you plan better and do it anyway.😁
No pudding for us, but I have made a rather nice pasta bake for tonight.
My grown-up children have lived way up North (as far as Glasgow) from my home in the East Midlands, so the long drives are part of life. I find motorways boring, but the destinations and people are brilliant.
I did the same at the start of June - I drove down to London and stayed overnight. I was all kinds of worried about doing a journey that I’d done many times over the years. But do you know what? I was fine and it was a fabulous trip, which I am repeating in October.
I would like to add that the M40 is more tedious than the M6.
Next time, come to Birmingham - it’s a wonderful city, with a great vibe. Sure, it has its problems, but it has a huge amount of culture and history to offer to those who visit the place. It’s been my home on and off for more than 50 years, and I’ve seen it grow and change for the better. The people are fab, too.
I smiled all through reading this 🐻, when I should really have been nose to the grindstone sorting out my mother’s flat. Whilst I was working I had to do a lot of travelling over the years, we had offices in the north west, the north east, the midlands and of course London. I loved driving it when I was younger, but as I reached my mid fifties it got harder to do and I took the train much more. Now I’m retired and in my mid sixties I’ve taken to doing the long drives again to visit family and friends… and I don’t really enjoy it, but it’s convenient to drive so I do it. I used to blast out music and sing my heart out, now I mostly listen to books on audible that aren’t too taxing whilst driving. But your beautifully written piece took me right back to those days when I enjoyed driving, and did a lot of it. Thank you for a very welcome break from my labours on a hot day ❤️
Good for you. I had that conversation recently — how and why did without-a-second-thought responses of our thirties become angst-ridden, ‘yeah maybe another time’? My view was life experience making us more aware of risks and outcomes and, yes, being more fragile and possibly less able to handle anything that goes wrong. But go out there and do it anyway is the only answer!
That's sad, but not inevitable and you may find as you get even older (I'm now 66) you find it will come back, and in fact there's "this is not a rehearsal so hell, yes! Let's do it!" spirit in place among my friends as well.
I think maybe the older you get, the more risk averse regarding doing certain things. I’ve been driving for 47 years and did long trips in the days before mobile phones and Sat Navs. Now, I think twice before driving anywhere other than locally.
However, after a major life change my friend told me that she thought I was brave because I, ‘faced my fears and did it and got on with living my life.’ Now in my 60s, I do things that I would never have considered doing such as solo holidays. Stepping outside your comfort zone is scary. I’m glad you did it and it worked out great.
I was a student in Manchester in the late 70s. After reading your post, I think I should go back for a visit.
This post reads as if I had written it! Been there, and slowly crawling out into the open. It is the overthinking that trips me up again and again, which is silly considering what I did in my youth. :)
We headed to Manchester last year for a trip to see Ian McKellan on stage, and liked the place so much that we keep looking for excuses to go back. Last month it was an exhibition we wanted to see. We could have gone there and back easily in the day but instead we decided to make an overnight stay of it. Love the place! Glad I'm not the only fan of the place.
Sounds like a smashing weekend. I know how you feel, I used to feel the same way, until my husband died and I had to drive myself. The M1 and M6 became a regular weekend route as I used to go up to Liverpool and spend lots of weekends there visiting cousins. I love Liverpool, another friendly city where people talk to you and make you feel welcome. Another very interesting city with different quarters. It's a few years since I've driven in or around London, it's a bit too busy for me to feel confident in driving round these days (I don't doubt my own driving abilities, just others) so it's now public transport when I go. Enjoy the challenge, argue with the SatNav and always make sure you have a paper map somewhere in the boot in case the SatNav has a benny.
Nice one Bear!
I lived in the NW and studied/worked at Manchester Uni. It really is a lovely and welcoming city.
I'm going well out of my comfort zone tomorrow - singing for a traditional Breton dance (fest diez) on Fête Nationale day. Feels a bit imposter syndrome, but we are with a nother couple who really ARE Breton... 🤞🤞🤞
I should have gone to the Byline Festival but it was my sister’s 80th birthday. Hopefully next time.
If ever you want to stop for a break whilst travelling on the M1 give a shout. We are just off junction 23. That is if you fancy a beer and a chat with the hoi polloi 😍
…and a comfortable bed!
Good to read your praise of my birthplace…as a resident of France, my last visit was 14 years ago! Amazing how it had changed even then since my days of living there. Reading about your recent visit, I doubt that I would even recognise it now; however, your story reveals the enduring warmth of Mancunian life, which makes it a special & unique UK city.
I would politely take issue with your assertion that "the M1 and M6 remain strong contenders for “most boring stretch of grey in the UK”".
You clearly have not driven the M11 from the M25 to Cambridge. Now -that- is a bit of road which has quite literally sent me to sleep at the wheel before. Fortunately my husband (then boyfriend) was able to guide the car to the hard shoulder, wake me up and suggest he drove the rest of the way home.
Hey Bear, congratulations on solo motorway driving I totally get where you're coming from. I learned to drive in my 40s and have never driven on a motorway since passing my test (which took me 4 attempts and was 22 years ago!) Maybe I will give it a go now....🤗
I can relate to all of that.
My son lives in Manchester and I love visiting the city. The John Rylands library is the most fascinating and inspiring of places. Worth a visit next time you are there.
https://www.google.com/search?q=library+in+Manchester&rlz=1C9BKJA_enGB603GB603&oq=library+in+Manchester&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyCQgAEEUYORiABDIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIICAQQABgWGB4yCAgFEAAYFhgeMggIBhAAGBYYHjIICAcQABgWGB4yCAgIEAAYFhgeMggICRAAGBYYHtIBCTEyOTUyajBqN6gCE7ACAeIDBBgBIF_xBZKKAjWOfHSV&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#vhid=/m/02f0q_&vssid=lcl
Well done you 👏! As a non driver by choice ( tried to learn 3 different times with 3 different people. Hated it. Stopped and never looked back!) I admire the courage it must take to drive. I am so glad my darling husband is a feisty Scot who isn't afraid of anything, whose language when driving is navy blue, and whose sense of direction is incredible.( I get lost in the ladies loo in Tesco. I can find my way in but not out again. I've walked into cleaning cupboards in a vain attempt to find the right door, and have often had to ask for directions!) So I'm suitably impressed by your wonderful feat.
Manchester - well it's "oop north" isn't it? As a born and bred Scouser I know how warm, caring and friendly the majority of northerners are. I miss that now because we live in the south West and it's just not the same vibe. Thanks so much for making people aware that oop north we don't eat "bloody southerners" for breakfast ( except on very rare occasions.) Im so glad you enjoyed Manchester. Sending you loads of love and Scouse hugs dear Bear ❤️🫂🐻 xxxxxx
Well done, that Bear!
We went to Manchester recently for a wedding, and I really wouldn't have liked to be the one driving...
Seems to me that Manchester has a completely different vibe from London - busy but not as relentless. And the architecture is interesting, I would like to ho back at some point and have a better look.
When you are in your twenties you are immortal; in your thirties you are still immortal, but a small corner of your mind starts having doubts: from forty onwards you know that you are as fragile as anyone else.
So you plan better and do it anyway.😁
No pudding for us, but I have made a rather nice pasta bake for tonight.
My grown-up children have lived way up North (as far as Glasgow) from my home in the East Midlands, so the long drives are part of life. I find motorways boring, but the destinations and people are brilliant.
I did the same at the start of June - I drove down to London and stayed overnight. I was all kinds of worried about doing a journey that I’d done many times over the years. But do you know what? I was fine and it was a fabulous trip, which I am repeating in October.
I would like to add that the M40 is more tedious than the M6.
Next time, come to Birmingham - it’s a wonderful city, with a great vibe. Sure, it has its problems, but it has a huge amount of culture and history to offer to those who visit the place. It’s been my home on and off for more than 50 years, and I’ve seen it grow and change for the better. The people are fab, too.