- Driving in a Foreign Country. If you plan to drive in Europe or any foreign country (for those readers in the US) having an International Drivers Permit may be required along with your valid US license. The International Drivers Permit is often misidentified as an International Drivers License. Your regular drivers license will do in some countries and not in others. Check the tourist board of each country you plan to drive in to know the requirements to drive in a specific country.
- Renting a car abroad works the same in as it does in the US, but British speaking countries may call it a ¨Car Hire¨ rather than a ¨Rental Car¨.
- Driving on the left side of the road and right side of the car. Driving the car, in Ireland, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Africa means driving on the left hand side of the road. Some car companies put a sticker on the car´s dashboard that reads ¨Left Alive, Dead Right.¨ reminding drivers to keep left. Countries where driving on the left-hand side is common, will offer cars with a manual transmission as the majority of choices. If you are not accustomed to driving a vehicle with a manual transmission, now is not the time to learn. You may have to pay extra for an automatic transmission, but it will be worth avoiding a potential accident brought on by not knowing how to shift gears. If you do know how to drive a manually operated gear shifting car, from all accounts, the adjustment to the gear shift being situated on your left rather than on your right as you are accustomed to, is an easy one.
- Go left, then left again. As a left-handed person, this felt natural to me. Still, I was too chicken to try driving. So, I bought a bike in Ireland. The rules are the same and it was good practice to orient myself to staying on the left-hand side of the road, adjusting to being in the left lane, without the added adjustment of the steering wheel of a car being located on the right-hand side. Traffic circles can be unfamiliar to many American travelers. Same deal-stay left. Visualize driving the circle before you come to it. See yourself staying in the left lane.
- Walking and Safety Reflective Vests in Ireland. Whether you are strolling the cobble-stoned sidewalks of town, or riding your bicycle with traffic to the Gap of Dunloe, an orange safety reflective vest, also referred to as a high visibility (or “high vis vest” as they may be referred to in Ireland) is highly recommended. I noticed most pedestrians wear them whenever they are walking or riding their bike, both in cities and in the countryside. Of course these vests are worn in many countries, but the combination of the popularity of; walking, hiking, or “Hill-walking” (as it´s referred to on the Emerald Isle), very narrow and winding roads with a blind curve every few miles, makes the orange safety reflective vest a must have.
- Street Signs in European cities. Be aware that the street signs may be on the buildings rather than on corner street signposts. Some major intersections will have sign posts directing tourists to main attractions, but for the most part, street corners are kept free of sign posts. With very large city blocks in most ancient cities, you will need to walk in a few steps in order to read the street name on the building.
- Google Maps. Walking with Google maps. In Oslo, due to the huge influx of cash from the oil and gas industry, the construction is occurring at such a rapid rate that Google maps may be out of date and you may find yourself walking into the parking lot of a newly erected building that isn´t even on the map yet. I found myself in a parking lot where something else used to be. ****Pro Tip: In Barcelona, general direction is made easy by the layout of the natural landscape. The mountains are North, the Sea is South.
- Prep Walks. When you are in an unfamiliar city and you must keep an appointment, such as taking a PCR test 72 before boarding an airplane, and you plan to save cab fare by walking, you may want to do a prep walk beforehand in case Google runs you into a pond or, as in the case of many ancient cities, a street may begin and run for a few blocks, then another street name temporarily takes over for a block or two only to be resumed just a block down. I usually discover something fun to take photos of for Instagram on these discovery Prep Walks.
- Hitchhiking. Hitchhiking is still practiced in some parts of Europe. Well-traveled routes such as Killarney to Kenmare in County Kerry, Ireland may see hitchhikers due to sometimes sparse bus service. Locals do it frequently but they know most of the folks who might pick them up. It is generally safe, but caution is always advised no matter where you attempt to hitch a ride.
- Personal experiences with hitchhiking: I once got a ride from a van full of painters. I was riding my bike from Dundalk to Ravensdale in county Louth, Ireland. It would have been a fairly easy 35 minute ride but I was already exhausted from having hauled my bike on the bus from Dublin (an all day affair) and still had a ways to go. They picked up me and my bike and delivered me safely to a point much closer to my destination. Aware of the potential risk, I held my bike as a shield of protection. I tried to pay them for gas but they wouldn´t accept it. We ¨”yucked it up” the entire way and enjoyed the cultural exchange.
- Another time also in Ravensdale, I´d walked to the nearest gas station/grocery to catch the bus to the nearest mall. An elderly couple paying for their groceries heard me asking about the next bus, having missed the one I needed. They gave me a ride to the nearby mall in Dundalk. They were so kind and I felt totally safe.
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope these tips help you on your next trip, solo or with a loved one, Subscribe to my email list and write me your tips for walking and driving abroad.