Is Driving & Owning A Car the Worst Thing About Living In Devon?

Ah Devon. Beautiful rolling hills, beaches, moorland, quaint towns. If only you didn’t have to drive to get to them. But wait… What’s wrong with driving? I hear (someone) ask. Cars give you freedom to come and go as you please, you can explore and enjoy at your leisure with a car. Who wants to sit on public transport anyway?

Well, actually, I do.

Has anyone noticed that driving is… Well… It’s boring. Like really boring.

First of all you have to actually drive. In traffic. With other people being really shit drivers. Which let’s be honest, about 98% of other drivers are.

And the funny thing about driving is that people who you wouldn’t normally think of as angry people get the absolute FOAMING RAGE when they’re in a car. I know a guy who is super mild mannered, but see him on his commute and he is literally a ball of seething hatred the whole way. It’s just not natural.

In fact normal people getting road rage is a thing, apparently.

Devon is lovely. Those thin country roads and high hedges are… Well. They’re not made for modern traffic thats for sure.

And as for those Devon beauty spots, such as ANY BEACH or even popular moorland spots. Well, they’re not so beautiful when you’re trying to find a parking spot so you can go an enjoy them, accumulating scratches and dents on your pristine £20,000 (or more probably) bodywork.

Full disclosure, my car cost £1500 so you can key it if you like and I will give zero shits. This also means I don’t care about parking up against a stone wall on Dartmoor. The damage is like one of those patches hikers get on their rucksack when they go travelling.

Yup, this score on the rear panels is from when I had to reverse into a hedge coming back from Bigbury on Sea. Lovely day out that.

Moving to Devon does mean giving up the joys of public transport and the freedom to not own a car. I miss living in a city where I can easily hire an electric scooter for pennies a minute. And I do lament the fact that you can’t get anywhere worth going without having your own four wheels.

Oh… And finding a parking space in town?

I’ll leave that there.

Yes, there are downsides to everywhere. And where car ownership might be an irritant that comes with an otherwise decent lifestyle, it seems to be one that people don’t quite appreciate.

Basically we need wider roads and more parking in all these lovely beauty spots. You know, like Joni Mitchell said…

“If you find paradise, put up a parking lot”. Amen sister.