Road Trip - Day 8 - the final day

I left Lacock and returned to Bath, getting completely lost in Bath when I tried to find the car rental agency. They didn't have a specific address, just a street name. Well, I didn't get completely lost. I have a decent sense of direction so I mainly knew where I was, but the car rental place wasn't showing up where I thought it was supposed to be. Very weird. I eventually found a landmark that made sense and quickly found my way. The crazy thing is, after driving for five days in villages, towns, cities, and six-lane highways, I rarely had any close calls, but during the last 10 minutes in Bath, I was ridiculously close to getting smacked up several times. Probably didn't help that I was distracted by being lost. I decided that I don't like driving in that city.

My road trip covered 668 miles/1,075 kilometres of driving. You can view the route by clicking the GoogleMaps link on the sidebar of this blog.

Driving in England
It's pretty difficult to describe what it's like to drive here. Some parts of the driving make a lot of sense and I wish we would import the methods to Canada. I have yet to get used to other parts of driving here and I'm not sure I ever will. The proximity of buildings to the edges of the roads makes me feel like I should drive those sections with my eyes closed and just hope for the best. There were so many times that I cringed and braced myself as my mind yelled, "No, no, no!" ...but nothing horrendous ever happened. Traffic also flows differently here - roads that feel like you should have the right-of-way actually make you yield to approaching traffic. I usually stopped at the right spots, except for today in Bath when I passed a yield sign and accompanying dotted line that had mostly worn away (they're painted on the road, not on a sign post). I almost got squished by a bus but I floored it when I noticed the monster flying around the corner towards me. Fun times.

One of the things I found both disturbing and terrifying was a section of road with a sign marked:

Red Route
957 casualties in 5 years
THINK!

I expected that section of road to be worse than the Malahat before the barriers were installed, but it was actually a milder stretch of road than many others I had driven. I guess there's just more traffic on this stretch of road or something. I drove on for a little while and before a section of curves there would be another sign:

15 casualties in 5 years
on curves ahead
THINK!

There were quite a few signs like this and they must work because I kept expecting to see a car crash every time I rounded a corner and I couldn't stop thinking about ambulances and dead bodies. Now that I think about it more, maybe it was actually more of a distraction than an effective warning.

Travelling Alone
I've had quite a few people ask me how I've managed with travelling alone. Yes, the loneliness makes me ache sometimes. There are so many times I'll see something that makes me want to turn to somebody - anybody - and say, "Wow! Isn't that incredible!" but nobody is there. Although the road trip would have been way more fun with other people along, it was good to spend some much-needed time just thinking and talking to God and listening. I've been frustrated about not being able to find work; my plan was to work through the winter and that plan isn't working out. My mom helped give some perspective by telling me to consider that I may not have a paid job, but trusting God is my full-time job. I find it easier to trust God with the vast unseen future rather than the next day or two. So many things during this time away have reminded me of the importance of trusting him for both the tiny moments and the big ones. This is something I wanted Him to work on in my life during my time living here and I can say with confidence that He's working on it! I'm so glad that He holds me in the palm of His hand and His plan for my life is far better than anything I could come up with.

A Job Interview
While I was driving to Bath my cell rang but you're not allowed to talk on the phone while driving here. When I dropped off my car I checked my messages. Turns out that a company in Basingstoke wanted me for an interview at 3:30 this afternoon. I called the agency and told them my train would arrive in Basingstoke in time for me to attend the interview, but I wouldn't be able to go home and change into more formal clothes. A call was made to notify the company and they still wanted to see me.

It was so nice to finally get an interview! It was also a really bizarre experience to show up in jeans. The company is called Shire Pharmaceuticals and they're looking for a three-month temp
(though I got the impression they're thinking more long-term) to provide administrative support to the three team members responsible for organizing training. It's an international company with offices in Europe and Canada (the Canadian head office is in Quebec). Sounds like a good opportunity and they didn't seem put off by the fact that I have plans to travel. Shire also interviewed one person from another agency; my agency sent them six resumes but they only wanted to see me (insert ridiculous happy-dance). I thought the interview went well - thankfully I didn't have any cringe moments. I figure my job is to just be myself and they have the tough job of choosing somebody to hire. They seemed really positive about my experience and how my skills could help organize the department. Hopefully I'll get an answer by tomorrow!

Even if I don't get the job, it's a nudge from God that when the time is right, He'll provide.