13 x things you recognize when you're alone in the car

Isn't sitting alone in the car the best thing ever? I find it incredibly calming, even when I'm speeding down the highway at 140 km/h. The idea of being completely ‘away’ and that no one knows exactly where you are is what I find so pleasant about it. It's almost like being on the run: delightful. Do other people feel this way too, or is it strange?

I also really enjoy all my rituals in the car, which I obviously only perform when I'm alone in the car. Driving alone is really a different sport, because with a passenger you have to behave and show that you can drive very well. When you're driving alone, there are no expectations anymore, and you can do whatever you want. I think we all do the following things when we take a ride alone.

1. Cutting people off
Never intentionally, of course, but sometimes we drift off with our thoughts and can change lanes without realizing it. The result is that you cut someone off, which is not great. Fortunately, the people who get cut off are always very alert and you are immediately brought back to reality with loud honking or shouting. Usually, I shout an entirely unintelligible ‘sorry sorry’ through the window, but that often doesn't take away the anger from the other person. Recently, I cut off a man on an e-bike at a roundabout; well, he was quite furious, I can tell you. But yes, those things go really fast, which is asking for trouble.

2. Avoiding confrontations
Okay, I’ll just admit it: I hadn’t actually seen that man on the e-bike. It’s pretty logical that he was furious. I decided to ignore him out of discomfort, but he absolutely did not agree with that. To my great surprise, he rode onto the road to speak to me at the traffic light. I always find that a very awkward meeting place, the traffic light where you come to a stop next to each other after you’ve completely cut the other off. You can feel the eyes of the furious figure piercing into you, but you don’t look up or around. You’d rather let this confrontation go because you know very well that you just drove like a total maniac.

3. Unjustly getting angry at the other person
Unfortunately, this happens to me regularly. Shouting through my window, I recently asked a woman with a cargo bike how on earth she thought it was okay to drive so hard towards me. It was yet another electric version, of course. With frantic hand gestures, I expressed my anger towards her, while she was totally unimpressed; in fact, she looked quite angry. And not even a sorry, huh? Just so rude. A few seconds later, I realized she was coming from the right and had the right of way. Well, then I really sank deep under my steering wheel and asked God for forgiveness. I still find it a miracle that she remained so calm.

4. Testing how long you can drive with an empty tank
This is something very strange, but I’m sure many people do this. A bit of the ‘living on the edge’ lifestyle, where you hope to just make it with a burning and beeping dashboard. I did this for a long time, but I learned my lesson recently when my battery suddenly died after I finally went to refuel. There I was at the gas station, unable to go anywhere, asking everyone if they knew what that battery light in my dashboard meant. Of course, no one had the time or inclination to get involved, but luckily a truck driver (after a long wait) saved my life with his jumper cables. What a hero; thanks to him, I drove off happily after an hour. But well, it’s not really great for your car, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it.

 5. Constantly changing radio stations
The idea of listening to the radio is nice, but in practice, you often find yourself non-stop switching stations because there are ads playing everywhere. When you are surprised by a golden oldie, it’s extra enjoyable. The volume knob is immediately cranked all the way to the right when the intro of 'hips don’t lie' comes from the speakers. Oh yes, the wrong hour on Qmusic is secretly quite fun; bouncing to Sean Paul and Jason Derulo. That can only happen in the car.

6. Singing
Or better said: shouting. Once you’re really into the music, you just go all out. This is a thousand times better than singing in the shower because that can still be heard through the walls. Singing and dancing in the car is so liberating, truly blissful. With my arms, I often clap or point to my imaginary audience, which sometimes makes it difficult to keep both hands on the wheel, but I do my best. You also have to be careful not to press the gas pedal too hard out of enthusiasm, as that can happen while listening to uplifting music. Just do what feels good.

7. Changing clothes while sitting behind the wheel
Putting on a jacket, taking off a sweater, changing shoes because it’s uncomfortable to drive; we all do that in the car. Is it responsible? No, not really, of course, but you do get better at it.

8. Saying goodbye to your life when driving past a truck
Even worse: driving between two trucks. If you snooze, you lose, and suddenly you find yourself in the right lane between two trucks; nothing is scarier than this. At such moments, I say loud prayers and hope that everything will be okay. Overtaking a truck is always an exciting moment; you go for it, but in the meantime, you’re also saying goodbye in your head to everything and everyone. Until you’ve overtaken the truck, then the music comes back on and you continue to enjoy your drive.

9. Flirting in traffic jams
Because what else can you do when you’re stuck in traffic? You get bored to death, of course. Nothing is more fun than a little ‘flirting’ with the people around you, which actually just means smiling at people in other cars. Although I must say you can also have bad luck when you’re stuck next to a total creep the entire time. In that case, you again use the technique from point 2: avoiding confrontation.

10. Flitsmeister
For all Flitsmeister users: how nice is it when the app goes ‘vroemmmm’ as soon as the speed check is over? Flitsmeister is really a mega app that indicates exactly where checks are being made and where they are not. And that last part is nice when you want to speed to your destination. Because don’t we all do this, only driving neatly as soon as Flitsmeister gives a signal?

11. Missing a lot of exits
Actually, I can’t drive and listen to music at the same time. We all miss an exit sometimes, but when I’m caught up in the music, I miss them continuously. If I don’t know the way somewhere, I unfortunately have to drive without music. Parking is also one of those things: if I have to do that, the music really goes down, because otherwise, I can’t see what I’m doing.

12. Talking out loud
A car is the perfect place to give yourself a good talking to or to encourage yourself. Especially when you’re on your way to a place with a lot of people, it’s really nice that you can encourage yourself out loud without others thinking you’re not quite right. ‘Come on, El, it’s just a birthday, you’re just going to talk to people.’

13. Eating an extreme amount of junk food
Jars full of strawberry-flavored Mentos are chewed up in my car. And not just one or two pieces, no, I devour the whole jar. Not to mention pink Autodrop, which I don’t buy too often just in case. When I go to refuel, I just have to get candy because that’s just tradition.