One particular spring break, I was going through yet another break-up with an on-and-off-again boyfriend. Eager to get away from inquiring minds and reminders of said (ex-)boyfriend, I planned a trip to Europe on a whim and had inadvertently booked a 36-hour layover in Iceland.
Although The Terminal starring Tom Hanks is easily one of my favorite movies, I refused to remain trapped in the airport so I decided to rent a car to go into town. I quickly learned as I leaned into the driver’s seat that stick-shift cars were the norm in Europe, and I am certain the robots at Google were in hysterics when they came upon my search inquiries:
“Why won’t my car start?”
“Why does my car have three pedals?”
“How to drive a manual car”
“How to turn my car automatic”
I eventually made it out of the airport parking lot and into Reykjavik thanks to a portly Danish woman and a 20-minute YouTube tutorial. I didn’t sleep that whole 36-hour layover and even got the chance to drive the full Golden Circle, in the middle of which I made one more Google search:
“What fuel do manual cars need – diesel or regular”
My travels eventually took me to London, Paris, and Scotland – saw some things, met some friends, and learned that if I could teach myself how to drive stick-shift via Google, I can learn to love and care for myself in ways no boyfriend/partner ever can.