As a cocky twenty-something, I remember stating –I will NEVER drive a minivan - if I have kids, I will just get a bigger SUV. This worked well for me until I had my second child and the lease was up on my mid-size SUV, and gas prices were at their all time high. So my husband and I reluctantly dragged ourselves to a Toyota dealership to reluctantly test drive a Toyota Sienna. Convenient when you have kids, better gas mileage than an SUV, we figured we better at least check it out. We drove it and I loved it immediately. My husband loved it after the sales guy told us you could take the seats out and fit a whole sheet of plywood in the back –SOLD! We were the proud and uncool owners of a minivan. I felt my former twenty something self wanting to forward through time to kick my thirty something self in the butt. However, I never regretted our choice and I love my minivan. We are keeping it in the US. We will have it for trips back and when we return in two years. Now forward to the present -my husband gets a company car to use in England and gets to pick it out and customize it as one of his perks. He asked me –what should we get? I, of course, said a minivan! It only makes sense, we loved ours here, we still have two kids last time I checked and we will have visitors coming over who will not want to rent a car and try their hand at driving on the wrong, I mean different, side of the car on the other side of the street. So more room = convenience. We were not even sure they had minivans, but dear hubby checked. They do! However, they call them People Carriers. This makes me laugh for some reason. So just today, he ordered our brand new People Carrier –a Volkswagon Sharan. The kicker is – it is a manual transmission. That is what they have in England. One of my old college friends would tell you that I drove her stick shift into the back of another car because I got confused about when to step on the clutch. Oops. I do know how to drive one, but it has been YEARS since I have done it. Anyone who read my post about driving awhile back will remember –I said the thing I am most nervous about is driving –on a different side of the car, on a different side of the road –and now I have to add driving a stick shift, with my left hand on top of that! But if you are reading this and you plan to visit –have no fear, I will have it all figured out before you have to ride with me! And how (un)cool are we to have two minivans on two different continents?
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