What I Learnt Driving Abroad for the First Time

If you follow me over on Instagram (which er, hello, you should) you’ll know that back at the beginning of the month I spent three days in Ibiza with Enterprise on a road trip with some other blogging babes! In fact, you’d be forgiven for thinking I was still there, since I took so many photos! Anyway, the lovely lot over at Enterprise invited us to the island so we could find out why having a hire car can be great, and it certainly didn’t disappoint!

It was however, the first time I’d ever driven in a foreign country, and on the other side of the road, and I was pretty nervous before we got there! I ended up being the only driver on the trip and it was pretty intimidating to know not only would I be driving abroad for the first time, I’d also have a car full of four other bloggers watching my every move! However, the reality was a lot less scary and stressful than I’d built it up to be, and we successfully spent three days exploring the island in our hire car without drama! So I thought I’d share what I learnt from the experience plus a few tips for your first driving abroad experience!

Pick a car as similar to your own as possible.

If you normally drive a Fiat 500, now’s probably not the time to hope in a BMW X5. There’s enough to think about with driving in a foreign country on roads you don’t know, on the wrong side of those roads, without driving a car completely different to what you’re used to. For our trip Enterprise supplied us with a gorgeous Mercedes B Class which was actually a car I’d been looking into getting, so it was the perfect opportunity to try it out! But most importantly, it was a similar shape and size to my car back home, so I felt really at home in it.

If possible, get an auto.

Our gorgeous Mercedes was an auto and MAN did it make life easier. Instead of having to worry about finding the biting point in a different car, or changing gear every few seconds, I could concentrate fully on the road around us and where we were going! It massively took the pressure off and made me a lot less stressed! With Enterprise you can get an automatic car for around £10 a day more, and I personally think the ease is worth every penny!

Check out your routes beforehand.

Even if it’s just how to get from the airport to your hotel, knowing what kind of roads to expect was really helpful. I had nightmares of me driving dirt tracks winding round mountains surrounded by crumbling cliff face, and the reality was far from it. The roads in Ibiza were pretty good, all tarmac, well sign posted + smooth, with only one minor off roading incident to get to a car park, but knowing what to expect in advance really helped!

Get yourself a navigator + extra pair of eyes.

I had my girl Kelly riding up front and she was an absolute star. She had our route up and not only gave me good clear directions, but also warned me of things like bends in the road or if there was a slip road up ahead. Knowing exactly what to expect as I was driving made me feel much calmer and like I knew what I was doing! It was also great to have an extra pair of eyes on the road to help me with things like how close the car was on the other side, or if a demon coach from hell was about to pull out in front of me.

Take your time.

Spend a little time in the car park figuring out where all your lights are, how to clean your screen, how to change gear, etc. Don’t feel pressure to speed off straight away, overtake other cars, or be in any rush. Take your time to get to know the car and be comfortable in it!

The main thing to remember is that driving abroad doesn’t have to be scary, keep calm and you’ll be absolutely fine! Having a hire car to get us around was invaluable, we wouldn’t have been able to go to most of the places we went without it! It really helped us see a different side to Ibiza, rather than just tourist hot spots and clubs!

Have you driven abroad before?

Thank you so much to Enterprise for  sending us to Ibiza, our trip was complimentary, but all gushing about our car is entirely my own!