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I've been terrified of driving my whole life, but a recent trip to Tennessee without a car made me realize I need to get over it

May 18, 2023, 01:26 IST
Insider
Insider's reporter takes a cab through the Cades Cove area in the Great Smoky Mountains.Joey Hadden/Insider
  • I'm a 27-year-old travel reporter who is terrified of driving.
  • A recent trip to the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee made me realize that I need to learn anyway.
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Driving terrifies me. The responsibility a person takes when they get behind the wheel of a car has always felt like something I couldn't take on myself. But in this world, I've recently learned that driving is a necessity for freedom.

Not getting my driver's license never really bugged me as a kid, when I lived in Texas. I always had rides from my older brother and later, my friends. After college, I moved straight to NYC, which made learning the daunting task feel even less necessary. So here I am, 27 and completely independent — as long as I'm in a big city with public transportation or access to ride-share apps.

But when I found myself stranded on the side of a highway next to the Great Smoky Mountains in the pouring rain, desperately calling cabs while I held back tears, I changed my mind about driving.

The author braves the rain in the Great Smoky Mountains.Joey Hadden/Insider

I went to the Great Smoky Mountains for a reporting trip. It was my first work destination that didn't include major cities, so transportation was something I considered when planning my trip. But my concerns were relieved when I read that cabs and ride-share apps were available in the area on Lonely Planet.

Later, when I got to Tennessee, I ran into an unpleasant surprise. Despite what I read, ride-share apps were not a reliable way to get around. Although I could search for rides on these apps, I wasn't ever able to find one to pick me up, save for my trip from the airport in Knoxville to my accommodations near the park.

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This unexpected setback left me frantically scheduling cab rides, which I found to be quite limited in the area, as well. Unlike the cities I'm used to visiting, I found that the Great Smoky Mountains and surrounding towns of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge were incredibly spaced out. Cab rides between cabins and towns were at least a half-hour long each, and usually longer.

Spending five days getting around the Great Smoky Mountains area without a car made me realize that not driving isn't sustainable if you want to live or travel in less urban areas — at least in the US. But there's so much to see in these often less-frequented places.

So it's time for me to be brave and face the wheel by practicing until I'm ready to get my license.

Read more: I visited the Great Smoky Mountains and the best part of my trip was an unexpected discovery I made while stuck in the rain with no way to get to my Airbnb

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