Love in a roundabout way – with the Fiat 500 through Florida

I don’t like driving a car – and that’s okay to understand exactly as it is written here in four words. For me, driving a car means stress and a little bit of anxiety. The reason for this is quite simple: I don’t need the car enough and like so many things, driving a car is a matter of practice. In Switzerland, however, there is rarely if ever a reason for me to get into the car. Honestly – my commute to work takes 10 minutes on foot (okay, I’m spoiled there), public transport covers pretty much everything I need for shopping and leisure and for the long distances I take the train – at least you can look out of the window in a relaxed way.

When traveling, I usually try to get by without a car, but for this year’s Florida trip it was a bit too cumbersome. Since my dear travel partner can’t and isn’t allowed to drive a car at all, it was clear that I was appointed car boss for a whole six days and had to face my “fear” again.

This burden was relieved by the fact that I got a Fiat 500, with which I got along well almost immediately. During the first five miles we had some starting difficulties (including heading for the wrong toll lane at a toll booth), after that the whole thing was almost a bit of fun. Driving the Fiat 500 had the following positive aspects for me:

• It fits easily into all parking spaces (as these are usually sized for pick-ups)
• Very good visibility, especially when the rear seats are folded down for luggage due to lack of space
• Quick response when accelerating
• Easy to manoeuvre

When we returned the car at the Orlando airport after six days without any major incidents or bumps, I was surprisingly almost a little sad.

To make it easier for you to get started in American traffic, here are my 6 ultimate survival tips:

• Attention: you are allowed to overtake left and right on multi-lane roads
• On multi-lane motorways, it is quietest to drive in the middle, as the entrances and exits are on the left and right
• In city traffic, there is a risk that the right-hand lane will suddenly be marked “right only”. So it’s best to ride in the middle
• If in doubt, head for the “Cash-Only” counter at toll booths
• Instead of turning directly left into a street, it is better to turn right and use the next U-turn
• Use a navigation system (we used the Navigon app on the Nokia Lumia for this)