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Original poster

Did you "go for a drive" when you were a kid?

197 replies

Allthereindeersaregirls · 17/05/2021 14:09

I was reminded of this the other day, when a friend said she was taking the kids "for a drive" to get out of the house. I'd not heard of anyone doing it since I was a kid (80s) and I don't remember anyone else doing it then.

Mum and dad would bundle us in to the car and we'd go for a drive - just that. No purpose (that I can discern), not a drive to get somewhere, not even an ice cream. We'd just drive around for a bit then go home.

Were my parents nuts?

OP posts:

LST · 17/05/2021 14:42

We still do this. Normally on a Sunday after tea

Scarby9 · 17/05/2021 14:42

Only if we had elderly relations visiting, and then it was called a 'run out in the car'.

Chunkymenrock · 17/05/2021 14:43

Yes we did but I wouldn't dream of it now. The car is used as little as possible as it has such an environmental impact.

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Waiting423 · 17/05/2021 14:44

Yes - and we’d stop and look at the view … which often involved other people having a walk !

My children will complain about going for walks most weekends and being taken to National Trust places … they’re already at the age where they complain about the NT places

RightOnTheEdge · 17/05/2021 14:45

No, we only drove for days out not just for the sake of driving around.
I used to (and still do) get car sick everywhere we went so it wouldn't have been any fun for anyone!

dottiedodah · 17/05/2021 14:46

Yep we did this! My DGP looked after me a lot as a child and I have fond memories of drives out in their A40! Still like doing it now .

bluetongue · 17/05/2021 14:46

I got pulled over for speeding just after our ‘stay local’ rules were dropped. The Policeman looked at my address and said ‘you’re a long way from home aren’t you?’ After spotting my dog in the car he asked ‘walking the pooch?’ I said yes as I was worried if I told him I was just out for a drive he would either think I was a bit daft or up to something illegal

Scarby9 · 17/05/2021 14:47

@BendingSpoons
A visit to the airport was another treat, especially belovedby my great grandmother who died at 99.
We lived a mile from our regional airport so would drive up there and take the lift onto the open air rooftop terrace for as long as Granny could stand to watch the planes and shout and wave to the passengers, then go down to the cafe for a cup of tea to warm up, then to find seats looking out onto the planes. My parents would sit there with Granny while my brother and I roamed the airport.
So exciting!

DoingItMyself · 17/05/2021 14:48

We were taken 'for a drive' as children. Even as a young married woman, my husband and I would 'go for a drive'. It was a thing. To be fair, I still do it, I just go alone. I drove to Huddersfield recently. I didn't want to go to Huddersfield, so I just went round the roundabout and came back to Denshaw. Very scenic route.

HumourReplacementTherapy · 17/05/2021 14:49

Yep, we did. Mostly to nowhere in particular. As the youngest of 3 and quite a large age gap my levels of boredom were such that the highlight of the month was 'going along for the ride'........... to the tip
Ir terrifying myself half to death in the car wash. God knows why I continued to go as I hated it!

DoingItMyself · 17/05/2021 14:49

Haha! Yes! People went 'to the airport' for a day out! I did that with my aunt, about three years ago, but it's not the same because of today's security measures.

Original poster

Allthereindeersaregirls · 17/05/2021 14:50

@Auxence

Not really but we too went to B&Q/Focus DIY as an entertainment destination! Haha you’ve just reminded me *@ArosGartref*. Must try that with my own kids, they’d actually probably love it!

Same. Had totally forgotten about that until ArosGartref mentioned it. And it wasn't like going to a garden centre these days!

OP posts:

bigbaggyeyes · 17/05/2021 14:51

Magical mystery tours. Dad would ask us at each junction we got to, which way to turn, so we'd end up in all sorts of places.

SecretWitch · 17/05/2021 14:51

@WellTidy

yes! We would get in "and see where the car takes us"!

My father called it “ play by ear”..I never understood that saying, I just knew it meant we were in for a looooog drive😂

MrsRussell · 17/05/2021 14:52

Was a massive treat for us when we were little - knock on the door from one of the neighbour's, "dad's bringing the van home from work tonight!" and all the local kids would pile into the back of a Ford transit, no seats, no seatbelts, probably no valid insurance and off we would go, sliding about wildly in the dark having the time of our lives.

ShirleyPhallus · 17/05/2021 14:52

We used to do this with my parents! They’d drive to a local beauty spot, throw us out of the car and drink a thermos of tea.

Hideously boring.

DontGoIntoTheLongGrass · 17/05/2021 14:53

@Waiting423

Yes - and we’d stop and look at the view … which often involved other people having a walk !

My children will complain about going for walks most weekends and being taken to National Trust places … they’re already at the age where they complain about the NT places

I totally read this as other people having a wank

Survivingmy3yearold · 17/05/2021 14:55

I used to do this all the time when my DD5 was a toddler and I was a single parent, I used to love it! She would always fall asleep in the car so if she was tired and in need of a nap and I didn't fancy being stuck at home for 2 hours I'd go for a random drive and see where I ended up, I was always on the lookout for parts of the town I live in that I could check out on my next nap drive

cupoftea2021 · 17/05/2021 15:01

I did as a kid and loved the random spots and sights we would see & buy an ice cream.
Yesterday I went for a drive..
We explored a beach I went to as a kid it was really lovely and since we are going into winter it is a nice way to entertain as well as see our city and rural sights by taking a drive. I love it.

PatMustardsBigTool · 17/05/2021 15:03

@Janaih

Browsing b and q was a huge treat. If we were really good we were allowed to ring one doorbell each

Same! I loved jangling the metal chains too - easily pleased 😄

UnderCaffeinated · 17/05/2021 15:04

We sort of do it. We go for a drive generally along the coast, like a look at the sea etc, but we do often stop and get an ice cream or something.

RosaBaby2 · 17/05/2021 15:05

Yea and we still do!

Sparticle · 17/05/2021 15:06

@Janaih

Browsing b and q was a huge treat. If we were really good we were allowed to ring one doorbell each

I took my DD8 to Homebase last week for smoe paint testers and when we were there I told her all about how I used to LOVE the doorbell section in my local Homebase when we'd go there 'for a treat'. We were both so disappointed that they don't seem to have a whole doorbell display any more :(

OP, yes we'd often go for a drive for entertainment when I was growing up in the 80s. Happy days!

Chihuahuacat · 17/05/2021 15:09

Lol we did this right up to me leaving home in 2014....

We live near a very affluent area so would often drive and look at the mansions. Another fun game was letting us pick a car and we’d just follow it for while and see where we end up (realise reading that back might have been creepy.....)

Artesia · 17/05/2021 15:11

There’s a brilliant line in an Alan Bennett book about this- talks about people getting in their cars on a Sunday to “perambulate their boredom around the countryside”

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