USVI-On-Line

Okay - how many of you have trouble when you get back stateside driving on the wrong side of the road after being in the VIs???

It's been a little over a month since we have returned, and I am STILL doing it.

The sad part is, I never drive when we are down there

Just wondering if I am the ONLY one having these problems. It happens EVERY time we come back and if if I am not actually doing it, I have to tell myself in my head which side I should be on.

nothintolose

I was driving in the right lane but thinking that I was in the wrong lane. Just as I started to switch over another car turned onto the road I was on and I realized that even though it didn't look right it was!

Husband does most of the driving on the islands and i'm the lookout. When we're down there i'm constantly saying or yelling "left, left, left!!" and don't forget to look right.

Last time we got home, he came out of a driveway, was on the left hand side of the road and a truck was coming right for him. He really didn't know what to do and i'm sitting next to him STILL yelling "left, left, left!!". Got a good laugh out of that.

Funny how fast you do learn to drive on the left hand side.

This is so funny! I do alot of the driving on STJ since it is so much fun and I never have problems while there. But, when I get home, the same thing happens - I keep having to remind myself and think which side of the road I need to be on!

Tracy

I haven't driven in STJ, but I thought about that just the other day. I was on a narrow winding road and thought to myself, "shouldn't I be on that side of the road?"

I need more Beach Therapy!

JIM

I have a tougher time re-adjusting to the speed when you get out of the airport parking at home and get on the interstate it feels like you are going 100mph.

Never found myself on the wrong side, but have had several "hey wait, is this the correct side?" moments. Something that definitely never happened before the STJ trips started.

I find the transition going home harder than getting on island. I get those "Am I on the wrong side feelings" routinely.

I also find driving in the UK very different from the the Virgin Islands. It's always embarrassing when I get in the left-side passenger side of the car when I'm driving. I did one time rent a right-side drive car on Tortola, that was interesting.

Cheers, RickG

Rick - you just reminded me of our trip to England where they gave us a stick shift car when we had requested automatic so not only was the SO driving on the other side of the road in the wrong side of the car trying to shift with his left hand. Talk about a nightmare!

Oh, and EVERY time we turned a corner, he knocked a hubcap off. His son would get out, get it and put it back on till eventually we left it off till the end of the trip.

Much prefer the BVI way.

This afternoon when I was a passenger, I almost told the driver to get on the other side of the road!

nothintolose

Weird to see this post, because I was JUST driving home down a dark, tree-lined country road near here and I had such an urge to drive on the left! And I got to thinking about how normal it feels to drive on the left on STJ. And how easy it is to transition back to driving on the right here.

That being said, my husband's from Ireland, and I have a really hard time with the right-hand steering wheel, left-hand side of the road thing in Ireland. I have to constantly remind myself at rotaries and such, to stay on the left.

Steve S wrote:Never found myself on the wrong side, but have had several "hey wait, is this the correct side?" moments. Something that definitely never happened before the STJ trips started.

Steve S perfectly describes our situation. There are times when we still have to think, "I'm on on the correct side of the road?" It seems to happen mostly when we are in our neighborhood, windy roads or roads with low speed limits.

Just drove for the first time this morning. I'm the driver for the most part on island. Hubby drives most at home so he drove all day yesterday and when I pulled out this morning I almost pulled into the wrong lane. My brain took no time to adjust when arriving on island, but it did coming home. Too funny!