THE YEAR THAT NOTHING IN THE UK WORKED

This year, I realised I needed to learn T how to drive. I'd been made redundant during the pandemic, and a few months later was forced to leave my rental accommodation when my landlord decided to sell the house.

- SELIM BULUT

By the time I found another job, I had left London and moved in with family. The new office was not too far from where I was living, but there was a small problem with commuting there. By train, it would be a two-and-a-half-hour journey each way, and a day return ticket would cost me £65. By car, it was only a 50-minute drive. The solution seemed obvious.

But what should have been a straightforward process of calling an instructor or driving school, finding somebody who could fit me into their schedule, and starting lessons a couple of weeks later, ended up being a tedious, months-long process. Every instructor I called was booked up, thanks to the huge backlogs caused by Covid.

In the meantime, I took my theory test and kept looking around. I had some luck when one company told me they could fit me in after a four-week wait, which was significantly shorter than the three or four months I was being told elsewhere. But when I finally had my first lesson, my instructor seemed confused. Why had I booked an intensive course, when it would be months before I could actually take my test?