The blog of photographer Kim Ayres

Mileage

26 years ago today, I passed my driving test.

I can’t say with absolute certainty how many miles I have driven in that time – some years have been considerably more than others. However, I think it’s reasonable to assume I will have averaged somewhere between 12,000 and 16,000 a year.

This means I have driven about 300,000 to 400,000 miles since I was 19½ years old.

If we put all those miles into one journey, it would have got me to the moon, but nowhere near back again.

And at that rate, it would take me more than another 6,000 years to reach our sun.

Or 1.76 billion years to get to the next nearest star, Proxima Centuri, about 4.2.light years away.

Can you imagine the fuel bill?

8 comments

mapstew said...

Just trying to do the maths. I started work as a courier at the age of 18, and did approx 1000 miles a week. With 2 weeks hols that's 50,000 miles a year. Finished working as a driver at age 45, with a few other jobs in between, still works out at ...... a LOT of miles!
I used to love it, not anymore.

Kim Ayres said...

Mpastew - I think that means you've driven at least a million miles more than I have, in which case you could have gone to the moon and back twice :)

Eryl said...

I can't even imagine the fule bill for a trip to Kent these days.

Pat said...

Why not just settle for the SW?
Like Map I used to love it too and can hardly believe I once drove to the south of France and back - alone.

hope said...

Since I both commute to work and have a couple of years on you lads, I'd be afraid to do the math!

Interesting thought though....I might just be tempted to see if I made it to the moon and back.

Kim Ayres said...

Eryl - at nearly £1.50 a litre, it's quite terrifying (although this figure is going to look ludicrously cheap if we come back and read these comments in the future)

Pat - yes, I do need to get down to the SW soon. Can you believe it's 3 years since I was last there and we had lunch?

Hope - you need about 500,000 miles on the clock to have got to the moon and back :)

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

I wish I could find a road without traffic, then I'd probably enjoy driving.

Kim Ayres said...

Many of the roads in this corner of Scotland don't have much traffic on them. It's lovely. Although they do tend to be quite winding, so if you get stuck behind a tractor it can be some time before there's a place to overtake :)

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