Growing up I never experienced the luxury of owning a car. Now please don’t all rush at once to start playing the smallest violins you can find because I’m not complaining at all, that’s just the way it was. I never knew anything different or even wanted anything different. My Gran and Grandad both would jump on and off buses without batting an eyelid or be happy to walk to wherever we had to go, as neither they or my mum had a licence. So as a result, much of my childhood was spent waiting for a bus to get me from A to B – whether it be to school, going to see my gran or going to buy West Indian food at Shepherds Bush Market. The only member of my family to own a car at that time was my Uncle Felix. He had a maroon Volvo Estate Wagon and in my eyes, it was the coolest car ever especially as he would sometimes take us out for a spin, and back then, we could sit in the boot without seats – puts a smile on my face reminiscing about those times.

I’m still a big lover of public transport, so when the car had to go to the garage this week for a couple of days my oyster card was put to good use! What I enjoy about bus journeys, is seeing people from various walks of life altogether, just getting on about their daily business. You also get a chance to see the world go by from a different perspective (that’s if you’re not constantly on the phone). Michael and I had to plan our ‘car-less’ days meticulously to ensure we got to nursery on time, pick up bits in Kingston and then get back home for dinner. The children loved it. We walked down roads we’d never been down, found secret cut throughs and basically had a chance to explore the area we live in – interesting places and spots you don’t get to see when you’re rushing around in a car.

I must say every night we were all exhausted with all the walking and running for buses, if nothing else we must have got fitter! But it did make me think about how reliant we have become on certain things in life which we didn’t need or want when we were younger. How the world had changed!