The Travelling PhD

Part of my PhD involves me travelling around a lot for various different reasons, whether this is to go for a conference or for a talk. The majority of my travelling however is to go and visit participants. Recently my car (named Emmett) reached a total 100, 000 miles. Not all of this is mine but I have made a smaller but significant contribution. Having only recently passed my driving test it has not only been an education in terms of driving but also in using and knowledge of having a car. It did make me realize that there are many parallels with driving that also are applicable to the completing a PhD.


Since having Emmett in the back end of November I have been driving around across large distances across the country. I have driven around 4500 miles (this despite not driving for nearly 6 weeks due to a broken hand!) It has been an experience, and for a new driver it has been certainly given me plenty of opportunity to practice the skills that I learnt during my test. It also made me realize that driving to pass a test is not the same as driving without the 'L plates'. It seems that no matter where I go there is usually some sort of unnecessary drama seemingly surrounding my trips.

So in no particular order, here are my top 8 things that have happened so far:

1. Appreciating that not all cars are the same, via going from a new car to borrowing a 4x4 automatic to Emmett (a 1.2).
2. Noticing that you have to regularly switch on your car otherwise the battery will go flat. (This was when I had broken my hand). Thank you to my kind neighbours who had a battery charging cable that I could borrow.
3. Having to call out the AA (Britain's fourth emergency service) because your headlight is no longer fixed in position allowing you to see the road.
4. Driving during horrendous weather during the "UK Storms 2014" in a tiny 1.2 engine car.
5. Random warning lights that occasionally come on and disappear again. Despite OBD scanner revealing nothing out of the ordinary. 
6. Hitting and killing your first animal. Complete with bloody stain on the bumper
7. Losing said bumper when someone hit it in a car parking lot. 
8. Being in a car crash (Thankfully everyone was OK and there was only minor damage to the cars).

So how is driving a parallel to doing a PhD? Driving and the things listed above have led me to be more independent. It started off with a learning process of a skill that I didn't possess. I had to learn new things and whilst I couldn't always do everything first time, I eventually was able to do when being given the opportunity to practice it. This similar to learning your trade during the first year of a PhD. 

Removing the "L Plates" Taken from teen driver

Without those "L Plates" people on the road treat you completely differently. They won't know that you may have only recently passed your test, they judge based upon behaviour. As progression is made through the PhD you are judged more on your work as opposed to your level. This is of course correct but that doesn't make it any less scary of whilst you are going through it. The experiences above reiterated to me that things are not always straightforward, even after you may have acquired a skill. This is very much true for not only a PhD but in other aspects of life too. Life at times can be scary, even if you know what you have to do. In light of recent frustrations, it was needed for me to realize that things do not always come easy even it may appear simple for them. Another PhD-epiphany from a random unconnected part of my life. 

Having the driving experiences above and what I took from it were definitely not in the job description listed in doing a PhD but I suppose that there can never be a completely accurate job description for a PhD. Furthermore it is never about just what is in a job description but that all parts of your life are connected. Most importantly though that when changes occur in one aspect of your life can lead to changes in another.