I tried two highways a couple of times: 30 minutes, but very stressful! Wall-to-wall 10-mph traffic for miles, combined with cut-throat speeders in the few spots where traffic opened up; and at the end, an inability to merge to/from exits without gesturing wildly toward a kindly driver in the right lane to please let me in.
For the past 2 days, decided to try to get to/from work via some "back roads" that I remembered (and that didn't show up on either Google or MapQuest). They worked! The drive times were the same, 30 minutes, but were much more calm and pleasant. More lights, but at least the travel flows at around 30 mph, whereas the speed on the Interstate Highway is either 10 mph or people weaving crazily in and out.
All of this is giving me much greater confidence as a driver, that's for sure! I haven't been truly highway-savvy since I sold my car when I moved to NYC in 2007. And once I moved back to Austin in 2010, I bussed it until I had money to buy a car in 2016. And then from 2016 until 2019, I was basically only driving my 2 miles to work and my 2 miles to the grocery store, with only occasional jaunts on weekends to family members or Pier One or someplace. So for the past 13 years, I had a very small, cloistered driving world, if I was driving at all.
No more! I'm OUT THERE now! :)
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