CAMERANO (part X): Get with the stick

IF THERE'S ONE THING I’ve learned from being abroad for an elongated period of time, it’s this: you have to know how to drive a stick shift.

After a fun day of horseback riding, we were hot, famished, cranky and tired.

We desperately wanted to cool off, eat, sleep and not talk. George, our chaperone and designated driver (meaning the only one among us who knows how to drive a stick-shift), sensed our moods.

Cranking the AC and driving a little faster than usual, we began to leave the farm.

Just as we were approaching the exit, we felt the car struggling against the rough terrain and steep slope of a gravel-road hill. We were so close to the top and then suddenly the car was backpedaling down the hill.

“This is what my horse kept doing,” I said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

The car clearly needed more momentum to successfully climb over the hill.

As George attempted to maneuver the stubborn car, Chas - in shotgun - encouraged George’s driving. Chas' cool attitude kept the rest of us somewhat calm. Berit and Caitlyn had more trouble relaxing than Philly and me, especially when the car began to tip.

“That’s it!” Berit exclaimed from the backseat. “Let me out!”

With Chas acting a traffic controller, Berit hiding in the bushes and Caitlyn laughing and taking pictures, George, Philly and I faced the hill (from inside the tilted car) and trudged upward.

Luckily for us, it only took one more try for George to make the little Lancia climb up the hill.

One try for George would have equaled eight or nine attempts for any of the non-experienced stick shift drivers.

If not more. Thank heaven for small favors.

But it was really then, at that moment, did I realize how necessary it was for a person to be able to drive using a stick shift while cruising around the hilly terrain of the Le Marche region.

We all let out a celebratory hurrah (and also sighs of relief) when we were back on track and over this stubborn hill.

Thanks to George, we were on our way.

While it’s easiest to learn when you’re first learning to drive, it’s never too late to become familiar with a stick shift.

And I suggest you realize this before traveling abroad for a month.

- Ann Curran