If I was going to buy a new car (let's go with a
Nina-esque dream sequence because that may be the only time I
could buy one) it would be white. Crisp, clean, WHITE. Some say a white car is the hardest to keep clean. These silly people would be sorely mistaken. Clearly they have never owned a car with a dark hue.
So imagine my surprise, when I receive an email from the lovely folk at
Kidspot telling me I have been chosen to participate in the
Ford Choose Your Own Adventure Challenge and will receive a brand spanking new
Ford Territory Titanium to drive my family around in for six WHOLE weeks. AND timed perfectly with school holidays! Imagine my even greater surprise when super stylish Kyle delivers a sparkly WHITE Territory to my driveway, some weeks later. I am certain I gasped when I opened the front door and saw her parked right there.
The husband and I have been procrastinating over changing the car over, for months now. We are well overdue for a change but an agreement cannot be reached - between us - and between us and the bank balance. There's always somewhere else the money needs to be, right? While there is nothing wrong with our current mode of transportation - she has provided us years of loyalty and optimum performance in exchange for a full tank of fuel and many a spilt container of sultanas or seaweed crackers crushed into the floor of the backseat - the kilometres are creeping up and we would like to bid her farewell before she forces me to put our mechanic's number in my phone.
I'm a country girl of origin. I grew up in trackies. A most acceptable style of garment for country living. Yes, I do mean in public. I hear you city folk and your collective
gasp! I was also a dancer for ten years. A dancer LIVING in the country. Double whammy. Trackies - or anything elastic and baggy - also a most acceptable style of garment for a dancer. Over the top of the tight lycra of course. When I moved to the city, I realised I would need to buy a lot of new pants. Or
trousers for you English folk. Just so we're clear.
Comfort has always been number one for me. For anything. Clothes, shoes, hairstyle, accessories, fabric, textiles, furniture, price.. A new dress could look amazing but feel horrid - no way I'm buying it. Dry clean only? DEFINITELY not buying it. Shoes look incredible but just know it will take me a year to break them in? No way. No matter how awesome my legs look. Headband? Headscarf? Sunglasses? Hat? Probably pinching behind my ears or giving me a headache. Some kind of big head syndrome I suspect (dad's side of the family). Beautiful patterned linen I've been lusting after in a magazine only to find it's not soft enough in person? Forget it. Designer furniture that looks incredible but gives you a backache or sore bum? No thanks. COMFORT FIRST. All the way.
I may not be the most stylish girl in town, but I would definitely be one of the most comfortable. That's why me and Whitey get along so well. She's comfortable.
Ohhh so comfortable.
Yes, comfort in the physical sense. Absolutely. She's got all the bells and whistles. But those physical comforts transcend to a psychological form too. Comfort allows relaxation, a gentle ease that can move through all that you do, carrying you into parts of your every day that would have otherwise been more difficult if that ease and relaxation hadn't been there. When I am comfortable in myself and my surroundings, my self esteem is higher, my outlook is fresh, bright,
positive. I am calmer, happier, more patient and alert.
I've never been one for physical possessions to drive my happiness (sans impressionable teenage years of course) - the latest and greatest, newest or shiniest, on trend even (yes, I said
on trend {shudder}). We have never owned a new car, not even an almost-new-car. A reliable, sturdy, tidy vehicle to get us from point A to point B have been the only boxes to tick on the checklist. Well, it's safe to say Whitey's gone and ruined all that for me now.
There are many
things in my home that bring me joy and contentment - comfort, if you will. But it is usually the stories behind how they came to be in my possession that bring me the happiness. The second hand furniture picked up for pennies and brought back to life at odd hours of the day under spotlight and paintbrush in the garage, the big ticket items that were bought with hard earned (and long saved) money, the toys and games gifted from loved ones that our children love dearly and play with daily, the special pieces and mementos accumulated on holidays (we shipped a large bookcase back from Noosa that we bought on our honeymoon which has been loved, moved and used in almost every room of our home), the images and stories captured and framed on our walls, familiar and colourful masterpieces created by our smalls when they were learning, practicing and now flourishing.
My home is comfortable. My lifestyle is comfortable. The
things I choose to surround myself with certainly aid this level of comfort. Some of those possessions are necessary, some are not. For us, a car is a necessity. Driving this car, the Ford Territory Titanium, has been a real treat. Especially for this virgin new car owner. In the cold hard sense of the physical - the black and white, the facts and figures, the in your face, fancy pants,
smarty pants STUFF that makes you want to drive somewhere even when you don't need to be anywhere - it's been a
real treat.
When it comes time to hand her back, I will most certainly
miss those luxurious leather seats (that allow removal of marks left by grotty little hands and feet with a simple wipe - glorious!), eight inch touch screen, DVD player and headphones, bluetooth integration, iPod connectivity, rear camera, dual purpose boot opening, choice of five seats or seven, intelligent internal lighting capabilities, a rear view mirror smart enough to automatically dull the evening headlights behind you, driver/passenger climate control, transferring sound balance through the car at the touch of a button (excellent for movie watching in the back/not having to listen to
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone AGAIN), ample dash space for makeshift e-tag holder, roadtripping with full confidence in your safety, every kind of airbag possible (just in case), high visibility over other cars and the traffic up ahead, not breaking my back strapping the kids in like I do in our station wagon, how perfectly suited this car is for tall people.. and on and on..
When that sad day comes, I will find comfort (boom tish) in the fact that I will most certainly
remember the places we went, the friends we saw, the new playgrounds we found, the new roads discovered, the special cafe outings -
just because, how excited the kids were to watch movies IN THE CAR, how quiet our long drives were BECAUSE of how excited the kids were to watch movies IN THE CAR.. and of course, how unbelievably cool I felt driving it (THE COOLEST). I will remember the memories we made. As a family, or just the girls, or just the boys and I, or just me alone. ALONE. Blissful solo driving.
I will
definitely remember the memories we made.
Comfort is.. warmth, safety and freedom. Comfort is childhood, friendship, roadtripping, catching up over hot cups of coffee and
heart shaped shortbread.. it's play, laughter, chasing chooks, cubby house play, swings and kites, birthdays and cake, toffee apples and hot chips. Comfort is driving safely into the darkness while your babes drift off to sleep, PJ clad, warm as toast, utterly exhausted and
happy.
This beautiful, luxurious, sexy beast of a car is comfort all over.
Pure comfort.
Did you notice that link just there? PURE COMFORT? It will take you over HERE and make you happy as larry!
This is the first in a series of three adventure posts that will appear on the blog over the coming weeks, as part of the Ford Choose Your Own Adventure Challenge. This is not a sponsored post, all views and opinions of the Ford Territory Titanium are my own. I don't need to be paid to tell you how SERIOUSLY AWESOME this car is!
Music in Vimeo clip / Peter Combe / Happy as Larry
