I never imagined getting a driving licence would be so costly, or that not having a car would prove such a pain.

I certainly never saw myself spending my weekly food shop budget on just a one-hour lesson.

Planning my relocation from North Carolina, USA, to Kent back in 2021, I was fond of the idea of living somewhere with proper public transport.

But soon after arriving in the Garden of England, I saw that even though there are vastly more buses and trains here, they are unreliable and often expensive.

Getting around most of the US without a car is basically impossible, but I quickly saw that navigating my new home without a vehicle was not going to be easy either.

Without wheels, it just takes so much longer to do stuff and often means spending more money too.

For me, nipping out for a pint of milk means an hour-long round trip on foot, while shopping for larger items requires shelling out for delivery.

A weekend away to the Cotswolds, Brighton, or even just an afternoon at Leeds Caste, isn’t worth the time and/or money it would take to get there via trains and buses.

I do consider myself lucky, particularly on sunny days, to live within walking distance of work.

But equally, the luxury of commuting on foot doesn’t so much feel like one when buses are cancelled and I have no choice but to walk 45 minutes to get home, uphill, in the rain.

When I applied for my job as a reporter for KentOnline, I was encouraged to get certified behind the wheel, as driving makes it so much easier to get to the scene when news is breaking – and to go out and meet people.

But the hefty expenses involved and the deterrents of traffic and parking problems around Canterbury meant my driving ambitions were a non-starter for well over a year.

Between the money needed to apply for a provisional licence, tuition fees for taking the recommended number of driving lessons with a reputable teacher and the cost of taking the theory and practical tests, I faced a bill of more than £2,000.

And that’s before considering the cost of buying and maintaining a car – insurance for a new driver, road tax, petrol, repairs, MOT, parking and other charges.

ONS data shows the average UK motorist spent £1,820 a year on running a car in 2019.

I’m sure there are ways to get those costs down, but there’s little doubt that figure has also increased in the last four years.

In fact, KentOnline reported in September that the average cost of a year’s worth of car insurance for someone aged 25-34 (the bracket I fall into) is £845, up almost £300 just from last year.

As for finally getting your licence, the national backlog of those waiting to take a test remains above 500,000 – and the AA reports that just 21% of test centres had waiting times of less than five months.

Is it any surprise that, according to the Department for Transport (DfT), only one in four people aged 17 to 20 in the UK now have a full driving licence, down from almost one in two in 1989?

It’s clear to me that buying and running a car is just not within my budget, so what’s the point in getting a licence anyway?

As a reporter, not being able to drive presents unique disadvantages. If my editor needs someone on the scene of a breaking story, it’s only logical that one with wheels, who’s able to get there in 20 minutes, will be chosen over me and my bus pass.

Not being in the habit of driving also means I struggle to compete with my colleagues’ knowledge of the county’s geography and traffic trends.

“All in all, it would cost me about £5,000 just to get my own wheels on the ground...”

What especially frustrates me about not having a licence is that I passed my test in the US at 18 and, before moving here, had nine years of driving experience.

Granted I, like most people stateside, was taught to drive an automatic car and on much wider, generally better-maintained roads, than one typically sees here.

A manual gearbox on narrow streets, and sitting on the opposite side of the car – I found out very quickly in my first few driving lessons – is a whole other kettle of fish.

Despite all this, it was a New Year’s Resolution of mine this year to get my UK driving licence.

I have left it until November to actually get on with it, but for the past few weeks, I have been taking lessons.

Although there is no statutory minimum amount of time a new driver must spend learning before they take their practical test, the Driving Vehicle License Agency (DVLA) recommends 45 hours.

So far I’ve done 10, and my instructor says I might actually be ready to take my test after about another 10 hours, but the cost of the classes certainly has been high at £45 an hour. Although there are cheaper schools in the city, many can’t fit me in around my working hours.

A one-day intensive driving course is likely to cost around £200, but this is only suitable for someone who requires a few hours’ practice before a test.

Meanwhile, a week-long ‘crash course’ can cost about £1,000 while a two-week intensive course may be double.

But although intensive courses can put people on a fast track to a licence, most of us learner drivers don’t have thousands of pounds lying around.

The cost of learning has consistently been named as the most important single factor in young people deciding not to drive, according to research by the DfT.

I consider myself very lucky that my parents have offered to help me with this expense – because without their generosity it just wouldn’t have been possible for me to afford to get on the road.

I had to call around quite a bit to find an instructor with availability outside regular working hours. Fortunately, the one I eventually found has proven to be a great teacher, albeit a chatterbox.

In amongst tips on changing gears and checking the rear-view mirror, I’m routinely thrust into discussions on hot-button cultural issues, personal affairs and politics.

Those who already drive tell me talkative teachers are the norm in the UK. However, what astonishes people the most is the financial barrier aspiring drivers nowadays face.

All in all, with lesson costs, new driver's insurance and the purchase of a half-decent car, it would cost me about £5,000 just to get my own wheels on the road.

Maybe that’s a New Year's Resolution for 2030.