On the Road Again, Japanese Style

I have lived here for three months and hadn't driven off base once. There are multiple reasons for this occurring. One is that my husband does most of the driving. He likes it and I don’t mind him doing it so it just works out that way. But the other more important reason is I just didn’t feel comfortable. Sure, I drive on base all the time. But it's small and I can only go so far before running into a wall or a fence. It isn’t like I’m terrified of being off base, but I just couldn’t get up the nerve for a few reasons.

Our very stylish ride. It impresses the ladies. 

I get lost easily. I am not exaggerating when I say I still get turned around in the town I lived in for most of my life. It’s a running joke in our family that I can’t get from point A to point B without at least one detour. My husband still marvels at my inability to navigate even after 15 years. I didn’t want to drive off base alone and get lost. I don’t even speak passable Japanese and I was afraid of being lost on unfamiliar roads with my two small children ending up on the other side of Tokyo. So we got a GPS to solve that problem.

Hands firmly on 10 and 2.

 I didn’t want to drive alone with my kids in the car not only because I would get lost (always assume I will get lost) but also I was afraid of feeling overwhelmed. I was still getting used to driving on the left side of the road, with the steering wheel on the right but to add my sometimes grumpy and always loud children to the mix was intimidating. So I wanted to wait until I didn’t have them in the car.

This Sunday I no longer had any excuses. We had to run a very quick errand to a local hardware store and I decided to drive. The kids were in good moods, it was early in the morning so traffic was light and the sun was shining. It was the perfect day and I was ready to tackle this challenge. With my husband in the seat beside me I pulled the car out of the spot and headed for the gate. And then I drove off base.

Having a moment here. Don't worry, I got it together.

 It was boring. I wasn’t afraid. In fact, I was relieved that I was bored. You know why? Because driving in Japan is like driving anywhere. Honestly, I wasn’t worried about anything. I’m sure it will be harder on a day with rain or tons of traffic but that’s how it is back home too. It turns out that riding in the passenger seat is more challenging than being behind the wheel (this is a subject on which both the hubby and I agree). In that seat, my body still reflexively goes to step on the break. But driving was easy.

I now feel like I can go anywhere. I am so glad I faced my fear and did something scary. I am even more glad that the fear was unfounded. It only took three months.