Road to freedom just came full circle
It is eight months since I drove a car and I am getting twitchy. In case you misunderstand me, I don't love cars generally, and try to avoid people who know too much about them. But I have always loved having a car.
It began when I was 17. My father taught me to drive and the day after I passed my driving test he insisted I took the family car to "drive as far as you like" and get comfortable with being alone behind the steering wheel. My love affair with the freedom that driving brings had begun.
And now, here I am, happy to be in Beijing but with no car and no license that allows me to drive in China. This is the longest period in my adult life without a vehicle, beating the four months I endured in Saudi Arabia where, as a woman, I wasn't allowed to drive.