Look right. Then left. Then right again. I didn’t realize how unnerving driving on the “wrong” side of the road would be until I got behind the steering wheel of my rented Toyota Corolla and contemplated the task ahead.

I was in Stellenbosch, South Africa and my plan was follow the Garden Route to Port Elizabeth, some 800 kilometers east. I’d spent the previous jet-lagged night visualizing the process, and it seemed easy. But, in the light of day with the engine purring, easy was not the word that came to mind.

Our week-long itinerary called for overnights in Hermanus, Knysna, Wilderness, Tsitsikamma, and Schotia, so there was never a huge distance to cover on a single day. Though each morning, it was a little easier to take the wheel, driving on the left side of the road never became easy or comfortable.

To pass the time, I ruminated on the many things about driving on the left that I found daunting.

1.  I am spatially challenged and could never figure out quite where I was in my lane. Was I driving in the middle of the road? Was I too far left and on the shoulder? Or, had I found the “Goldilocks” spot at last. It wasn’t a problem on quiet roads, but when I was flying along two-lane highways at 120 kilometers an hour, I tensed every time a car approached from the opposite direction.
2. Locals  looking for taxi rides simply stand on the shoulder of the road and wave cash to signal they need a ride. I was concerned that I was going to hit someone.
3. To allow cars to pass, the standard is to drive on the shoulder of the road.
4. Everything in the car is oriented exactly opposite of what I am accustomed to. Of course, the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car. That’s the easy one. But, I had to glance up and to the left to look into my rearview mirror, not up and to the right. The windshield wiper lever was on the left side of the steering wheel rather than the right, so my SOP was to hit the windshield wipers rather than the turn signal when I need to signal turns.
5. Too many distractions! Just when I’d think I had it, there would be a family of baboons hanging out by the side of the road to distract me.