Chefprefers BLOG

The battle of left and right is real, and apparently my brain never received the memo.

Most of the world drives on the right side of the road, including Europe and North America. But then you have places like Australia, India, Japan, and New Zealand where they decided, “Nope, we’re doing things the other way.”

The funny thing is, it doesn’t just affect driving. It affects walking too. Sidewalks, footpaths, bike paths, anywhere people move, suddenly your brain has a tiny traffic controller inside yelling, “Wrong side, wrong side!”

Hiring a car in a country that drives differently is a full adventure. Leaving the rental car park feels less like a holiday and more like being the star of your own action movie, except the enemy is a roundabout. After a while, your brain adjusts and you start driving like a local.

But walking on the “wrong” side is where things get weird. You have to think about every step like it’s an exam question. You can see other travellers from left-driving countries doing the same thing. Their faces have that look of someone trying to remember a password they haven’t used in 20 years.

My wife usually keeps me on the right path, although sometimes she struggles too. We end up doing a little dance on the sidewalk, both of us silently wondering who is supposed to move first.

After all my travels, I think the hardest thing isn’t driving on the other side of the road. It’s convincing your feet that they don’t already know what they’re doing.

Have you ever found yourself fighting your own brain while travelling? Drop a comment.