My One Big Regret<\/h3>\n
There is, however, one thing I regret more than anything: passing up the chance to drive a Porsche on Germany\u2019s Romantic Road.<\/strong> Before the trip, my husband told me, \u201cMake sure you get an international driving permit. You don\u2019t get many chances to drive a Porsche on German roads.\u201d But I had only recently, and reluctantly, returned to driving after years as a non-driver following the birth of our first child. I was still scraping and bumping into things, and I had even less confidence behind the wheel than I do now.<\/p>\n So no matter how much he encouraged me, I stubbornly refused:<\/p>\n \u201cNo way! Driving overseas, on the opposite side of the road, in a left-hand-drive car\u2014and a Porsche, no less? I can\u2019t do that! \u03a3\u30fd(\uff40\u0434\u00b4\uff1b)\uff89\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He eventually said, \u201cFine, you don\u2019t have to drive. Just get the permit anyway. Maybe you\u2019ll feel like taking the wheel after riding along for a while.\u201d But I insisted I wouldn\u2019t get one\u2014what if I had an accident and hurt someone?\u2014and off to Germany we went, with no international driving permit in hand.<\/p>\n My husband had booked a Boxster, but the rental company had made a mistake. At the airport counter, they asked something along the lines of, \u201cThe Boxster is out at the moment. Would a Carrera 4S be all right?\u201d<\/strong> (I think they may have offered him a choice between a Macan and a Carrera 4S.) I still remember my husband getting incredibly excited: \u201cSeriously? I can\u2019t believe I get to drive a 911!\u201d<\/span> (Here\u2019s the rental car.)<\/span><\/p>\n I stuck to the passenger seat. I could tell it was a great car, but the Autobahn and the Romantic Road were so relaxing that I spent most of the drive fast asleep\u2026 (We drove on roads as beautiful as these.)<\/span><\/p>\n Somehow, despite sleeping through much of the drive, I came home feeling pretty satisfied with the trip.<\/p>\n But looking back now, I can\u2019t help thinking:<\/p>\n \u201cI had the chance to drive a Porsche on Germany\u2019s Romantic Road, and I just let it slip away. Why?\u201d<\/p>\n What was I thinking? (-_-)<\/span><\/p>\n There aren\u2019t many roads in Japan\u2014and especially in the Kansai region\u2014where you can really enjoy a drive. Even now, when I\u2019m behind the wheel of our Panamera, I often think, \u201cIf only there were more roads where I could experience everything this car can do.\u201d<\/p>\n Driving a Porsche beneath a clear blue sky, along the Romantic Road in Germany\u2014with sweeping grasslands as far as the eye can see, long, straight stretches without traffic lights, and gentle, flowing curves\u2014must have felt incredible.<\/p>\n My husband was probably traveling at a seriously fast pace on the Autobahn (I think he may have been doing around 200 km\/h)<\/span>, but getting to drive a Porsche on the Autobahn, where you can really appreciate what the car is capable of, is a rare opportunity.<\/p>\n I may get another chance someday, but if we go again, the kids will probably come too. That trip may have been our one and only opportunity to drive together as a couple, with all the time in the world and nowhere else to be.<\/p>\n Honestly\u2026 I really was an idiot. (-_-)<\/p>\n People say that it\u2019s not the things you do that you regret, but the things you don\u2019t do<\/strong>. So when an opportunity comes along from now on, I\u2019m going to try to say yes\u2014unless there\u2019s a good ethical or practical reason not to. We only get one life, and I want to make the most of it with as few regrets as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Looking Back on 36 Years In my 36 years, I haven\u2019t had many regrets. I\u2019ve usually followed my heart and done what I wanted to do, and I love the life I have now. That doesn\u2019t mean everything has gone smoothly or that life has always been fun\u2014in fact, I\u2019ve failed far more often than I\u2019ve succeeded, faced plenty of setbacks, and learned some lessons the hard way. But when I\u2019ve faced the choice to...","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_locale":"en_US","_original_post":"https:\/\/www.panamera-life.com\/?p=996","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nocar-nolife","en-US"],"yoast_head":"
\nIn October 2014, my husband and I finally took our honeymoon\u2014two years after getting married\u2014and traveled to Germany. We didn\u2019t own a Porsche yet; my husband was still working toward his dream of owning one someday. Since we were going all the way to Germany, he planned to rent a Porsche, drive on the Autobahn, head south along the Romantic Road, and visit the Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi museums<\/strong>. (Some honeymoon, huh? LOL.)<\/p>\nA 911\u2014And a Carrera 4S, at That<\/h3>\n
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<\/p>\nWhy, Oh Why, Didn\u2019t I Drive?<\/h3>\n