Travelling is an adventure. As a child, I loved moving, being on planes, trying ice-cream all over the world. My mother tells this story where one summer we were away for months and when we finally got home to Jeddah, I was so excited I jumped on my parents’ bed, flew backwards and cut my head open on their wooden headboard. I guess I liked coming home, too. Washington gave me impostor syndrome. Growing up in the Middle East, it was a culture shock. I knew I could do my job and I was prepared to work hard, but I never thought I was the smartest, the prettiest, the “-est” at anything. Hillary Clinton doesn’t give up. I said this to her the other day over lunch – she has such a positive attitude about the world and what’s possible, it’s contagious. Even on the worst days, when you feel you can’t get out of bed, she gets out of bed. Friendship is my therapy. I lived in a world where I felt whatever I said would end up in the newspapers, so I was very careful about what I shared, even with close friends. I’ve let go of those hang-ups now. I struggle with anxiety, but therapy helped me deal with the shock and trauma of what happened in my personal life [Abedin’s ex-husband, former politician Anthony Weiner went to prison in 2017 for sexting a teenage girl]. Marriage made me feel powerful and free. Those early days were my happiest. I had a hard but fulfilling job that felt like I was contributing to history. I had a partner for the first time, somebody I loved and looked forward to going home to every night. Everything felt possible. That’s why it was so hard to lose it all overnight. Let others say what they will. In the end you are the only person who has to live with yourself. Dating apps are intimidating. I’m trying to stay open, but dating is terrifying, which also makes it exciting. I believe in love – I had it, I know what it felt like, I’d love to have that feeling again. My mother gave me good genes. She’s 80 with hardly any wrinkles. People tell me, “Oh you look young for your age”, but some physical things have crept up that I’m just beginning to grapple with. Maybe it’s because I’m putting myself out in the dating world again. There’s a reason God created sex. It’s that sense of fulfilment and connection, of what you’re giving to yourself and to your partner. I didn’t explore it enough. I was raised in a world where sex was a taboo subject and it made it very mysterious. It was forbidden in our culture, but my parents said it was my decision. I kept myself closed. The first man I was intimate with was Anthony. I should have had more fun. The number of nights that ended with work, when I’d collapse into bed, then go back to the office to send more emails… A good life is a balanced life. I wish I’d allowed myself to experiment. Our eyes are at the front of our head for a reason: to look forward. That’s what my father always told me and I try to live by it.