42: “Honey, I’m Home!” (UK)

Wednesday 28th August 2019

Day 120 of my SE Asia / Australia Trip (121 Days Away from Home!)

I AM HOME. It’s all so surreal. It’s been talked about for so long and going home has always been so far away but now I’m actually here. After 25 hours travel from Sydney to Doha, Qatar and then to Heathrow I was more than ready to be back. The flight was actually more bearable then expected – it was just a really intense movie day to be honest! I flew on the A380 which was HUMUNGOUS. All I could really see from my window was the massive wing!!

It feels so good to be back and I feel very happy and content. Inevitably I will miss the travel life and all the amazing new places, but I am beyond excited for the beautiful adventure I can now embark on at home! I’m in an entire different headspace to when I left the country. I feel so much clearer and a lot more positive about every aspect in life. So yes, my advice is leave your job in retail and travel the world. Works wonders. 

Of course I can talk for an eternity about how incredible my time away was but it’s important, to me, to emphasise that it isn’t and hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. As much as everyday hasn’t been individually amazing, the experience as a whole has been indescribable and I’ve learnt invaluable lessons about life and how to handle myself throughout it. 

Being an annoying traveller and pointing out everywhere I’ve been on the map at the service station – my boyfriend looks THRILLED by it. 

123 days apart was more than enough!!

There were a lot of days within the first 2 months that I was ready to go home. I nearly did book flights to come home in early July at one point. But I am so glad I stuck it out – read about what I wouldn’t have done. For every unbelievable low I experienced there have been 5 incredible highs which will stay with me forever. And I’ve come to realise that out of every situation comes something a million times better. 

If I was to describe the experience in 3 words I’d say challenging, rewarding and defining. It’s incomparable to anything I’ve ever done before. It’s easy to want to travel, but not always easy to actually put yourself out and go for it. 

The first picture of my trip – back at Stafford station on 30th April before I headed to Heathrow for my outward flight to Singapore 

I’m so glad I took the opportunity and made the most of it all. I’m also so happy with the sense of purpose I did it with. Yes I wanted to explore and learn and all of that but I also wanted to find something for myself I couldn’t get from just staying at home and working the same job. And I definitely did that. I feel new and refreshed and like my mind has been given a clean slate. 

I think I really felt overwhelmed by it all on my last few days in Sydney. Australia was the best. I spent the whole time with friends – 4 of whom I didn’t even know when I left home. Everyone was so friendly, welcoming and generous and it just filled me with so much joy, love and happiness. 

I could go on forever, but let’s be honest I now have forever to spend with these memories. I can’t wait for the next adventure, whether that be a small one at home or a big one across the world. 

Thank you to everyone who’s been reading my Daily Blogs, I hope you’ve enjoyed them! I will of course still be posting here but more sporadically and in a different format. I hope you still come back and read the posts, and share if you like what you read. (I get bored way too easily so there will always be something popping up on here!)