I've been home about six weeks now and the trip already seems like it happened to someone else, I've settled in so quickly. Everything is back to normal and I'm taking it all for granted again.
But I've got all these memories.. triggered by the most random things.. so suddenly I recall facts and experiences and stories and people that I didn't even write about in my journal at the time. There was just so much input every day; physical, mental, emotional that I didn't write about or take photos of, and I wonder how much of it is already lost.
People have been asking me "What was your favourite place?" That is such a ridiculous and hard question (I've way over-analysed it.) My favourite places totally depend on the people I met there, the moods I was in, the things we did. Maybe if I'd done the whole trip with the same travel buddy (and never met anyone else) then I'd be able to compare the actual locations.
"Well then," people continue, "where would you go back to?" That is a completely different question. Vietnam is such a happy memory for me, but would I go back there? Only if I was in the exact same mind-frame as I was earlier this year, if I was in the same relationship with Scott and if I met Matt, Drew and Nadeane and travelled with them!
So my "favourite" places (totally depending on people, weather, mindframe, etc) are...
Vietnam
Edinburgh
Berlin
Krakow
Budapest
Croatia
LA
Mexico
Cuzco.
The places I would go back to are not to repeat the experiences I had in the "favourite" places, but because I feel there's a lot more there I'd like to see!
Iceland
Mexico
Guatemala
Peru (and allll the rest of south america!)
In Kualar Lumpur airport on the 10th May 2010 (on the way to Thailand) I wrote on the first page of my journal 'I guess I'm daring myself to see if I can really do it. I don't know what this trip is going to mean to me, what I will think about and remember when it's finished.'
Now it's over I think mostly of Nadeane and Flick and all those other amazing people I really clicked with like Grace (Paris), Dan (Edinburgh), Sarah (Budapest), Lily and Hana (Amsterdam). Liza and Yaqueline and Maria Magdalena those little girls from Peru. All those hostels and photos and moods and tears and busses. All that food! All the worries, and laughs, and internet cafes! All the maps and trains and help from strangers. All the family-friends and couchsurfers who took me in. All that internal wrestling. All that walking and stairs and scaredness and feeling like I was in the exact right place at the exact right time.
On the 16 December I was in Auckland airport on my way home and I wrote in my journal:
"I've so nearly done it! It's almost (as in 5 hours to go!) over! I keep saying 'buenas' and 'gracias' and 'permiso' to people in NZ.. speaking English to english-speakers is so weird!
...
Am I more mature? Emotionally strong? Independent? Those are the things I wanted. Life experience. Stories. Inspiration. Understanding. Maybe I'm a bit braver. I've learnt a heap. I know what I'm bad at, but I know all the times I've been proud of myself too, like being understood in other languages, asking for help, making friends out of strangers, doing things on my own."
I was kinda amazed that I was nearly home alive! I had this morbid fear of dying while I was away just because of being alone and taking all those risks, thinking about how many other travelers die on their big trips, either from freak accidents (that exchange student who was being driven by her L-plater host and crashed in Australia, those British backpackers who drown in rips, the backpacker hit by a car in St Kilda) or terrorist attacks (Bali, London, NY- where next?) or kidnappings (Brit Lapthorn in Croatia, Mexico etc). And there are so many bus crashes! Dying on holiday has got to be the saddest thing ever.
Coming home was the best feeling, but now I'm ready to go again. Pity I'm in debt and don't actually have a job. I'm back on Matador and Gridskipper and Lonely Planet websites getting inspired. I want to drive around Australia surfing and camping, and inland to the Red Centre as well. I would head straight back to South America tomorrow if I could. Next Europe trip will be Greece, Turkey, Spain and Portugal. Also want to do a road trip around the USA and get to Scandinavia one day. Would love to do a ski season somewhere and do all the adventure stuff in New Zealand.
So... who's with me?
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