I'm in the final days of an incredible 11½ months travelling through
I'm looking forward to...
- Cheese
- Bread that hasn't been deep fried
- Fresh crunchy salad
- Wearing jeans
- Anonymity
- Hanging out with my family in
- Speaking English with everyone...and them understanding me perfectly
- Having friends around me
- Set prices in shops
- Digital radio (Especially BB7)
- No smoking in public places
- Watching films
- Borrowing books from libraries
- Wearing skirts, dresses and other pretty, girly clothes
- The Guardian
- Hot showers and baths
- Cooking my own food
- Significantly higher cost of living (My toothpaste cost me US$0.43 – How much was yours?)
- Reality TV
- Junk mail
- People being unfriendly
- Drunken rowdiness (unless it's my own)
- General hum-drum
- House cleaning
- Our over regulated society (As Liam and I sang, "There are too many rules in the West.")
- Feeling prudishly shocked by Western women in skimpy clothing
- Lots of cars on the roads
I won't miss...
- Getting stared at
- Having little kids look over my shoulder all the time to see what I'm writing (yep, including right now)
- Being asked "Where from?"
- Banging my head on low doorways
- Having to be ultra careful about water (Microbes from a wet plate can really ruin your day)
- Being asked how much everything I own cost me (Response: "I don't know it was a gift.")
- Rubbish and poo on the streets
- Mosquitoes
- The "Om Mani Padme"song on repeat
- Spitting and the hacking sound that precedes it
- Delicious curries
- Walking past lush green rice paddies
- Glasses of milk tea for US$0.08
- Riding on top of buses
- Genuine, friendly locals
- Mangoes
- Buddha statues
- The joy of finding a really special guesthouse
- Feeling like a celebrity and seeing people's faces light up in surprise when they see me
- Terraced farming cut into steep hillsides
- Noodle soup in its many beautiful incarnations
- Shampoo in single serving sachets
- Parle-G biscuits
- Street food
- Walking barefoot around temples
- Being able to eat out every single meal
- Vibrant religious festivals and ceremonies
- Animals out and about, taking themselves for walks and hanging out in the street
- Tailor-made clothes
- Markets!
- Meeting amazing travellers from around the world
- Tasting exotic fruits for the first time
- The Muslim call to prayer
- Overnight train journeys and waking up somewhere new
- Swimming in warm sea and snorkelling
- Feeling intrepid at land border crossings
- My own child-like wonder at the newness of the world around me
