So to bed

And so I’ve been back a few days and had some time to reflect on the last three and a half months. Chatting to people about what I saw in North and South America has given me some perspective on things past and things to come. We look at the future through an opaque fog but there are things we can do to briefly clear the fog and choose our path. Hopes and dreams keep us walking forward with a purpose.

But back to the real world. Now I’m no longer constantly on the go my legs are putting in an official complaint and asking me not to do that much walking ever again. We’re in negotiations. My stomach is screaming at me ‘Don’t you ever eat that much food in such a haphazard way ever again or I will explode’. I’m trying to calm it with some of my dad’s home-cookin’. My body is threatening to go on strike if it gets treated that badly again. Relaxation and exercise will get it back on side. My brain is thanking me for everything it’s had to mull over since January and wondering whether it’ll get the chance again. Time will tell. In the mean time I shall be enjoying not having to wear a money-belt, the joys of a wardrobe, not having to put used toilet paper in a bin next to me (and the novelty of toilet seats!) and springtime and sun late into the evening. (And in the short term I’m looking for a flat in Edinburgh, so if anyone reading knows of a room going please let me know.)

The most popular question thrown at me is: what was your favourite moment? Without wishing to pinpoint one particular place, my favourite times were had (in chronological order) in New York, Arequipa, Machu Picchu, Easter Island, and Colonia del Sacramento. I’ll leave it to the interested reader to guess why.

I’m not big on goodbyes, so instead how about we leave it as ‘until next time’? And with the words of Samuel Pepys, ‘So to bed’.