The Sunday Post

I didn't know whether to carry the blog on or not when we got home, and to be honest I'm still not sure that I can write anything interesting enough for anybody to want to read, but I'll give it a go..

We've been home 4 days now and I'm still glad to be home (so is Matt) I've being staying with my mum and dad and on Thursday Matt went back to Droitwich to see his family, which is where he is now (or at least that's where he's supposed to be!!) I have spent the last couple of days finding all my clothes and shoes (a task in itself) updating my C.V, drinking gallons of tea and watching trashy t.v, as well as spending time with Stew in his lovely new HOOSE, oh yeah and getting the much talked about new hair doooo!!

Travelling certainly opens your eyes to a whole new perspective in life, and I can safely say I feel a totally different person for the experience. Life back at home is an absolute walk in the park to the life we have lived for the last 9 months. Everything at home is familiar to us, even the faces of people driving up the M1 on the way home from Heathrow looked familiar. I know what bus to catch (my dad will be thinking well why do you keep asking me for a lift and to borrow the car then!!) I know the route the bus will take, I know where all the shops are, I know where to buy what I want. I can talk to anybody (I just don't want to) I don't have to convert the price of everything into Sterling. I don't have to find somewhere to do our washing, I can use the phone and know it isn't going to cost me 50p a minute, I know where to get good fish and chips. Are you getting the picture?

Life at home is soooooo easy and at the moment relatively stress free. Every day that you are away when you're travelling you are constantly thinking and planning, where you will travel to next, how will you get there, how much will it cost, how long will it take, where will we stay, how long shall we stay for. At home your life is almost a matter of habit and we can manage most days without even having to actually think about what we're doing. Get up, have a shower, go to work, come home, have dinner watch T.V and go to bed. I'm not criticising that kind of life, quite the opposite, I now appreciate the most simple of pleasures.

Yesterday I walked to Stew's house which is about 2.5 miles away from my parents house, I loved it. I could have taken one of a hundred ways to get there, because I know them all, I knew where I was going and roughly how long it would take me to get there. You probably think all this sounds really crazy, it may make more sense to other people that have travelled, surely it can't just be me who feels this way after 9 months on the road?!?!

I think back to all the buses, trains and planes that we have travelled on since we have been away, and all the people who have got us to our next destination, i.e the bus driver, the pilot, the taxi driver. I'm home now back in my comfort zone and all those people are still out there, driving the taxi's, driving the buses over the Andes in shit weather on hazardous road, none of the experience is lost on me. It is like being dragged out of 'reality' and thrown into a surreal existence for 9 months and then all of a sudden being plunged back into the 'real world'

We are already talking about our next trip, which won't be for another 6 years as we have a few 'grown up' things we have to tend to first, like me getting a job, us buying a house and getting married. It all takes time and money.

On Tuesday I am back on the road again and getting the National Express to Birmingham to meet Matt, we are going to hopefully get me an engagement ring (oooooh how exciting) and I will see Matt's family and friends, so really looking forward to that. We are then going 'darn Sarf' to see Gary and Eve and the infamous bump, and hopefully catch up with a few work colleagues (only the elite) before we head back 'Ooop North' so start 'Life in a Northern Town'

I can honestly say that 2007 was the best year of my life in so many ways, our travels, Gary and Eve's pregnancy, our engagement, Stew and Kirsty's new house, and so much quality time together. We have enjoyed so many new experiences together and seen so many amazing places, it is difficult to put it all into words.

It was sad when Matt left on Thursday to go and see his family, I felt like I'd lost a limb after spending so much time together, he has being an absolute rock while we have been away. I can't wait to see him again on Tuesday. Matt Looby you truly are the best friend this girl could ask for and I can't wait to be your wife :o)