One last thing

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Richard Frost - Manchester

Today is cold, wet and cloudy, which can mean only one thing - we're back home in Manchester! It's been an exhilerating journey and a good deal more than we bargained for. The original plan called for 3 months, the reality was 5. The aim was to visit 6 countries, it ended up being 9. We each stuffed 1 novel in the backpack, but ended up reading 14.

A lot has happened. We've visited Chinese pagodas, Buddhist wats, Hindu shrines, Christian cathedrals and Muslim mosques; slept in hotels and jungles; met some amazing locals and lifelong travellers; and seen our bank balances evaporate.

But emphatically it's been worth it, and it's rare you can honestly say you've enjoyed every minute.

To see first-hand the conditions in other countries makes you appreciate all the more what you've got back home. We may have MPs buying duck islands but at least we can vote them out. We may not have great weather but at least we've got a roof over our heads. And we may not have fabulous street food but at least we've got muesli, and fresh bread, and milk-chocolate, and wine, and yoghurts...

What I'm saying is Britain isn't all that bad.

We've got one of the best deals in the world with our holidays, our free healthcare, our pensions, our schools, our law courts, our TV, our books and our newspapers. Stuff that most people live without.

Having said all that, it's still chucking it down outside and I'm already making plans for the next trip. South America's the frontrunner, especially if it can somehow be tied in with working abroad. Or it could be somewhere else altogether - India maybe, or Australasia, or Europe.

Anywhere, basically, as long as it's got some sun.

Thanks for reading,
Richard

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