signing off...

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according to my travelblog page statistics over the last two and a half years, i’ve written over 52,000 words, added over 500 photos and had over 12,000 views of my travel pages! so now, how am i supposed to sum up all my travel experiences in one final blog?!

i have a lot of amazing memories to look back on and such a lot to be thankful for... i'm so pleased that i had the courage and determination to trade my security and stability of life back home for an adventure into the unknown! i have always felt that reaping the biggest rewards come from setting yourself the biggest challenges possible, so moving to the other side of the world on my own was certainly high up there for me : ) i will never forget those first few days in japan and that overwhelming feeling of wondering what on earth i was doing... but i'm so glad i stuck with it as i ended up absolutely falling in love with japan and i met some absolutely wonderful people who have now become some of my closest friends. after all this time, japan is still the place that i compare all other countries to and i wonder whether anywhere else will ever match up to it in my eyes... the beautiful scenery, the crazy festivals, the delicious food, my cute little shoe box apartment, the freedom of riding my bike down the quiet country lanes and the wonderful kids and teachers at my school - everything about japan was just perfect to me. i saw something different and did something different practically every day and i was just so, so happy there.

at the end of such a wonderful time in japan, i was worried about how i would approach my holiday in vietnam... however, i really enjoyed exploring another fascinating country, which was so different from japan. the highlight was definitely staying on a private boat on halong bay, a world heritage site, and taking in such incredible scenery.

after returning home, i knew that i would soon head off again as i had created such ever-lasting memories in just a few months that it really made me think that the 'normality' and 'stability' which i had left at home could be put aside for that little while longer - i realised just how many new and exciting things you can do in such a short space of time and that you have to make the most of every single year of your life and for me, i felt that i had plenty of time to get stuck into a job again and think about settling down when i was a little older... now was the time for ME - to live my life the way i had dreamt about before japan and the way i was still dreaming about it even after i arrived back home...

so after reading the entire contents of 'teaching english abroad' and making list upon list of what i could do in different countries and equally importantly, what new tasty food i could sample along the way, i decided on a summer school job in the north of spain! this was hard work for sure but the daily ice creams, trips to the pool and beautiful city centre made it all worthwhile!

the following few months in seville were a real mix of emotions! i compared all my new experiences to japan and sometimes found it tough that i wasn't seeing something new and unusual every day... but on reflection, i know that i loved seville in a completely different way to japan... they are just such opposites - and that made for a much wider mix of travel experiences for me. i saw a whole new side to the country that i thought was just appealing for short, budget holidays and saw the absolute beauty and passion in the place and its people. there is a song by baz luhrman which has the lyrics 'live in california once but leave before it makes you soft. live in new york once but leave before it makes you hard.' i always used to think of that line when comparing japan and spain; japan being california and spain being new york - such a contrast... but, for so many reasons, an absolute joy to proudly say that i have lived in both.

i'm pleased that after leaving seville, i had a long holiday in australia to look forward to... this was just a wonderful holiday and once again, the breath-taking winter scenery and the friendly locals made this a holiday to treasure.

heading home was therefore all the more difficult as i knew it was back to 'normality' which i realise i make sound boring and uninspiring but it certainly didn't sound as exciting as the experiences i was used to - the challenge now is making that 'normality' exciting for me once again, as it was before i started travelling, and look forward to new memories which i can create here, whilst also saving up my money so that i can plan future travels... ; )

so after securing myself a job for january, i felt like i needed a final challenge to really bring my travelling stint to a close. volunteering is always something that i have been interested in and africa is always somewhere that i have been keen to visit - although the thought of having 6 injections had always put me off before! facing this fear, and feeling like a pin cushion in the process, enabled me to head off to kenya where i worked with such inspiring children living in a slum, helping to teach them and prepare some basic food for their daily meal. to say that it made me appreciate what i have at home is a complete understatement... and i hope that feeling remains with me forever - especially when i'm moaning about the washing up, or having to plan work on a sunday night, or having to settle back down to 'normality' - there are so many people in the world who would do anything to have our insignificant niggles and would relish an opportunity to live in what i call 'normality' - i'm a lucky girl to have what i have.

in terms of what i've gained personally and felt i've achieved from my time away - well, i don't even know where to start telling you about that one - i think i'll just let the 52,000 words and 500 photographs do all that for me.

so now it's time to say sayonara from japan, tam biet from vietnam, adios from spain, goodbye from australia and kwaheri from kenya...

thanks for reading my travel blogs and taking part in the adventure with me : )

''make your choice, adventurous stranger;
strike the bell and bide the danger,
or wonder,
till it drives you mad,
what would have followed if you had...''

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