Day 126 (Mon 18 Jan): Kuala Lumpur to London


I cried and cried and cried.  I cried so much that concerned, kind strangers stopped to ask if I was OK.  I nodded as tears streamed down my face. I was clearly not OK.  Of course I was looking forward to going home to see family and friends, but right now I was leaving. Leaving Asia, leaving my adventure, leaving the traveller’s life and, most significantly, leaving Rudy.

One team, two months, three time zones, four countries and thousands of laughs.  We’d been together pretty much all day, every day and leaving him was a real wrench.  I enjoyed travelling with him so much – much more than travelling by myself.  He’s kind, generous, fun, reliable, interesting, observant, thoughtful.  And happy.  Watching him spread his happiness had been incredible to watch and I felt privileged to have travelled with him.  But now it was time to say goodbye:


And so, after two smooth flights over some rather inhospitable-looking terrain:


…. I arrived home.  I’m kinda numb to it all – it seems real to be home, but not real.  I think it’ll take a while for my brain to process it.  And then I’ll write again.

Day 0 (Mon 14 Sep): Leaving London

“So,” I asked Sister (a frequent flyer), “how do I go about asking for an upgrade?”

“Tell them you’re getting married”, said her husband.

“What?  Even though I’m travelling by myself?”

“Yeah, it’s just you don’t know who to yet… because you haven’t met them.  You might meet them on the plane.”

“Say to them,” says Sister, “‘I’ve three pairs of pants.  I’m feeling lucky.  How about an upgrade?”

She then mentioned that, despite being a frequent flyer, she hasn’t actually ever been upgraded.  Funny that! 😉

Travelling light, I didn’t have much to pack, which made leaving the house scarily uneventful. Big Bro waited patiently, and again in the car whilst I tried to remember what I’d forgotten. Arriving at Heathrow, my adventure suddenly felt real for the very first time.  I’ve never been to Asia, so it’s difficult to imagine what’s in store.  But big adventures don’t happen like that, they unfold moment by moment.  So I found the piano and amused myself until departure.