So! That's it. How to finish up writing about a month-long trip of a lifetime? I can't believe it's been two and a half months already since I came home. Three months ago I was on the way to Sydney. A whole quarter of a year. I remember looking out the window of the car as we left Cairns the morning we arrived, feeling so excited and happy, thinking how wonderful it was to be there, and not quite believing I had an entire month of it. Time flies. It's achingly depressing. Of course, the fact that experiences are limited in time only makes them more special - if they were to go on forever we wouldn't enjoy them so much...
At the end of the trip, after a month of doing something every day, and a week of oppressive heat and humidity, I was worn out. Although I loved Singapore it had been a bit of a struggle to make myself get out and explore even as much as I had in the last couple of days. Part of me was glad to be returning home, to my own bed and the cooler weather and the English countryside. But I was also very sad.
Singapore was stunning. When someone asked me, just after I had got home, if I would go back there, my response was that I didn't know – part of me wanted to, but I really didn't like the climate in that region and found it difficult to be there, I'm not really interested in going anywhere else in south-east Asia at the moment and it's a long way to go to just spend a few days in a city. Now, however, I've kind of forgotten how bad it was and I would like to go back one day. Perhaps I'd find it easier to handle the weather if it's just for a few days or so, rather than a month. It's such a cool place, I was impressed with so many things there, even the safety videos on the MRT. I'd like to spend more time at Gardens by the Bay, visit the Singapore City Gallery, go to a museum or two and learn more about the city's history, visit some temples, eat more of that delicious food, wander into Chinatown and not just skirt the edge of it, go over to Sentosa, perhaps go to the Raffles Hotel and have a Singapore Sling (haha), maybe even try some durian (a fruit which smells so bad that the MRT even has signs up saying "No food or drink. No smoking. No flammable goods. No durian.").
Bali wasn't my kind of place. While I enjoyed the things I did there – the cooking class, the sessions at the Yoga Barn – I can't say I liked the place itself; at least, not Kuta and Ubud. I may have enjoyed other, less urban, areas more. After I left, my sister and her friend went to the island of Nusa Lembogan, which is the real tropical island paradise that Bali is made out to be, with beautiful clear turquoise waters (rough seas though), white sandy beaches, stunning colourful coral reefs, MANTA RAYS!!!! (very jealous of them seeing those up close)… I would have liked it there, for a little while. Someone asked me if, despite not really enjoying Bali, I was glad I went. I can be very pernickety with the words I use and to me the word "glad" implies pleasure and happiness - so the answer to that question is no. But I recognise that it was a positive thing that I did go, that I went out of my comfort zone and faced my fear of the unknown, and learned for sure, from experience, that Bali and other similar places aren't for me, or I for them.
But Australia... I loved the rural Atherton Tablelands, especially the area around Lake Tinaroo, it's beautiful. I had such a lovely time at my aunt's, and only regret that I didn't get up to go for the 6am dog walk at least some mornings while we were there. There's a reason why she moved there, why so many people choose to move to Australia and New Zealand: the lifestyle. It is enviable. Yes, people still have to work full-time, have to pay rent or mortgages, have responsibilities and problems and fears, etc. But it's more easy-going than here in the UK, the work-life balance is easier to achieve, people make it more of a priority. There's a culture of community too; people are friendly, they get to know their neighbours and look out for each other. Health and safety isn't so ridiculous over there, people just use common sense and it serves them fine, but they're very strict on understandable, sensible things like speed limits and sun protection. And because there's so much land you can get more for your money than over here. With the money they got from selling their regular, two-bedroom terraced house near Salisbury, Tracy and Rob were able to buy an acre of land in a lovely rural location near a huge lake and design and build a stunning home. Of course, the downside is that it's so far away. And the heat. And the typhoons. And crocodiles. And all sorts of nasty spiders and bugs and creepy crawlies. We're very sheltered here in the UK, we don't have any dangerous animals, natural disasters or such severe weather. Still, I wish it wasn't so far away.
Experiencing a place from a local's perspective, or being shown round by a local, is something every traveller wants. I was fortunate enough to have that for a lot of this trip - at my aunt's, a little in Sydney, and on my first day in Singapore. I've been on tours run by locals in places before, but as part of a group of other tourists. Experiencing and learning about a place, the history, the food, the culture, etc., from a local who is a friend or family member you know well and who knows you, makes it infinitely better, so much richer, more wonderful, the memories stronger and more precious. I am ever so grateful that I was able to go on this trip.
Highlights? Well, the entire time at my aunt's. The skydive. The day where it was just me and my aunt. Sydney. The first day in Singapore. Last evening in Singapore. ...That's quite a lot, haha. But it was amazing, and it's made me rethink a little about how I want to travel in future.
I don't really know how to finish this up. I guess... so where next? Lots of people have asked me that. The only one I have planned at the moment is, thanks to generous family, a few days in Vienna at the end of March, around my birthday. I usually go on a little trip around then anyway, and one of my favourite musician/composers is performing in Vienna on the day itself. I'll spend some time in the city, which is meant to be lovely, but I'd like to get out into some more rural places, too, to the mountains if I can. I am a little nervous, though, seeing as I'll be flying out there literally two days after Brexit, haha... :/
For anyone who has read every post so far, thank you :) I know it's taken me a ludicrously long time to finish writing about this trip, with weeks in between posts since I got home, so thank you for keeping interested. Now, it's back to trying to think of things to blog about! I have some ideas. So, until the next post - byee!
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