Have had loads of bank holidays this past few weeks - Easter, Royal Wedding, May Day - and now another one. Not sure about the logic of having 5 bank holidays over a couple of months and then nothing until Aug but hey, I can't control that: of course, if I was Prime Minister, I'd ensure we stretched them out so that we had one every 6 weeks.

All I've done this Bank Holiday is laze on the sofa watching north Americian TV drama's. I'm proud to say, I did manage to go out for some milk... Not proud about "talking myself" out of going to the gym for the past 3 days when it would have been beneficial to do so - I feel like a little fatty after sitting around doing nothing AND eating a 2 whole packet of Jaffa Cakes. At least I stopped short of devouring the 2 Cadbury's cream easter eggs that are still floating around the house. You know I could of finished both of them off...

Actually, I did get out to watch Pirates 4 with Johnny Depp's biggest 9 year old fan and I worked most of Sunday before dragging myself out to a sister's friends son's engagement party. This is one of the joys of having an Indian background. It doesn't matter if you don't know the person, your invitation to the ball is mandatory as long as you know another family member. I must admit, I was planning on blowing the party out - as a single girl, what's not to like about a 20-somethings engagement party?? But there was good food, plenty of drink and a chance to catch up with some family and friends. Huge congrats to S&C.

So I can persuade myself that I haven't been totally lazy this weekend! Let's see if I can organise stuff for next week so that I have no excuse for lazying around 2 weekends in a row...Ooh I don't know though, my PJ's are mighy comfortable. Lol

So this weekend, we have a May day bank holiday. That means that next week, we'll be half way through the year and I haven't a clue where or how the time has flown by. In January, I was tormented by work and an impending redundancy; I was planning a move out of the London (admittedly not that far out of London) and planning on moving in with family on both a personal and professional bases AND being all reflective about a "clean year" to play with.

As I've said: where has the time flown by??? I'm still at home with family, the new job is going well, I still get into London to meet friends but I no longer have that "clean year" to play with. I still haven't done anything about weight loss or man gain; I have managed a slightly better work/life balance but I'm still getting home at 6.30 and I've not traveled since Iceland in Feb. There is obviously a part of me that says the non-travel bit is fine - I did just come back from an Around the World trip - but again, I'm wondering where the time has flown because I have already been home for as long as I was traveling! Yeah, yeah, I know I have a unique way of looking at time passing. Most people see it in a white hair or a frown line but I see it in opportunities of travel.

Obviously, I'm older and wiser but as I spend more time with people going through the various stages of relationships (dating, moving in, marriage, children and life...) and see, through my work, how those functioning lives slow down and finally end (the body slows down, children move away and no one is there), I wonder what value any of us place on the time we have... I know for the past 6 months, I've just watched it pass by.

I should change the title of this blog - the travel phase has long been over and knowing that I've been home for as long as I was travelling last year still comes as a shock to me! I still have a yearning for something: not sure that the girl who took off for months, came home to redundancy but was head-hunted and who moved away from the buzz of London back to her home town will ever cease to "yearn" for something but I do wonder what's left? (don't worry, when I know what it is that I'm "yearning for", I'll let y'all know...)

So here I am. All of the above has eased into a routine of a new job, living with and being near family, a new job, an effort to spend weekends with friends, a new job, joining but not attending the gym, a new job and poor attempts at internet dating. Do we all just exist for routine? It surprises me to think that after months of moving at whim, seeking out new places and new experiences, I've fallen back into a routine so easily and here I am - back at home and working as hard as ever.

Don't get me wrong - working hard is a choice for me. The new job is certainly a different challenge from the last job I did and I feel more invested in this role. For those of you in the know - you know why. So I'm not really complaining about the work routine or that I am sharing time with family - I'm grateful for the dinners, children and oodles of time they ALL share with me...but it is turning into a "get up, go to work, hang out" lifestyle and I can't but help wonder where that other girl is gone.

I came across the Facebook page of Pinglawara earlier - some of the photo's reminded me of how humble I had felt when I was working there. Pinglawara "inmates" had an appreciation of what it was they received even though I had been horrified by the treatment of some people. I want to return to that feeling - I no longer feel the need to shop for shopping's sake nor do I feel the need to "keep up with the Jones" as much as I did before I went travelling but now I'm always on the go and sometimes I catch myself thinking: ooh, I "need" that new gadget, designer handbag or expensive moisturizer. I check myself immediately and go "what?" but our lifestyle is so hectic that I guess we justify the little treats we constantly give ourselves. Why can't my treat be a gym session or something healthy though???

Just posting some thoughts tonight...Next time, I'll share some real day to day stuff but for now you get me pontificating about all and nothing. Night.

...I returned home. I seem to have been sucked back into life & work and now, my "epic trip" seems like a distant memory. I've put away the diary. I hardly look at my photo's and the markers are vague: In Oct I was gushing about how "this time last year" I had started my trip in India. "Last Christmas" I was not overcooking the turkey for lunch but eating sushi in Tokyo, in Jan I was trekking around Ayers Rock...not sure I want to re-live my solo meal on Valentine's Day in Fox Glacier ever again!...but now I say with more frequency "last year, when I went travelling" rather than being specific about the trip. Is that how time treats these great moments?

Having said that, a lot has gone on since I returned home: there have been catch up drinks and meals with my favorite people, concerts - from the Harlem Gospel Choir to MC Solar to Rumer - snowy trips into town to see the Nutcracker Ballet, spa days with the girls, long Christmas holidays, redundancy to take and short breaks to plan.

Speaking of short breaks: at the end of this month, I'm off to Iceland. The Northern Lights has always been a 'must see' for me and finally that's the plan. I thought it would be nice this year to have lots of short breaks - not everyone has the luxury to take off 10 months, leave family and hearth to see the places one has dreamed of visiting. I did and although time seems to have returned me to a comfort zone of home and work, I'd like to retain some of that 'travel' spontaneity. I think lots of weekend breaks is the way to maintain that.

I'm not sure that I've ever been a huge risk taker but my trip took me out of my daily comfort zone and I know I've made a choice to stay here and work (for now) but I know if I wanted to, I could do it again...I feel blessed because as I've said, not many people have that chance. Those chances have to be self-made but it amazes me that "life" really does get in the way for most people. There are bills to pay, children to organize, commitments to maintain and work routines which even if you hate are comfortable because they are just that, a routine. What can you do about that?

For my part, I'm settling into a new home & concentrating on my new job...and dreaming of the next little (or big) trip.

This time last year, I was travelling in China with my GAP tour group. The week before Christmas, we were in Beijing and whilst wandering around the Forbidden City and along the Great Wall, we coped with temperatures of -10c. It's not half as cold as -10c in Kent this week. Yes, temperatures have fallen to -5c at night and the snow drifts are high enough for snow to seep into the top of my wellington boots but being in Beijing last year the sun was still shining when I put on 5 layers of clothing! I guess knowing I was starting on my epic trip kept me going.

Here, you have major disruption to the rail service, icy roads, schools and businesses closing and there is an air of 'let's turn on the heating and hunker down'. Why? I've been listening to the local radio a lot this past week and most shows are asking why are we the only country in the world (my exaggeration) that is never prepared for snowy weather. Then again, we never seem prepared for 'leaves on the rail' in Autumn or heatwaves in summer!

I have been spending a lot of time reliving my trip - It's a year to the day when my travels started but after the time I spent doing my voluntary work at Pingalwara. I'm constantly thinking: "this time last year..." and with work stresses, cold weather, short days, I'm often left wondering why I don't hit the road to warmer cities asap.

Practically, & thanks to the parents for instilling in me a solid 'working ethic', I can't. I now have commitments and a life. Yet, I'm the one that broke out of that last year and I've dived right back in? WTF!? We obviously strive for regularity and here I was thinking I was not longer regular! lol

It's been an reflective month.
A month with lots of little recap moments: this time last year I was...
dancing at the wedding reception; packing my bags; nervous about my departure day; arriving in Delhi; doing my Seva in Pinglawara... I guess I have a whole 10 months to re-live and I'm a bit concerned that that's all I'll do. Before I know it, I'll have been home longer than I was travelling!

Such is the passing of time.

I'm SO glad to have had the chance to have had such a successful trip but I don't wanna be a year down the road and shocked to realize that I haven't been anywhere since. Obviously, that's highly unlikely but I've decided that I need to ensure something is arranged and booked for sooner rather than later. Something I can look forward to with relish! I don't mean to make you all jealous but next on my "gotta do" list is Iceland and the Northern Lights.

Thanks to H, who saw a brilliant yet short city deal, that's where the two of us will be in Feb. Then there's Hadrian's Wall in April - you can walk all 84 miles of it in 7 days. After Macchu Picchu - easy!

In the mean time, I'll keep busy with some live music, wining/dining with family and friends, getting back on the dating rodeo, job and house hunting... phew tired just thinking about getting on with all of that! Off for a lie-down.

It's weird you know. I've been back for two months and it feels like I've never been away. Since starting back to work I've kept myself busy and concentrated on catching up with family and friends and that's been great. There's been parties, sleepovers, concerts, meals out, meals in... but it's a sad fact of reality that there is only so much you can achieve when you have to put in a full work day. Work which piles up quite quickly and everything obviously is needed "right now".

Apparently, there have been a few changes to my work attitude. I'm more likely to pick up the phone when I need someone or delete an email that's not relevant. I'm prone to laugh and leave for home on time. In honesty, I still yearn for a better work/life balance and I'm not sure a 40hr week is the best way to achieve it.

I know I have it good. When I read about the Earthquakes in New Zealand, the miners stuck down the mines in Chile, the landslides which are occurring in Columbia, it occurs to me how lucky I was to travel safely around these beautiful countries. When I think about the residents at Pinglawara, I know that the clients I work with have it good. Yes, we are in a recession. Yes, it's the taxpayers who bailed out the banks for them to be rewarded with their big bonuses (I could turn this post into a big political rant but I'm not going to!) but we have free medical care, benefits in our times of need (small political rant: I don't agree with benefit cheats) and yet we still want more. I read an interesting article in the Guardian yesterday about an indigenous South America tribe (from Columbia I think) travelling to the West with film evidence to show people how their mis-use of the Earth was killing her. In the Evening Standard on the same night, was an article encouraging large offices in London to turn off their lights at night.

Will anyone listen do you think?
Feels good to get those rants off my chest! and I'm now mulling over what to do with this blog. Not travelling per se, so it can't be travel blog any more...rant per week blog?? wait and see.

I've been back in the UK for over a month now - before I returned to work a couple of weeks ago, I took the opportunity to visit people in far off UK places like Rugby and West London (yeah, you know who you are). It's been absolutely great but I'd like to point out that visiting ain't travelling. Visiting is being taken out for dinner, given the spare room to stay in and then being allowed to wallow in a decadant morning-after of hanging out with tea and chat. It's been lovely but there is a little bit of me that still yearns for the travel again! I exclaim that because I also recollect the feeling of: "I'm done with this, i wanna go home", which I felt only 3 months ago.

So I had resolved to stick to a list of UK places that I need to visit with my trusty ol backpac this summer but firstly, I got caught up with catch up drinks/dinners, then the weather was never right and now it's becoming a fading memory since I started work. WORK! let's get this straight. I need the routine and money but do people really have to work 40+hrs a week to achieve those performance targets that you were going to achieve anyway? That report or deadline really needs to be on the bosses desk yesterday? and the staff who constantly want to 'run things past you' after you've given them clear and concise directives? What is going on with the UK workplace?? Why can't we have a decent work/life balance in London?

I know the commute has something to do with it - public transport is slow and expensive no mater how you look at it. It's a reflection of my travel experiences in other countries that has me thinking that at least I can sleep or read (when I get a seat) on the train.

The long hours we are expected to work also has something to do with it - I have managed to ease myself back into my workload so that I can leave early some afternoons but that's not going to last forever. The one thing I'm sure of is that my workload will slowly increase.

The weather obviously doesn't inspire you to take in an art gallery or concert after work.

So I'm looking for a place with reasonable weather (I'm not expecting miracles), easy work/life balance and an easy commute. I figure I need to either work from home or retire, win the lotto or find a good city where I can get all of the above!

Been home a week and a half and it's been a whirlwind of catching up with family and friends.

It's a little weird to be back in the family 'home'. Nothing in the house or home has changed - it looks the same as when I left (I know Mum doesn't like change but really... I was expecting some new furniture, new towels or something). I guess this is the wonder of travel - I'm the one who has been places and seen new things and I'm the one who is a little bit different.
Lucky for me, there has been one small change at home - there's a new great neice on the block and the kids have visibly grown which is an apparent and obvious sign of passing time.

Slight changes are afoot in the UK: there is a new coalition govenerment in place, Boris Johnson has introduced the bike hire scheme and opened up the first of many bike super highways in London. The high speed train link into St Pancreas only costs £3 more than the slow train into Charing X and I can finally dispose of my travel wardrobe and rediscover clothes that I put into storage! On a completely plus side, I can never catch up with Eastenders - too many new characters and storylines have passed - so I am completely weaned off my addiction to the show!

Haven't returned to work yet. I'm lucky enough to still have a couple of weeks off - wonder if there's time for me to visit work and rub their faces in it? - so I'm going to continue to revel in having my own routine and being my own timekeeper while I can... Taking it easy is hard work. :)