This time last year I had a countdown on my wall. This time last year I had about 2 weeks until I was leaving NZ. This time last year I had many plans, dreams and expectations of my year away. But this time last year I had no idea that 16 flights, hours and hours of laughter, a few tears here and there, 5 continents, 17 countries and almost a year later I would have:

- seen: a pantomime (starring the girl who worked in porn in Love Actually!), El Fantasma de la Opera in Buenos Aires, stunning Christmas carols in Albert Hall, an amazing Tanzanian circus, a French play and the world's worst movies forced loudly upon me by an Argentinean bus.
- discovered food worth trekking across the world for: Vietnamese pho, Moroccan scroggin slices, Italian chilli chocolate gelato, Swiss rosti, Icelandic skyr, Tanzanian wali na maharage, gluten free cookie tasters in NYC, Luang Prabang night market dinners, most amazing spiced chocolate from a café in Lyon, Panamanian papayas and Argentinean mint chocolate medallions.
- been attacked by: a manky cat (which I even fed scraps to!) in a Moroccan café.
- drunk: amazing Thai fresh fruit juice, refreshing Moroccan mint tea, sweet Laos coffee, mate tea in Uruguay which smelt and tasted like horse feed, Icelandic tap water that smelt like Rotorua, horrible Vietnamese coffee (politely forced down) with a local artist, innumerable cups of Earl Grey in London, world's worst coffee but world's best wine in France and yummy spicy tea in the mountains of Tanzania.
- been assumed to be: German, Canadian, South African, Norwegian, American, Israeli, Irish, Spanish, Tanzanian, Russian but generally (unfortunately) always Australian.
- shopped at: the chilled out night markets of Luang Prabang, my favourite Lyon used book market, the maze like tunnels of shops in Marrakesh, the arty cobbled streets of Edinburgh, the colourful markets in Lushoto, the cute craft market in El Valle and the boutiques of Reykjavik (window shopping only!).
- learnt: how to make pavlova. Also, the immense importance of electric beaters in kitchens today.
- walked: in Scottish hail past highland cattle in Fort William, to the most breathtaking view point in the Usambara mountains in Tanzania, in a tropical downpour over a mountain shaped like a sleeping woman in Panama and for a pathetically small distance in the dry dry dry landscape of Uspallata (aka 7 Years in Tibet).
- spent: euros, bhat, dollars, dong, pesos, shillings, kip, francs, dirham, pounds and krona.
- become: a (fish eating) vegetarian.
- skied: (mainly down Route 20) wearing summer clothes in St Anton, Austria.
- visited: a devastatingly poor but amazingly upbeat Nairobi slum.
- seen: beautifully dressed newlyweds be rowed serenely down the river in Hoi An, the amazing engineering feat of the Panama Canal, parades of all kinds,
- worked: teaching kiwi-English to Masai in Tanzania and as a temp in Wimbledon learning law lingo and practicing my phone voice.
- caught up with: long lost relatives who I last saw when I was about 8 years old.
- Been touched by the kindness and generosity of so many people: from the Kenyan family who welcomed me into their family home to the numerous people I couchsurfed with, from those who went out of their way to help me with 'lack of a sense of direction' disease to those who sent me 'survival packages' full of pineapple lumps and other essential items, from the woman who refused to charge me for my cup of tea in Tanzania to the numerous people who told me their stories on long bus/train/plane/matatu rides, from my warm and welcoming London whanau to my wonderful Lyon flatmates. (I feel very fortunate that this list is too long to complete).
- studied: 3 different languages, in 3 different countries, on 3 different continents.
- travelled by: train, bicycle, bus, dhow, car, plane, daladala, ferry, foot and metro.
- been tempted never to leave: Luang Prabang, Marrakesh, Florence, Edinburgh, Tanzania and Bern.
- picnicked: on a picture book sand bank off Tanzania, under the shade of massive trees in Central Park, on the banks of both the rivers Saone and Rhone and in the Andes when Alice and I tried (unnecessarily) to finish off all our fresh produce beneath a big customs billboard.
- made: inspiring, amazing and lifelong friends from all around the world
- learnt (and no doubt forgot) phrases of: Masai, Norwegian, Icelandic, Afrikaans, Thai, the Queen's English, Italian, Vietnamese, Arabic, German.
- dodged: big red buses cycling to work in Wimbledon, scary monkeys ('rabies on a leash') in Marrakesh, huge packs of motorbikes in Ho Chi Minh and the terrifying cleaning lady in my Lyon hall of residence.
- absolutely loved: the feeling of waking up in a new place, experiencing new cultures, hearing different languages, stepping onto foreign soil, meeting such a variety of people and just the general buzz of travelling.

Yep, it has been an amazing year. However, NZ is still, and always will be, home. The more I go away the more I realise just what an amazing part of the world it is. Among the things I can't wait for:

- catching up with friends and whanau
- unpacking my bag. Finally!
- Parnell Chocolate Boutique for world's best (yep, I've done my research) hot chocolate
- driving
- using an eftpos card
- decent books (hostel book exchanges seem to offer purely science fiction or good books in Swedish)
- non-predictable conversations
E.g. not:
"Where are you from?"
"New Zealand."
"Oh, I have a friend in Nelson."
"Great…."
- my piano
- playing soccer again
- manuka honey
- knowing what is gluten-free and vegetarian
- cooking in a kitchen that has more than 1 bowl
- my bed
- buying stuff without factoring in available bag space
- sushi
- having more than 2 outfits to chose from. Actually, who am I kidding - having more than 1 outfit to chose from. (E.g. not wearing the grey shorts that you may recognise from all my photos…)
- sleeping without a snore-blocking earplug + ipod combo
- going a day without someone asking me where I'm from
- soy chai lattes from Larry's ice cream place
- not having to mentally convert money into NZ dollars
- having an income
- Burger Fuel gluten-free burgers
- people understanding my accent
- showering without shoes
- NZ beaches
- not having the knowledge of imminent goodbyes when I meet people
- accessible supplies of vegemite
- Banfield family Christmas
- painting
- getting snail mail
- seeing my Mum!

As a final note, I am always interested, but totally unaware of who actually reads my blog. So if you have read my blog at anytime could you do me a favour? (Please?) Click on the 'message board' button at the top of the webpage and leave me a note, even just your name (in code if you like to be mysterious).

Until next time!
Xx Rach