Final entry - on my way home. So the flight to Tampa was horrendous for my poor tired brain, but Business Class on NZ Air is awesome. I arrived in LA before I woke up in Christchurch and very foolishly did not use the NZ Air arrivals lounge, big mistake. Ended up paying to be in the Delta one for my flight to Tampa, which wasn't great - despite having Pierce Brosnan in it. If there ever is a next time, I will do as my travel agent advised me to and stay for a couple of days and enjoy LA. Will definitely use the arrivals lounges as well - perks of business class....

It took me almost a week to get into the local timezone - which is unheard of for me - I'm normally okay quite quickly, but then I'm normally coming from the other direction. I spent at least 3 days wandering around like a zombie & falling asleep at the drop of a hat.

Staying with big sis was wonderful as always and she was very kind to put me up for 4 weeks - longer than I've ever stayed before. Has been a great way to wind down, just chill, do some shopping, visit with familiar faces and places. It's been good and made me wish I still had money left, as it's kind of invigorated me to travel some more, but hey ho!

4 weeks has gone too quickly.

Drive to Miami has been okay, not terribly exciting scenery, as it's mostly fenced off - I guess I was naively expecting to drive through lush Everglades and swamps - lots of boring road with reeds either side. Minor wobble at the airport, as it appeared my travel agent hadn't changed my flight, but the check in staff were great and sorted me out (despite some prima donna screaming about her injustice beside me at the next desk - amazing what good manners & politeness, not to mention a business class ticket, will get you). So on the flight and due home tomorrow.

I heard it's raining there. Typical.

Well it hasn't been as long as I planned, and I certainly spent alot more money, more quickly than I planned, but it was so worth it.

Do I have a favourite place? Not really, I liked them for different reasons.

Would I go back to some places? Yes! I loved Singapore and would love to go back and spend more time there. I could definitely spend more time in SA & I was surprised how much I liked Australia. I loved NZ & could happily move there.

Would I do it again? In a heart beat, but I expect I'd need to win the lottery this time round.

Would I do it differently? Maybe, maybe spend slightly less on flights and hotels - maybe do a bit more investigation on some of the locations, but pretty much the same. This was all about being a tourist for me, not being a native or getting off the beaten track or experiencing the "real" wherever. I wanted to see & do the big things that made those countries/places famous and was happy to stay well inside the tourst bubble. I did get some great extra stuff by doing walking tours at the Tourist Info places & would highly recommend it to anyone who wants something slightly different to the "big bus" tours, but I'm glad I did what I did.

Do I want to go home? No, I wish I was young enough to get visa's and stay & work & live in some of these places, but at 40, not many countries will take me. Shame, as I'm probably a better bet than many youngsters, but that's the way the world is.

And so I draw a curtain on my blog. Probably not the most exciting, but hey, it wasn't really for anybody else's benefit but mine. I wanted to photo's and the memories preserved, which means I can revisit this when I want to.

And that's the point.