Hello from sunny Newburgh-upon-Ythan! [That's pronounced like "python", by the way.] I have finally returned to Scotland, having had more tedious messing about with British Airways (more on that later). When I got back and finally started recovering from jet-lag, I had yet more tedious messing about with this very STA Travel Journals website (more on that later, too). If you saw the start of an entry from Newburgh that appeared in the early hours of Sunday, that's gone.

Feels slightly strange to be back "home"... Especially when you look at all the pictures I've amassed over the last six months, which are now on my computer (anyone who wants copies of some of them, e-mail me). All I need to do now is work out where I'm going to live and what I'm going to do next - easy! In the meantime, though, it's the end of the year - the time of countless worthless awards ceremonies. At least ITV seem to have axed their vomit-inducing "Record Of The Year" farce on the basis that it's just going to be hijacked by McFly fans voting en masse. Still, what's another awards ceremony between friends? Here's mine.

BEST BEER

The most keenly fought title, with honourable mentions due to Fiji Bitter for having the best slogan ("The Sportsman's Beer") even though it doesn't actually taste as good as Fiji Gold. The Beer Hoi in Vietnam probably comes second, simply for being so amazingly fresh. Beer Lao has to be the winner, especially when drunk the Lao way - in a glass full of ice, constantly being topped up from a jug by a nearby local so it doesn't get diluted by the melting ice.

WINNER: BEER LAO

FRIENDLIEST LOCALS

Laos was probably the front-runner for this one, until I arrived in Fiji. Sure, Nadi is full of the usual con artists, but as soon as you get out of town the Fijian people are the friendliest bunch you could meet. The Fijian sense of humour is nicely sardonic, and they're genuinely welcoming. It's sad to hear about the military coup, even if it's not expected - but even when I was there, the locals were telling me to say to people that the coup is "just politics", and not to let it stop people travelling there.

WINNER: FIJI

MOST ENTERTAINING ROADS

New Zealand has to be mentioned for it's third-world-like roads (particularly the 11km one to Harwood's Hole). The real thing, though, can't be beaten even by the Kiwis' mystifying reliance on gravel tracks. The road from Siem Reap back to Thailand was basically one long pot-hole, linked by a thin lattice-work of dirt road. The journey took 10 hours, and it was probably a blessing that there were no seatbelts. Easier just to be thrown out of your seat, then climb back into it.

WINNER: CAMBODIA

BEST BOOK

On my travels I have read: The Shape Of Things To Come by H.G. Wells, The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger, All Fun And Games Until Somebody Loses An Eye by Christopher Brookmyre, The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, He Died With A Felafel In His Hand by John Birmingham, Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and probably more that I've forgotten about. Obviously, literary merit goes to The Glass Palace and Gulliver's Travels, which were also riveting reads once I'd got into them. For sheer brain-warping enjoyment, though, I'll have to go for the Craig Clevenger book. I've not read anything else he's done, but his first-person take on a six-fingered con-artist's attempts to manipulate everyone else was probably the most thought-provoking thing I read on my travels.

WINNER: THE CONTORTIONIST'S HANDBOOK

MOST LISTENED-TO MUSIC

When I plugged my MP3 player into the computer to compile a list of everything I've listened to, in order, there were a few surprises. Some of my favourite bands didn't fare so well, simply because the count was split between too many songs. I went through two distinct Pixies phases, though - Debaser was the most listened-to song before I left, and I was constantly reminded of Monkey Gone To Heaven by the Bloodhound Gang song that was played in the Feejee Experience bus. Here is the top 20 to this date:

1. Debaser - Pixies
2. 101 Infoburner - Senser
3. Monkey Gone To Heaven - Pixies
4. The Great Escape - We Are Scientists
5. Dig For Fire - Pixies
6. A Modern Way Of Letting Go - Idlewild
7. Angel - Massive Attack
8. Zoom! - Super Furry Animals
9. Go With The Flow - Queens Of The Stone Age
10. Only (EL-P Mix) - Nine Inch Nails
11. Rolodex Propaganda - At The Drive-In
12. Sabotage - The Beastie Boys
13. Under The Gun - The Sisters Of Mercy
14. Thru The Eyes Of Ruby - The Smashing Pumpkins
15. It's A Hit - We Are Scientists
16. The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash
17. Hurt - Johnny Cash
18. Mr E's Beautiful Blues - Eels
19. Midlife Crisis - Faith No More
20. Burn Baby Burn - Ash

WINNER: DEBASER

BEST FOOD

There was, obviously, plenty of great native food on offer in the various countries I was in. Except Australia and the USA. Being a fan of spicy stuff anyway, I'm drawn towards the Asian countries - and the nicest single dish has to be Fish Amok from Cambodia. Fish curry, served inside a coconut with rice on the side. It's worth going to Cambodia purely for that. Plus, it'll only set you back a dollar or two.

WINNER: FISH AMOK, CAMBODIA

BEST NUTCASE

Ah yes, there have been a few of those. Rachel David springs to mind for some of the bizarre things she did and said, but she's ruined her own chances by occasionally coming out with extremely wise and perceptive comments which betray the undoubted brain power working up there (hello, Rachel!). the prize has to go to Andrew, my car companion from San Francisco to Las Vegas, for having a complete personality meltdown and reverting to the mental state of a 9-year-old.

He's a genuinely nice bloke, and he is full of nothing but good intentions. And wind. Still, I was ready to throttle him when I got back to the room at 3am and he said "you'll never guess what happened! I set my alarm on my phone for 7am, but I hadn't changed the time so it went off just now. Can you set your alarm, please?" I don't even think he was telling the truth, there's no way the time difference would have been 4 hours (unless he'd tried to change it and screwed it up). Remember this when he wins the "Best Animation" Oscar in five years. I won't tell you his surname, though. I haven't given him the link to this website, although I don't honestly think he'd read it if I did. He's not big on reading. Or writing. I got an e-mail from him, and it reads like the ramblings of a dyslexic child.

WINNER: ANDREW X

BEST HOSPITALITY

I was put up at various stages of my travels, so thanks are due (in order of hospitality) to Helena, Andrew (no relation to the other Andrew!) and Steve & Joanne. They all made my travels easier by allowing me to crash on a spare bed, showing me the local sights, and generally being perfect hosts. I can't choose between them, but Steve & Joanne put me up for the longest time and helped me buy my car when I got to New Zealand, and I had only met them a couple of months previously.

WINNER: EVERYONE!

WORST TRAVEL JOURNAL WEBSITE

Tricky to judge, this since I've only used one. It's pathetic, though. It has crashed and eaten my journal entries on several occasions, after I've spent over an hour typing. It rarely works on Internet Explorer 7, which means that it was impossible to get into for most of my time in the USA. When I found a computer with Firefox, it was even more of a risk - since you can't cut 'n' paste in Firefox, you have to type the whole entry out and hope like hell that it'll work. That, incidentally, is what happened to my previous attempt to write this entry - it worked, for about the first three paragraphs. The photo upload program almost never works in internet cafes, which (you would think) is a bit of a drawback for a website aimed at travellers.

WINNER: STA TRAVEL JOURNALS

WORST AIRLINE

Honourable mention goes to Lao Airlines, for having a safety record that can best be described as "lax". I did find it quite amusing to fly on a plane where the safety card advised you to use the lifejacket underneath the seat, which didn't exist. But, for ruining the last week of my travels, I have to give this award to British Airways. In my experience, they have the best cabin crews in the world, but I spent the last week of my trip trying to change my flights. Even though STA and Quantas (who BA told me to get in touch with) informed me that it was BA's ticket, they still weren't sure if they could change it even after a week. When I finally gave up and tried to buy a new ticket, the BA woman said "have you phoned Quantas?" Then she said that my card needed authorisation, and asked if I knew the phone number she needed to dial.

WINNER: BRITISH AIRWAYS

That's all I can be bothered to come up with for now. I'm going to head southwards next - I have a wedding in Masham on Saturday (hello Sarah and Edward) so I might post a picture of me in a kilt for those of you who haven't seen that sight. In the meantime, farewell! For those of you who are still travelling, good luck and stay safe. For those who have returned home, keep in touch. For those of you who haven't gone anywhere yet, why not? If I can do it, anyone can...