If there’s one thing ten days in a monastery have taught me, it’s that all good things must come to an end. Including our round the world adventure. We’re coming back home to the UK soon, flying east of course — so that I can legitimately claim that we’ve been “around the world”!

We’ve still got a bit of travel planned soon after our return, most notably a trip to Vancouver to take part in Naomi and Ben’s wedding. For now thought, my thoughts have turned to our homecoming.

• Will Britain be as glorious as I remember it, or am I wearing a deep shade of rose-tinted spectacles?
• With so many new perspectives and learnings, will the way we live in the UK seem somehow different? Better? Worse?
• Will our travel memories fade quickly as we reintegrate into the rigours of modern, Western life?
• Will any of our friends and family give a monkey’s bottom about hearing us recount our stories, or will we be written-off as travel bores?
• Did we really get danced-at by fifty sweaty African villagers, extorted, thieved-from and then sleep in a tree… all within a single day?
• Is anyone still reading this blog, or am I just typing to myself?!

Right now, all I know is this: it has been a once (ok, maybe twice) in a lifetime adventure and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed ourselves through the good, the bad and the downright ugly, not to mention outrageous. As a couple, we’re still together and stronger for it: we’ve spent almost two years in pretty-much 24×7 close-company with their significant other and are coming away smiling!

Dear friends and family: we’re looking forward to seeing you soon and catching-up with your blogs, even if you’re not writing one.