Out and About: The World

It was 2002. I was a little Aussie backpacker, worn and bedraggled after 3 solid months of noisy hostel dorm rooms, day long train rides, ten different foreign languages, too many breadsticks with sardines, underwear laundered in the shower and a constant cycle of companions- too many good-byes. (Now don’t get me wrong. I loved my trip. I loved the adventure, the sights, the culture, the food, the people, the languages, etc. but I guess there is a limit on how much you can take of any good thing.)

As a bit of a luxury and a total disregard for my 25 Euros a day budget, I booked a tour for my few weeks in Turkey so that I would be ferried around, fed and installed happily each night in hotel rooms with heavenly ensuits and a glorious lack of squeaking bunk beds.

Plan worked. Not only did I take some relief in the new comforts of the tour but I found myself happily nestled in a group of travelers that did not change from day to day. No more good-byes, for a little while.

However, after a few weeks of oily Turkish lunches, feta cheese and olives for breakfast everyday, a nice bout of tummy bug and a new intolerance for being told where to go and what to see, I realised that I was, at last, travel weary. So when some of the fine travelers from the tour offered to take me in when we returned to London, I snapped at the chance to spend a bit of time at a "surrogate" home.

Luxury! Cups of tea with scrambled eggs for breakfast, mornings lounging on the sofa in front of TV, TV IN ENGLISH! I left my toiletries in the shower and my pack unlocked. I ate Wheatbix and Tim Tams and caught up on news in the world. It was so terrific and just what I needed then to give me the energy and enthusiasm to go on with the end of my trip.

The point? Well one of the lovely couples I stayed with, London boys Paul and Ian, have just been here in my home town for a visit. It’s been a bit of catch-up, some sight seeing and a chance for me to show my appreciation for those life-saving cups of tea two years ago.