Twelve months in, homeless, jobless, savings severely depleted, and any chance of getting a mortgage in the near future completely screwed.

People talk about having no regrets – I’m not one of those people.  I have loads of regrets! I’ve made so many mistakes! The important thing is to take note, learn, and try to not repeat the same errors….

We’ve spent a lot of money over the last few months. Sometimes, a lot more than we should have had to, (India springs to mind). But, truthfully, I don’t regret any of it.  (At this moment at least…ask me in a few months when we might be starving and living under a bridge…).

So, was the travel worth it?

Definitely.

These last twelve months have undoubtedly been some of the best in my life.  I’ve made great friends, met fascinating people, learnt new skills, had countless amazing experiences, seen and done things I’ve always dreamt of, read tons of interesting books, and learnt a lot about the world and myself.

If that’s not enough, I’ve been lucky enough to share it all with the most important person in the world to me, AND, we haven’t killed each other. (Despite having lived together for several years, (we met as housemates), we hadn’t spent more than ten days alone together before we left – so it could have gone either way).

In a world where people often pass away before their time, and when people’s schedules (mine included) mean you hardly see the important people in your life, I feel, (get the bucket ready….), so blessed that we’ve had such a great time together!

There were times when I felt so fortunate, I could hardly keep back tears of gratitude – cheesy I know – but it’s true!

It’s been expensive obviously, and there’s still a lot of that we didn’t get round to experiencing.  Watching our savings dwindle has been stressful, and travelling at our pace has been exhausting. (Conscious of our time scale, we moved every few days to try and make the most of our time.  I know, I know – you get more out of things if you take your time – but, that’s just not me, not at the moment anyway.  Staying longer in one place is great, but it doesn’t mean that you necessarily savour the experience any more, or get more out of it.  Most people we met who were staying in one place for a while seemed to spend most of their time hungover or checking out Facebook in Starbucks…).

I was born into a prosperous and stable society, and it’s important for me to make the most of the opportunities that come with that. Life is for living.

Living life well means different things to different people.  For me, I’ve done a good amount of living over the last year, and for me that will always be money well spent.

What’s next?

We’ve got a couple of weeks left before we cut our trip short to make it back for a friend’s wedding.

I love London, and can’t wait to catch up with people, but, to be honest, I’m nervous about going back.  Sleeping on couches and starting over is going to be hard.

I’m not sure what the future will hold, still, I’m looking forward to finding out.

“I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.
The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.”
– Jack London’s Credo