Open Season!

Even though I haven't posted near enough in the last few months I felt it would be fitting to celebrate the end of my travels (for now!) with one last blog post.

And I've opened the blog for everybody to read so I don't care who sees it! Although I haven't opened it up to search engines...would you believe there are people sad enough to employ minions to trawl the internet looking for mentions of their name? Talk about self-obsessed!

I returned home after a good 14 months of being away last Wednesday. It feels like the whole time I was away and the person I was, was just a dream. I saw so much and did so much and met some fantastic people. I also encountered the scum of the earth, but I suppose you have to take the good from the bad. It makes me appreciate the friends and family and good people I know even more after you have to deal with slimeballs or narcissists or liars and cheaters and people called Charlie. And my first impressions of him were correct he IS only mean to his staff. Mean and condescending and horribly rude and just downright ungrateful.
I do think working for a monster like him has scarred me, and I apologise for anybody in the future I bitch to about my time spent at that hell hole.

I'm a better person for it though, and in turn I can be a better person because (as if I didn't know already) it really shows you how not to do business and how not to conduct yourself. How not to treat the people you rely on is another good one.

On a more positive note, the fantastic people I've met along the way more than make up for the black hole which was my former employer. THese people have taught me things, showed me new perspectives and experiences and even cared for me. I am grateful that I even met them and if they ever find themselves in my neck of the woods I would very much like to repay the favour.

I've been to beautiful waterfront cities and icy wonderlands, been to dirty old towns and heaving cityscapes. People have asked me to pick a favourite but I can't because in a way they each had something that was my favourite.

I have a few regrets, but they mostly pertain to money and material possessions. I don't regret meeting any of the people I did (except for two of them) and given the chance there would be little I would do differently if I were to do it again. My big mistake I think would be buying return tickets then not using them, and not being as early with some travel preparations as I should have been. Not staying in the same room as a junkie-thief is something that was out of my control, unfortunately.

I probably will be bitter about some stuff for a long time, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy myself. I had a fantastic time just living and as I've said all along the most important thing to me is living the culture and the life of the place I am in. I only did a handful of tours while I was there, and only two of them were for more than one day. I'm proud of travelling solo and getting to all the places I got to, and I'm still chuckling at all the anecdotes and funny travel stories I have collected along the way.

Not everybody is cut out for travelling like this-but too many people don't give themselves the opportunity to find out. I have learnt so much about the world and the people who live in it along the way-and at the expense of what? Missing the latest season of Australian Idol? I am GLAD to have missed out on meaningless bullshit like that. You never realise how much the world is about more than just your little patch of earth until you leave it. It may be different for Americans and people from the UK but I realised Australia doesn't even register on most other countries radars, no matter how much our media and government try to tell us so. On the flip side, you may not realise how insular your country is until you go somewhere that doesn't report on the goings on from there...
One thing I loved, was watching an American news program and they had a section 'world news' and the entire section of the programme was dedicated to interstate events. Apparently in Alaska 'world news' means the lower 48 to them.

I love Australia I think it is an awesome country. But I don't have the rose coloured specs on like I had before. There are countries out there that do stuff way better than us. There are countries that some would argue are more beautiful than hours. There are people more friendly or hospitable than ours. I think Australia has a nice balance of everything, and I don't think I've come to anyplace yet where I would be content to settle down and live until my final days in.

But the world is a big place-I may just have to keep looking.

Thankyou everyone for reading and you never know I could be writing again soon ready for another adventure.
xxx Lisha

Penang, Malaysia

I don't want to sound ungrateful but I really would rather be elsewhere...I hate resorts and I really don't like being sunburnt. It's my fault I got sunburnt but not my fault we're here. The idea was for it to be a relaxing holiday but when I've spent the last year and a bit being 'on holiday' I just want to be home. Well, I want to be with Darren but if I can't be there then home is the next best place. I just can't enjoy myself while I miss him so much! Haven't been able to post for a while cos I haven't had regular net access and when I have, I seem to have forgotten my log in for it! Thanks to everyone who has been reading and posting over the many months-I appreciate it :). Happy days and all that-who knows where I'll go next. Suggestions welcome!