When the Cheshire emerges...

A year ago today I was at Athens International Airport, on the plane going home.

Mum and I relieved to be settled ahead of the long flight back.

After Thessaloniki we caught the train back to Athens. A journey that took almost two hours than it should have, not least because the train stopped in the middle of nowhere about an hour in... for a SMOKE BREAK. I'm not kidding, look.


The last days in Athens were pretty chilled. I didn't want to stay there again for as long as we did, especially because we stayed in the suburbs again - but I did see some beautiful sunsets, had some more great food and succumbed to buying shoes I'd spotted all the way back in Santorini (they were wedges that had gone down by 40 Euros from the first sighting though, sweet). It's a shame that my afternoon at the beach, the last afternoon before heading to the airport, was ruined because some middle-aged sleazeball tried chatting me up in the water and then tried luring me away with him. Seriously. Ew.

***

I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave this time around. In 2010 I had almost no desire to go home, but a year had changed a lot. It was a daunting prospect after almost four months away, but I was hopeful as well about getting into a routine again, and really committing to looking for a job and/or pursuing travel-related freelance work. But also thinking about USA 2012, which had popped into my head with their financial woes in that particular month (good of course for the Aussie dollar).

Ironically, it ended up being our shocker of a stopover that made me overly anxious to get home.

We had booked rooms at the hotel inside Singapore's Changi Airport. Got there, not available until 8am - three hours after we arrived. It was a 17hr stopover with the intention we'd get that morning rest, then go to the city in the afternoon refreshed to have a look before flying out. The rooms were eventually lost, then no-one proceeded to move from a group of couches for hours at a time. When I finally managed to get my mum and brother to make the trip with me, they could only sustain a quick lunch (at McDonalds of all places) and a short walk along Orchard Avenue before the long return because of their jetlag. So I, clearly least affected, was restless and forced to weigh it out. Why did I not explore myself? Do not even go there. By then I was dying to get home.

A few photos now, from (until the flight itself) a less hectic end of my journey.

Had a rather embarrassing one of my brother at Singapore's Changi Airport, but I'll save it for his 21st. Instead, the area I mostly hung around.

A breaking dawn soon before touchdown in Adelaide.

Today has been a poignant date for me in the 2012 calendar, marking a huge milestone in my life.

A year ago today was a very special time for me - leaving Australia for Singapore and then Europe for the first time by myself.

It was an emotional morning after a 4:30am rise. I was worried I'd packed too much (as always), worried I'd forgotten something, and then after all that had major self-doubts about the 15 weeks I was about to embark on. I'd been unsure of the direction I wanted to take in life after failing to find a 'career' job post-university and felt guilty for wanting to experience Europe a second time... all sorts of things were going through my head.

I cried for most of the way from Adelaide to Melbourne. Then stepping on the connection to Singapore breathed new life into me and I was excited. I remember the amazing feeling I had walking through Changi Airport on arrival so vividly still, and then in the shuttle into Singapore City...

My first photo off the plane, from the shuttle.

First song I heard on the radio: Wonderwall by Oasis. A foreshadow of the epic events that were about to take place.

***

I heard Wonderwall today as I hopped in the car for a five-minute trip. Fancy that... I remembered how HAPPY I was in that moment a whole year ago, hearing that song and looking out the window to this and more greenery. Rushing towards me was a feeling of every possibility opening up to you and wanting to grab everything with open arms, the good and the bad. I'd had that experience in 2010 with my friends but now I was going it alone. And the thought of becoming a true solo traveller thrilled me.

I'm going to be posting a bunch of A year ago today... posts over the next few months to make up for my lack of picture blogging during the trip itself. And also to act as a bit of catharsis because I can't believe that much time has already passed. The last 12 months have been truly life-changing, during that trip and the events following.

***

In those 12 months I was lucky enough to have my 2012 adventure across the ditch. I loved the two weeks I spent in New Zealand and it clearly wasn't enough. I've just written a series on my time there; I hope those who saw my entries enjoyed reading about my experiences as much as I've loved reliving them!

The series in full, if you want to go back all over again too:

New Zealand makes you: test your limits
New Zealand makes you: buy vintage and not buy shoes
New Zealand makes you: spend all your money and then some
New Zealand makes you: thankful for the Australian summer
New Zealand makes you: discover their sweet as confectionery
New Zealand makes you: too busy to record your thoughts
New Zealand makes you: realise they're not Australian
New Zealand makes you: laugh at misfortune
New Zealand makes you: dress up as an elf
New Zealand makes you: try McDonalds