Expectations can be a killer. I should know; I think I might just have a black belt. But strangely enough I started this adventure with surprisingly few expectations. Sure I expected to travel to these destinations and stay in these places, but apart from that I had unusually few plans (for me at least). And of course, at the beginning of the year, as I was planning the North American trip, I had absolutely no expectation of also heading to London to see Kate Bush.

If anything, as the trips got closer, my expectations became more and more centred around what might go wrong; Icelandic volcanoes, conflict in Europe over the Ukraine, terrorists, Hong Kong unrest, Ebola … I know it's very narcissistic of me to focus these potential tragedies on my little life, but at more than one stage I was close to convinced that the bottom was about to drop out of one or the other of the trips. I don't think I let go of the last of these fears until I boarded the train from Washington DC to New York. The fact that I made it through is a lesson I must hold on to.

So, in that light, how do I feel now that I'm back home? I feel utterly satisfied and hugely fortunate. Of the entire experience I can only think of one thing I would definitely do differently: I would have spent an extra day in Washington DC rather than Toronto. There are other things I had considered, like fitting in some night life or making more effort to be social, but I'm comfortable acknowledging my limitations and accepting that I always did what I wanted or felt capable of doing at the time.

I did have some doubt midway through though. In Toronto I briefly wondered if taking this trip on my own had been a mistake. All practicalities aside, once or twice I could even have happily just come home. Luckily those thoughts disappeared when I reached DC and they never surfaced again.

It was weird waiting in Hong Kong airport to come home. As I ate my ramen and sipped my frozen beer (yes, the head was actually intentionally partly frozen), I reflected on how differently I felt between the trip out and the trip back. I remember feeling a lot more anxious before; I was scared of the unknown and, to be completely honest, not even 100% sure the trip was still such a good idea. I feel much more relaxed, certain and fulfilled now. And sitting in the same spot 4 weeks later it would be easy to dismiss the intervening time as a dream. But what I learnt from going to Europe back in 2010 is that travel leaves a lasting impression and a lasting legacy. Now the last 2 months have become part of those impressions and that legacy. One thing's for sure, after spending most of 2014 either planning or looking forward to these adventures, it's going to be strange not having them on my horizon anymore.

And now it's over what have been the highlights of the last 2 months? Without doubt New York was the standout of the North American trip and easily justified making the journey all on its own. And then of course there's Kate Bush … well anyone should know how I feel about that one.

But just to be specific I've compiled my top 10 for my travel adventures this year, in no particular order:

- Seeing Kate Bush live, from the 2nd row

- The Empire State Building by day

- The Empire State Building by night

- Stanley Park, Vancouver

- The Canadian, Vancouver to Toronto and all the amazing landscape in between

- The Guggenheim, New York

- Circumnavigating Manhattan by boat

- The 9/11 Memorial

- Waking up to the New York skyline 12 mornings in a row

- Being able to spend some more time in London, STILL my favourite city

I know some people have been following this blog. I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it, but at the end of the day this blog has been for me. My way of sharing these moments with the Ian of the future, when recollection of the smaller details gets harder and how I actually felt at the time begins to fade.

This will be the final post for this blog. But I do have another ongoing blog on the futurismgrey website; I had plenty of time to reflect while away and have a mountain of material that's bound to inspire something sooner or later. And when it does, that's where I'll post it.

Last night sleeping in a different bed. Last hotel check-out. Last airport check-in. Last flight. Almost, the last blog post.

My flight isn't until 7:15 pm so I'm going to hang around the hotel until the latest possible time. I'll still have a few hours to kill at the airport but that's OK.

It's funny, but after the flights to or from London, Vancouver and New York, an 8 hour flight home doesn't seem that long at all.

Just landed in Hong Kong after flying for 16 hours from New York. Here was my checklist for good sleeping:

Great seat on theaisle with no-one needing to pass me? - tick

Bulkhead in front of me and plenty of leg room? - tick

The first travel pillow I have ever found that works? - tick

Noise cancelling headphones? - tick

Eye mask? - tick

2 x diazepam? - tick

So did I sleep? Nup, apart from half dozing off 2 hours before landing. Glad I have a hotel room for the night before the final leg home. 

One cool thing about the flight (literally) was that we more or less flew over the North Pole to get to Hong Kong.  

I guess from childhood I was expecting New York to be a city of endless skyscrapers where the only sunlight has been reflected or refracted off buildings down to the street. And yes, NYC is a bit like that, but only in a couple of places. Generally it's much more open, expansive and light than I had expected.

I also expected a cold, unfriendly, smelly, fast, impersonal metropolis. Again, only partly correct. There was an unexpected warmth and a surprising politeness.

So in a way, NYC was everything I expected and nothing like I expected all wrapped into one.

Choosing to stay for a decent length of time was a really good call. I feel I've had sufficient time to do what I wanted without getting frantic and now I'm ready to come home. I've loved this trip and my time in this city. It's been enough to satisfy both my appetite and curiosity. And yet I know I've still only scratched the surface; sampling the parts of New York life that I have felt willing and able to explore.

I doubt I would come back here again solo, but with someone else it would always be a possibility. 

In no particular order ...

It's odd using paper money, especially when each denomination is pretty much the same size and colour. It's even odder using $1 bills.

Toilet bowls fill very high. It's the same in Canada.  Much higher than in Australia. I assume there is less need to conserve water?

Prescription medications are advertised on TV all the time. That in itself seems odd, but what I found most amusing was that, invariably, most of the ads' running times are taken up listing all the side effects or "don't take if you..." disclaimers.

There was a constant buzz of black helicopters taking off and circling Washington DC. Felt a little unsettling.

The realisation that I have an accent and that I have to sometimes make an extra effort to speak more clearly for Americans. The other day I had trouble just asking for postcards. 

I knew there would be lots of yellow taxis in NYC, but I didn't realise how many. Each time I stopped to take note I would say at least half of the traffic would be taxis.

The street and avenue numbers in Manhattan make it so easy to work out where you are and how to get somewhere. For a city this large it would be painful to have conventional street names.

There was a preview for DocNYC, a documentary festival, prior to the French film I saw. So many documentaries! I think the program said over 100. Looked really great too. 

Generally, I felt quite safe walking around Manhattan. No more unsafe than any other city I've visited. Mind you, I was always careful to be conscious of my surroundings. There were a couple of times I stumbled into areas where I felt a little uncomfortable but quickly regained my bearings and was fine.

My regard for American people in general has greatly increased. The trip has blown a few stereotypes and I've found people to be generally very courteous and polite. The rude ones have generally been the tourists!

If you're a walker like me you can get a long way around Manhattan on foot plus a few subway trips. 

I came across a chocolate store that had "potato chips covered in cheese flavoured white chocolate". I kid you not. 

In the day or two following the New York Marathon I've seen many people wandering around with their participation medals on proud display.

And these last two aren't anything to do with the US but I just remembered them ...

I met a chap on The Canadian train who is a business analyst for an energy company who are also implementing SAP, just like Origin. It was interesting comparing notes. 

There was an interesting line in the French film that basically said it's wrong to describe animals (other than humans) as naked, because the word "naked" suggests or implies you are without something. I'd never thought of the word like that.

My feet hate me. Particularly my heels. But at least it's been good cardio and generally great weather for it.

I've been keeping track of my travels on a map. The thick black lines are the main routes I've followed over the last 11 days, plus or minus a few streets and blocks. The yellow circle is the hotel.

It's Monday and mylast full day in NYC and the USA. I'd decided there were still parts of Manhattan I hadn't explored so picked a direction and started walking. The direction was South-East.

I walked a long way down Broadway, south of Houston Street. Suddenly I got a tiny glimmer of London. I think it was probably the mid height buildings, the street width, shop fronts and maybe the light.

Of course, pause and look closely for a moment and there were many things to remind me I was in New York. Most noticeably the fire escapes on the fronts on the buildings.

There were some beautiful and ornate buildings. I noticed the feature around this window.

My journey took me a little way back to the financial district because I'd read of an elevated garden I wanted to see. A bit like the high line, it's up above the street and planted with grasses and shrubs. An oasis amongst the concrete and glass.

I could see the Staten Island Ferry arriving.

From there I discovered I could walk along the East River again and I got my closest views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges in good light.

Eventually the neighbourhoods began looking the same as those I'd visited Sunday morning, so I made my way inland again, through Chinatown and back to Houston.

The front of this building really stood out because it had a horizontal concrete finish unlike any of those around it and some beautiful ivy growing up. Unfortunately my snap doesn't do it justice.

I browsed some shops on my way back. Bought a couple more pictures and looked for maybe one more special book to cram into my suitcase. Sadly, I didn't find a book that wowed me enough. But I have a few books already, so can't complain.

Tonight I'll pack and work out how to bring everything home. I've already checked-in for my flight so that's all sorted. My flight is at 1:55 pm but I'm planning to check out of the hotel around 9:00 in order to get to the airport and through security in plenty of time.

I was about to write that I can't believe it's the end of the trip already. But actually, I can. It feels like forever since I left Australia. I reckon that's a sign of a good holiday.

I learnt the other day that all buildings in NYC over 6 stories high have a water tank. Many are exposed and often look out of character with the building. 

But I've noticed a couple that have been used as a canvas for art.  

While I've been overseas I've been editing some of my pictures for posting on Instagram. For anyone not on Facebook or Instagram, here are the ones I'm the most pleased with. I have a fondness for patterns in architecture, so there are quite a few along those lines. These and others are on my Instagram account.

Escape From Alcatraz

Father and Son (1)

20th Century Castles

It's Cold in the Shadow of the Empire State

Redundant

Father and Son (2)

Exposed

Glimmer of Hope

Breathing

Crossing Over

Meatpacking District Sunday AM

Nonconformist

Homogenised

Self Portrait?

My Sunday started slow. I mean really slow. I went to bed quite early and woke around 1:00 to the usual dull doof doof. I decided to read a little to get back to sleep but got sidetracked watching Kate Bush interviews. Eventually went back to sleep around 3:00 which meant I didn't wake up until it was light. That's a first for my stay in NYC. Not only that but after checking FB and other sites for a little while I turned over and partly dozed off again until 10:30. Unheard of! I guess it may be an indicator that I'm feeling relaxed?

I have a couple of vague things I'd like to achieve in my last couple of days here. I've been updating a map of Manhattan with places I've walked and it occurred to me that I hadn't yet walked all the way to the East River, so that was my first task today. It was mainly clear but blowing a strong icy wind that cut right through. I had to get rugged up.

On the way I passed more Halloween decorated houses. This was one of the more elaborate ones.

I noticed this facade of an old church that has been retained in front of a more modern building.

The neighbourhoods I walked through were almost more suburban than city like.

This was the gate and fence to a community garden.

I made it to the East River before long.

Being Sunday morning there was a steady stream of joggers along the river.

After winding my way back to the hotel I decided to go back to some of the streets I had walked the other day without my camera. There were a few things I wanted to photograph. I got a little mixed up at one stage, thinking that the buildings were on a street that they weren't. But eventually I got it worked out.

This building is The Maritime Hotel. Who would have guessed? Unfortunately the light was on the wrong side so it's not clear from this pic how shiny and silver it is. 

The most impressive was this incredible detail high on the top of a building in Lexington Street.

I'm having a quiet night and getting to bed early. Tomorrow I want to walk some of the last remaining areas I've not ventured to; the East Village, Lower East Side and Chinatown. On the way there or back I hope to check out the streets I found last week that had some cool looking shops.

I've had a lovely day so far. Haven't left the hotel room. First time I've had a "day in/off" for over 3 weeks and it feels good; restorative. Ordered a delicious breakfast, played around with photoshop and Instagram, read, thought ... all the time with this amazing city as my wallpaper. 

And it's been a day of reflection. With two days left to go, what are the most important "must do" things left for me to pursue? 

Finally, a rainy morning. Perfect for staying in bed and maybe ordering room service breakfast. I've been waiting for one of these; an opportunity to be truly lazy without the guilt of what I could/should be out there doing.

So I thought itwould be a good idea to go and watch the village halloween parade. It WAS a good idea and I'm glad I went, but I was also so glad to get back to my hotel room afterwards!

As I set out, the Empire State Building was lit with special colours.  

My big mistake occurred when streets were unexpectedly closed on my approach. The parade was to go down 6th Avenue and in a moment of stupidity I crossed 6th Avenue to find a vantage point. I found my vantage point, but it meant I would be captive on the wrong side of the avenue for the next 2+ hours! One hour of parade was OK. By the start of the second hour it was just more of the same and I'd had enough. There are only so many ensembles of zombies dancing to Thriller I can take.

My vantage point was about 10 blocks up from the start. But for some reason it was nearly 1/2 hour before the first characters reached us, which was frustrating many in the crowd who were more than 10-12 deep by this time. There was a massive police presence too, both to contain the crowd and maintain vigilance. Saw some really good community PR from the NYPD. 

My good move was to leave my big camera behind. It would have been awkward to navigate crowds with and a constant concern. I managed a few rough snaps on my phone; enough to remind me. But after a while it got too hard and I gave up.

The parade is a community event. As a result it was odd mix of "well coordinated, high effort" and "could barely be arsed, just wanted to walk in a parade".

As the parade seemed like it was drawing to a close I decided that walking towards the start point would be my best way of being able to cross the avenue. It ended up being a long, slow walk, shoulder to shoulder, street after street, until finally I reached a point where the barriers were being removed. Yay! Then it was just a relatively familiar trek back to the hotel, with the addition of colourful halloween characters added into the mix. Having said that, it was a fun party atmosphere. There will be many sore heads tomorrow, I have no doubt! I had dressed warmly but by now it was freezing and starting to rain.

So what do I think of this Halloween? Well, firstly I just want to make it clear: if you're into Halloween, good on you, knock yourself out, glad you like it, have one for me. But it just doesn't resonate with me. It seems to me that half of Halloween revellers want to look as macabre as possible and the other half want to look like … well just about anything! The macabre has never appealed to me, and what Halloween has got to do with dressing like Mickey Mouse (for example) is beyond me. Just saying, that's how I feel about it.

I just came across this picture I snapped on my phone the other day. I didn't realise the avenues came in half sizes. For a brief moment I wondered if there was some kind of Harry Potteresque meaning.

Yesterday it was MOMA. Today it was the Guggenheim. I got myself ready by 10:00 and headed out. Once again I decided to leave my big camera at the hotel. It was grey, I was going to an art gallery, and I still had my iPhone in case of photographic emergency!

The Guggenheim is quite a way uptown so I knew I'd have to use the subway at least part of the way. But it occurred to me that I hadn't really walked uptown along 8th Avenue from my hotel yet. I resolved to walk a little way. I'm really glad I did. I popped into the Chelsea Markets just to suss them out. I found a great little book shop I will go back to. Further along I found a great silver building I'll come back to photograph when the light is better. 

I caught the E line followed by the 6 line to get me close to the museum and walked the rest of the way. 

I knew the building was distinctive, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, but I wasn't quite prepared for how it stood out from the surroundings.  

Inside was just as spectacular with floors slowly spiralling upwards. Brilliant for an art gallery because it meant you could essentially keep walking forward without the inconvenience of stairs or escalators to move up and down. 

The primary exhibition was Zero: Countdown to Tomorrow, 1950s-60s. Wow! It was fantastic. I think I enjoyed it even more than MoMA. And I discovered some new (for me) artists I really liked; Heinz Mack and Jesus Rafael Soto in particular. The museum had an app that I'd already downloaded which was great to use both as a guide and also a way of "bookmarking" the works I liked for later reference.

There was an experimental film piece to called The Morning Time Dissapeared by Wang Jianwei. Very trippy, but I liked it. Made a bit more sense once I'd read a little about it.

I spent probably 3 hours in the museum slowly winding my way up then unwinding my way down again. Then it was back onto the subway and back to the hotel.  One of the stations was the closest I've found in feel to the London Underground so far in that there was a long escalator down. Most of the other stations I've used have been barely below street level.

It's Halloween today. I saw a smattering of people wearing costume or references. I assume there will be more later on. The Chelsea Markets were decked out with displays that I'll try to photo later, but I snapped this store with an abundant array of pumpkins out front. I've seem so many like this. 

This evening there is a Halloween parade along 6th Avenue. Weather permitting, I'm planning on going to check it out.

This building directly next to my hotel has intrigued me during my stay.

It's clearly an office but I've been trying to figure out what type. I think it might be something to do with a magazine, or fashion? Anyway, I've noticed that one office has a very nice white spiral staircase.

Except that above it is a standard office with desks and no visible exit point! Maybe it's just for looks? Maybe it's for photo shoots? I wonder.

Today's plan was to visit the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Because it was such a clear day I figured it would also be good for some building photography so I headed to the financial district first. There is a lot of architecture there I hadn't seen yet. Also, there is a Museum of Skyscrapers I wanted to visit.

I made my way on the subway and headed straight for the Museum of Skyscrapers. Wrong! I discovered it doesn't open until noon. I was going to skip it and head straight for MOMA but before I knew it there were interesting subjects to be photographed all around me and I stayed in the area instead. I had loose plans to find something to eat too but kept on getting distracted.

I took many shots that I might play with but won't bother posting here. But I did catch this one at a rare moment of being surrounded by glass buildings.

And of course, I walked past the stock exchange in Wall Street. 

What surprised me about the area is that a lot of the skyscrapers are older. In one particular area the streets were very narrow and the brick and concrete buildings around me tall and dark. Not shiny at all. It felt particularly cold and souless. Maybe appropriate for a financial district?

And the white brickwork on the side of this building intrigued me. It appeared to be a prominent building, yet the white bricks appear to be random and unintentional. Odd.

Around noon I made my way back to the Museum of Skyscrapers. It was very interesting, though not much I hadn't already learned. I'd hoped there'd be something in the bookshop. And there was, just nothing that wowed me. I need to think about my luggage weight coming home and purchase sparingly. 

After that museum I found the right subway station to take me back to the hotel. At one stage I noticed a gantry on the side of One World Trade Centre. Window cleaning? You can keep that job thanks. 

I decided not to take my camera to MoMA; to travel I little more lightly. And I'm not all that interested in photographing artworks. Others have done that for me, and better. It felt funny walking sans camera though. It's one of the few times I've done it this trip. But kind of liberating too. 

MoMA was amazing! So much to see and so well organised. You could wander most floors without having to backtrack at all. Floors 2-4 were my favourites; photography, design, drawings, painting and sculpture 1940-1980. Too many individual items to mention. If I have time I'm thinking of going back again. I'm sure I'll get something different from it. Besides, by this time I was feeling a little light headed because I still hadn't gotten around to finding some food. Too much to do. Consequently, my concentration wasn't what it usually is.

After all that it was nearly 5:00. I finally grabbed a snack. It was my intention to take the subway back to the hotel but peak hour pedestrian traffic made everything more difficult. By the time I found the station I was nearly half way back and I figured the subway would be manic. I walked instead. My feet are hating me right now! 

Thursday in New York and it's another beautiful morning! Clear and crisp - just the way I like it. Can't believe how many great days of weather I've had. Feeling very fortunate. 

Well, the weather did hold out and I made it to the cinema to see the French film. That was the easy part. Having any idea what the film was about, meant to mean or even what actually happened? That's an entirely different matter. Not a clue! It was without doubt the most abstract piece of cinema I've ever witnessed. 

But it was fascinating to see 3D used as a film effect rather than as just a trick to expand the visual narrative. It wasn't 3D throughout and at some stages it kind of morphed between 3D and out of focus at the same time to amazing (and very unsettling) effect. 

Was the film worth the effort? For me, no. But the trip certainly was. Firstly it was good to get out and do another evening activity. And secondly, I got a teeny bit lost finding the cinema and stumbled across some streets with fantastic small shops. I know where it is and will definitely go back to check out a different side of NYC.

It's Wednesday and my 6th full day in New York. That means midday will be the half way mark. For the first time in a while I woke up feeling refreshed so I didn't waste too much time getting up and organised.

Yesterday I bought a ticket online for the guided tour of the UN building, so that was today's primary activity. I used the High Line to get part of the way and managed to see and snap some buildings and fascades I had missed until now. Then it was time for coffee and food before my UN rendezvous. 

The tour was organised very well and our guide was from Brazil. Unfortunately there has been major renovation going on and although the General Assembly Hall has been reopened, it's not accessible to the public quite yet; about another month to go. That was disappointing.  But still we got to enter one of the conference rooms while a session was in progress and visit the Security Council chamber. That was cool. Imagine the dramatic scenes that have taken place here.

Naturally, I located the Australian seat. 

This artwork is a simplification of the 30 articles of the universal declaration of human rights. I was hoping to get them in a book form but one wasn't available in the store. 

After the tour I decided to wander some of the streets I haven't yet visited. I took in Madison Avenue and Park Avenue to the North of where I was the other day. There were certainly more up market stores that end.

On the way I got the closest I've been to the Chrysler Building so I had to take some shots. 

When I got to W 53 and 6th I bumped into this guy. He looked blue. He didn't say much. I walked on.

I have no idea how someone got those flowers up there. 

Next I walked back downtown with the intention of visiting the famous Macy's. It was big, a bit old, very loud and I'm sure there would have been some great bargains; but it really didn't thrill me. I left quite soon and took the subway back to W 14 Street. 

As I was walking towards the hotel I noticed massive trailers parked along each side of the street.

Names on the doors suggested filming. 

A short time later I passed a wardrobe van and racks of clothing labelled by character.

But there were no film crews or stars in sight ... until I reached my hotel. Then I noticed lighting rigs at an intersection and mingling crowds. There was clearly some filming going on but I couldn't make anything or anyone out.

Later, when I looked out my hotel room window, I noticed more film crews, but I'm not sure if they were related. 

It's coming in a bit wet this evening. As long as the rain doesn't get too heavy I plan to go and see a French film (in 3D!) called "Goodbye to Language" directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The Village Voice says "Exhilarating ... features the most innovative 3D effect I've ever seen". It's on for a week, so if it doesn't work out for tonight I still have time to see it later.