One of my holiday goals was to relax and unwind. I thought a jigsaw puzzle might be a nice thing to do, especially on those wintery, snowy days. So, soon after arriving, I found a toy store and bought a 1,000 piece puzzle. Naturally, I picked a German scene - Neuschwanstein.

I have been working my way through it, and it has been a lovely thing to do. It must be decades since I completed a substantial jigsaw. Though sometimes, my internal competition didn’t necessarily make it as relaxing as I’d expected.

Until yesterday, I didn’t think I’d finish it; which would have been OK. But after sitting down to spend a few minutes on it, I found myself in two marathon sessions resulting in a completed puzzle.

Interestingly, as I reacquired puzzle making skills I reflected on how many of those skills and lessons could be applied to life:

• You don’t have to finish things all at once. You can chip away at them.
• Don’t panic. It may seem insurmountable. Just take little steps and you’ll get there.
• The missing piece is always there. You just can’t always see it. Sometimes you need to stop looking.
• When you take your time you notice the little details you miss when you are in a hurry.
• Gentle persistence pays off. You just need to find a method that works. 
• Sometimes you need a break so you can come back with fresh eyes.
• Sometimes you’re just looking at things from the wrong angle or direction.
• Just when it seems impossible, a solution appears.
• Keep doing it and you’ll get better.

(Title translation: Life is like a jigsaw puzzle) 

This adventure was the longest time I have spent in the UK and certainly the most exploratory. I had a wonderful time, everything went pretty much to plan and it has left me with many fantastic memories.  I can't wait to put the book for this trip together.

So here are my final thoughts and reflections, in no particular order. 

• The weather was warmer than I had expected. I didn't get any of the crisp days I had hoped for and my scarves remained packed the whole trip. 
• I didn't spend enough time just sitting and absorbing my surroundings. I need to get better at that. 
• At the end of my last trip I learned a valuable photographic tip of getting the shutter speed right to avoid camera shake. That technique alone has massively improved the focus quality of my photos on this trip. 
• The final photo count is approximately 5,000. 
• The English countryside is even more beautiful than I had previously realised and there are still plenty of places left for me to explore. 
• Next time I must find accommodation in the places I want to walk. Then I won't waste as much time getting there or feeling time constrained. It will also make it easier to walk earlier in the morning or later in the day. 
• I need to do some training before the trip if I intend to walk. Also, I need to bring more robust walking boots. 
• I must factor in regular rest days otherwise I will burn myself out. 
• I must be mindful of the weekends when planning an itinerary. Train travel is sometimes disrupted on the weekends with fewer services. And there tend to be more couples in resort type hotels on the weekends which tends to make me feel a little out of place. 
• I need to pack lighter still. I could have done without some clothes I packed. 

And just in case you wondered (but probably didn't), here's the approximate breakdown of photos per day.

Thanks for following along. Until next time...

Along the way I acquired a number of guides and books, partly necessitating an additional suitcase on my return. Most are self explanatory, but I will elaborate where necessary.

• TRANSCENDENCE: On my last day in London I was strolling along Southbank and came across a guy busking under Blackfriars Bridge. He was creating beautiful ambient soundscapes and I listened for a while. I'd made my mind to leave a little more than I would normally and his response was to hand me one of his CDs. It was a lovely exchange. You can check him out on SoundCloud at JustJoseph.
• BEFORE THE DAWN (KATE BUSH): This is the CD of her shows in London in 2014. I attended two of the performances and already have this album on digital. But I wanted to get the physical copy to get the liner notes. I've had trouble finding it in Adelaide.
• WELCOME JOY AND WELCOME SORROW (SPIRO): Spiro are an English folk band we heard at Womadelaide last year. Again I've had trouble tracking them down in Adelaide and figured it would be easier to find in London.
• ON THE NIGHT BUS: A while back I read an article about this piece of work. The photos are amazing. I found the book in the shop at The Photographer's Gallery in London. You can read more and see some photos at On The Night Bus.
• ABANDONED PLACES: I found this book at Tate Modern. It's a collection of fantastic photos taken of completely abandoned buildings and landscapes. Quite eerie.
• WHY FONTS MATTER: Well I bought this because fonts DO matter!
• I bought the two photography books to help me think more outside the box a little and to help me improve my eye as much as my technique.

• I acquired the artwork in the top left corner from a gallery in Llandudno. The artist Caroline Rees combines her contemporary and stylised design with the traditional technique of paper cutting. She loves simple, bold and graphic imagery and is inspired by primitive art, Scandinavian textiles, her Welsh heritage and the beautiful Gower landscape where she lives. She likes to create quirky and humorous designs which make you smile.
• OUR SONGBIRDS: This is is a lighthearted look at songbirds or Britain with beautiful illustrations and a cheeky narrative.
• The mug and puzzle came from Broadway Tower.
• KINGS & QUEENS OF ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND: I just bought this because I'm always looking up who was who in British royalty and this has the information all in one place.
• The various guide books are all pretty self explanatory.

This time tomorrow I will be on the plane on my way home after this wonderful adventure.

I travel solo mainly out of choice but also because the reality of my life these days doesn't really give me an alternative. Mostly I love the freedom of only having to worry about myself, but it does get lonely from time to time. It doesn't help that I'm not great at engaging with strangers.

So, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who engaged with my posts in any way. For me, your responses and reactions became part of a dialogue that helped me through the times I was feeling on my own on the other side of the world.

Well, technically the next stop is Doha. But THEN next stop London!

I made it home. And I even managed some sleep on the flight from Singapore - first time ever! Time to unpack, wash and settle back into home life. But undoubtedly a home life enriched and improved by some wonderful experiences. Through the people, events, achievements and encounters of this adventure I feel I've regained a little of the self confidence that had been waning before the trip. Thank you.

One of my first posts in this blog was about my search for heritage. In the end I didn't really explore heritage but the concept of belonging popped up time after time, in a number of different contexts. And for a while I thought I was going to come back with more questions than answers, but then a wise man told me earlier this week (paraphrased) that he thought the most important thing was to belong with/in/to yourself. I like that. That's something I can work on.

Until next time ... 

I don't think I've ever felt this sad to catch a plane. Usually, by the end of a holiday I'm ready to come home. To return to the comfort and familiarity of home, the routine of work, the company of family and friends. This time I'm not ready. Not at all.

My flight leaves Heathrow at 11:25am. I decided to get to the airport as early as possible and then relax there. I'll be able to use the Singapore Airlines lounge. I woke at my usual 5:00 and had my coffee while reading the social media feeds. Because the hotel is so close to the Picadilly line it made sense just to catch the underground. I was on the train by 7:00. The last carriage was only half full.

Getting out at Terminal 2. 

The check in and security processes were quite quick. Walking to the gates and lounges however, seemed to take forever. But I'm here now. I had a good breakfast and now it's just a matter of waiting. 

Looking back, I made a list (of course): 

• 36 days (38 by the time I get home) 
• 7000+ photos
• 7 flight legs
• 7 intercity train journeys
• 11 hotels/apartments
• 0 delays
• 0 cancellations
• 0 booking stuff ups
• +10 kilos of books and other purchases
• +2-3 kilos of me (too many full English breakfasts, morning teas and pints)
• Countless memories

Au revoir England. See you again very soon, I hope. ❤️

It was an impossibly prolonged goodnight. Each time I looked up, expecting you to be done, you were still present. Slightly faded from the last time but still lingering. In no hurry to be finished with the day. 

But now you've finally fallen into the darkness. And I sit with the lights off, watching you rest like a parent watching in wonder at the peaceful sleep of their newborn child.

This is a bit different. With no evidence of any other life it feels like you and I are the only two left in the world. And you are in slumber. I keep watch alone. At least, that's what I like to think. I know there's really life inside you, hiding beneath the shadows. 

This would be the ideal time to make my confessions. But I just sit. Trying to hold on to this feeling for as long as possible. Afraid to fall myself. Determined not to squander this rare moment or surrender it to the numbness of sleep. 

In the early morning, when the first sunbeams sneak around the edges of the curtains, you are the first thought to enter my mind. What is your morning look? And though my eyes are heavy from insufficient rest, I can't resist the desire to peek. 

But you aren't ready. You maintain control and composure, shrouding your modesty with white mist. You force me to be patient and close my eyes for a little bit longer. 

Soon enough I try again. This time you're ready to greet me, though you rise just as gracefully as you fall. Gradually blossoming as the increasing light reveals your features.

We share a moment. 

And then, in an instant, that moment is over. Family surrounds us, darting across the sky and heralding in full voice. Exercising flight and song as if they were new discoveries being tested for the first time. Vying for our attention.

Time to go our separate ways. For a while at least. 

Have a nice day. See you tonight. x

Today I visited the National Railway Museum. At numerous times I experienced a feeling of nostalgia. Seeing this picture was just one of those occasions. The rounded booths selling newspapers and refreshments seem so familiar. But the reality is I've probably never seen them in real life.

As a kid I was into trains and making models. The catalogues all contained English and European railway scenes and I think I grew up with those scenes imprinted in my memory rather than those of Australia. 

It felt weird to feel so nostalgic about something I've only experienced secondhand. 

Today I had by first travel mishap. Luckily it was resolved and there should be no lasting problems. 

It began when I went to the train station to collect my tickets for my next train journey on Wednesday. I needed to use a machine that required me to insert the credit card I had used to book with. I had a bit of difficulty entering the correct booking code and got a little flustered. Subsequently, I left my credit card in the machine by accident. It wasn't until much later in the day that I realised the credit card was missing. I assumed/hoped that I'd left it in the machine - I figured it would have been my best chance of recovering it. 

I made a beeline to the train station and asked. Yes, someone had handed it in. Unfortunately, their policy is to destroy cards if they aren't claimed within 10 min. I can understand and appreciate that policy. At least they confirmed that the card had been handed in and was now destroyed. 

The card was really only a backup anyway ... and I have a backup backup credit card just in case! The only thing I definitely needed it for was to collect my final train tickets. Luckily they were able to do that for me since they knew the card had been destroyed. So all good. 

I guess, considering I have organised the entire trip myself, I'm doing pretty well if that's been the only hiccup so far. 

Feet tired from tiny alleys cobblestoned over hillocks.  I rest beside the sea.

Waiting. 

Ice cream satisfies my craving for sweet creaminess. 

The sound of a saxophonist busking fills my right ear. A mixture of building sounds, passing cars and chatter fills my left. Both are punctuated by the occasional gull cry carried on the steady breeze. 

Boats are bobbing in the water. 

Here I sit. Miles from home. On the water's edge in Bergen. Not quite half way through this adventure. A pinch me moment.

Content. Calm. Not yet relaxed, but getting there. 

Waiting. 

Today I caught the metro to Central Station to catch my train to Oslo. I was in the lift about to go up and a woman motioned me to hold the lift for her and her pram. That was lucky because I didn't know which floor to select and she was able to help. 

Then she said she recognised me. Was I at the Dark Mountain event last night? Of course I was, and on second look I recognised her too. We had a brief chat about the event before having to go our separate ways. 

There would only have been 20-30 people at the event. How random to bump into one of them next day! 

I think the universe may be telling me this group and what they are about is important. 

After taking some medication, I slept better last night. Today is 1 May. Last night was Walpurgis Eve (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night) and there were to be bonfires and singing. Unfortunately, in my brain addled state last night I forgot all about it, but I would have been in no condition to be out in the cold anyway. It's a little disappointing to have missed it, but plenty more to see and do.

Today my primary goal is to hit the museums and top of the list is the Vasa Museum (https://www.vasamuseet.se/en). I'm very excited about it and plan to get there at opening time. 

My last morning in London (until the end of the trip) and there's a glorious blue sky at last. Never mind, the grey didn't stop me doing anything.

As usual there's the steady stream of planes flying over London. 

I just checked the forecast for my next stop Copenhagen. 5 degrees and chance of snow! I hope so. 

Some things I noticed on my flight: 

• In business class the attendants always address you by your name. 
• There are individual linen towels in the business class bathroom. 
• When I went to the toilet at the front of the plane I discovered it was next to the stairs down to the lower deck. The stairs are quite wide and it reminds you just how massive these planes are. 
• I enjoyed the flight so much that I kept thinking that landing would be the end of the adventure. But then I would remind myself that landing is just the beginning! 

For the past few months I've subscribed to some London visitor sites on Facebook. The posts have been both tantalising and frustrating as I've been teased with activities I can't yet attend. Until today! I saw an advertisement for an open day at the London Transport Museum this coming weekend. And I will be there. All booked. Yay!

I was born in Dartford, England. We lived in Wilmington, 25 km south east of London.  My family moved to Australia just before I turned 7. And as soon as I arrived here I felt like an outsider. In time I would realise that my place of birth was only part of the reason. But at the time I reacted by discarding my English-ness. I did my best to lose my accent. I happily subscribed to the  local view of an irrelevant mother England. 

I had a casual interest to go back but it never materialised until 2010. And as soon as we arrived, as soon as I opened the curtains of the hotel on that first morning it felt like coming home.  The intensity of that feeling and the sadness when we left took me by surprise. Since then I have been slowly reacquainting myself with my homeland. Wondering what it means to be English. 

This trip will be my fourth time back to the UK. So far I've spent the most time in London, my favourite place in the world. But this time I've decided to venture further afield. To discover other parts of my homeland and hopefully connect with a broader dimension of the land that is in my blood. To explore my heritage.

Today is exactly the same number of days until my adventure begins as the number of days I'll be away - 38. Everything important is booked. I just have to wait it out now. Feeling excited!

After a year of not travelling I have decided to go overseas again. I'm heading back to Europe; specifically, to visit some Scandinavian cities and then to explore more of my native England.

I bought the long haul flight tickets 6 months ago when there was a sale on. But also, it meant I would commit to the trip too, which is always a good idea with me. Just recently I've been booking accommodation which has started to raise my excitement levels again. Now only 95 days to go.

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.