One year on...

Seeing as its my one year anniversary of the trip (I left NZ on 26 June 2006) I decided chocolate cake for afternoon tea at work was in order - yay for M&S Swiss Rolls : )

I wanted to write something deep and philosphical (dont think I can even spell it and Im not great with words) and I thought there were some things that deserved a mention on this anniversary. Firstly I wanted to say a huge thanks to my family and friends back home and around the world for your support this year (Big Warm Fuzzy Melissa Hug!) Thanks for your emails, phonecalls, presents, comments, chocolate fish, photos and visits (keep them coming!) Its been amazing and I can't believe its less than 6 months before I will be back home with some of you.

I could say this year has gone really quickly, which in some respects in has but Ive also managed to cram in quite a lot of stuff. Its great to flick back through this blog and reminisce. Yes Ive taken all the amazing pictures of the Rocky Mountains, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Sydiving, Niagara Falls, Times Square, Big Ben, Stonehenge, The Eiffel Tower etc but at the end of the day its the things that haven't made it into this blog that are the most amazing; the way I can wander down streets where the houses are all attached in London and not think its weird anymore and its the D&M chats until the wee hours with the Polish guy in the Krakow hostel, The Scottish guy I met in Oxford and the Canadian guy I met in Bremen that have really made this trip worth it.

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes"

Thanks to everyone I have met along the way, so many people have been so kind to me and I want to repay this kindness - even if I can't do this directly to them, I like to think I can project it out into the world. I have loved being able to open my home, travel to other's homes and spend time with people from all around the world, and I have learnt so much from these conversations, but I think Ive lived up to my profile of "travelling the world to open my mind and heart" and I look forward to continuing this in my last six months.

Plans for these last six months have changed a little bit but it should still be exciting. I've bought a rail pass for September so will cover Italy, Greece, Switzerland and Southern Germany (finishing with Oktoberfest). Ive got an evil lingering cough so not up to doing the camping tour in the Western Desert and cruise down the Nile in Egypt this time round so have decided to head off to Scandanavia for the couple of weeks in October before leaving Europe for two weeks each in Thailand in the Philippines in November and home in time for graduation in December. Should be fun

Well, sorry this has been a really wordy post, I couldnt find many pictures to express the way Im feeling about how much Ive learnt from travelling this past year, but just to remind you Im still the same old Melissa you all know and love, here is pic of me playing inside the water fountain at South Bank a couple of Sunday's ago - good times!

Peace and Love xx