May 2006 - Tokyo & Europe

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

I always knew there were going to be a few tough times and times that I wished I was in Sydney, but as expected I wouldn’t have changed the experience for the world, the good far outweighed the bad (and even then it wasn’t really bad).

MEMORABLE MOMENTS (I’ve kept it to one per city/area)

  1. The night on the town with Emi, Miyo and Edgar in Shibuya, Tokyo
  2. The first drive from Nice airport to Four Seasons at Terre Blanche
  3. The first time I saw all the sites of Paris by taxi in the space of 5 minutes
  4. Catching up with all my friends in London
  5. That awesome giant swing in Tivoli Gardens
  6. Prague Castle of course! Especially the views and St. Vitus’ Cathedral

MY REAL TWO CENTS

I learnt that I have a sometimes uncanny sense of direction. As long as I'm armed with a map, or I've been there before I end up exactly where I want to be. Although in saying that I am better in cities, there were a couple of times in Provence where even though I knew where I was, I felt lost.

The only time I tended to feel ‘alone’ was when you asked for a table for one at a restaurant (notice this didn’t stop me getting out there!) During the day it only came up when I knew someone at home would just find what I was looking at amazing. I loved being able to plan my day, do what I wanted and spend as much time somewhere as I needed. I am sure that I wouldn’t have seen all the things I saw if I was travelling with someone.

Changing Hotels every couple of days got pretty annoying, all the packing and repacking, without that, I could have easily gone another month.

The best shopping is in Tokyo, then London.

I took over 2,000 photos, but with deletions it is down to around 1,400.

I’d do it again in a second, without a doubt! I recommend anyone thinking of doing a trip like this to jump right in!