Four Months In

One hundred and twenty three days.

I've been travelling for one-hundred-and-twenty-three days. I would have said that I've been away from home for one-hundred-and-twenty-three days; but if home is where the heart is, I'm not sure where home is anymore.

So far, I've travelled through six countries and over two continents. I have bits and pieces of eight currencies in my money belt (I have no idea where I picked up that Thai coin, but I have five baht already on hand for when I eventually get over to Bangkok). I started off learning enough Portuguese to get me through seven weeks in Brazil, switched over to horrible Spanish for a further eight weeks running around South America, and took a week to stop automatically saying 'Hola' and 'Gracias' when I arrived in New Zealand.

Even being back in an English-speaking, First World, industrialised country, I'm having plenty of fish-out-of-water experiences. It's only three more days to Christmas here in New Zealand and it just feels wrong. Seeing Christmas decorations, hearing Christmas carols and planning a Christmas dinner in Wellington with my East As whānau (an extended family of six of us, that have been travelling around since heading out to the East Cape together over a week ago); while it's 25°C, blazingly sunny, and so obviously summery; is plain surreal. Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere is freaking odd. As, I'm sure, making Christmas dinner in a hostel kitchen will be.

I think I've put on some weight again, though I haven't weighed myself since I was in Santiago, well over a month ago. I'm looking not quite as gaunt as I did when I left Peru. And I'm sure eleven days of steak in Buenos Aires, as well as massive amounts of pasta over the last three weeks in New Zealand, have put some meat back on my bones.

I'm now almost two months behind with blogging and photo work -- God, Valparaíso, Chile was back at the beginning of November -- but still deluding myself into thinking I'll catch up somewhere along the road.

I still haven't thought a lick about what I'll be doing when I eventually have to stop travelling, in eight months or so.

Happy Holidays to everyone, where ever you may be in the world!

Related Entries:
1. Three Months In
2. Two Months In
3. One Month In