The last night that we spent in BA we went to a very cool restaurant and enjoyed yet another excellent steak. I started the evening with the intention of trying to absorb every little detail on this, the last night of my travels (I didn`t consider the following evening to count given that we would be on a plane and hopefully either fast asleep or watching The Golden Compass which I still haven`t seen, gather is a bit rubbish, but will go and see anyway because I loved the books and feel only slightly less passionate about Daniel Craig, even with a beard). I decided, however, to simply enjoy myself rather than get intense and brooding because as I have learnt this year, time passes whatever you try to do about it, and by trying to focus too hard on each moment and cement it in your brain you lose the big picture, the mood, the impression. And a melancholy, sentimental, philosophising bird is not the ideal dinner date for G on what is also his last night before returning to the shackles of life as corporate lawyer in London. So I had a little bottle of pink champagne and enjoyed myself.

The following day we started as we had begun, with brunch in the gorgeous bookshop-cafe downstairs from the hostel. I even ordered the same thing - that sort of symmetry pleases me. Then I look temporary leave of G who was going to La Bombonera for the second time in two days (it`s the Boca Juniors` football stadium and therefore something of a mecca for a dedicated Gooner like G) while I tripped off to shop. I had a number of triumphs in the boutiques of Palermo before heading to a beauty parlour for a `mani and pedi`, mindful that I would soon be re-united with my engagement bling and wanting to be able to give it a worthy reception. And that was that, time to go home.

The journey from the hostel in BA to our flat in London was free of revelation and moments of epiphany; no angels sang as I stepped onto English soil and no trumpets played as I walked into the arrivals hall. Within the hour I was in Sainsbury`s at Paddington buying bagels and weetabix, then we were in the taxi queue, then in a black cab driving down Park Lane and past Tower Bridge, and then turning on the lights (and the heating! you could have arranged some warm weather for us!) and making a cup of tea. All very quiet, very unremarkable, and not at all emotional. Very surprising. I felt as though I was sneaking back into London so that no-one would know that I had been away. Very much like the kids in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe who come back to the Professor`s house to find that while they have become kings and queens in Narnia, no-one back in 1940s England has noticed they have gone, and before they have figured out what`s going on the housekeeper is banging on the door telling them to get downstairs for tea.

So now I have been back nearly 2 weeks and I am pleased to say that I have not yet lost the will to live. It`s brilliant seeing family and friends, and strangely wonderful to find how easily the conversation absorbs the absence of a whole year. As most of you know we were back for 3 weeks in November, for my friend John and G`s friend Nick`s weddings, and for our trip to Italy (now the stuff of legend). I think that this has made the culture shock much easier to deal with - as has spending our last month in Argentina, which culturally is markedly closer to the culture of the US and Europe than the rest of the So Am countries we visited. I have had moments of `Hang on... did something just happen?` because of course nothing has changed, everything is still here, everyONE is still here (a good thing) and apart from a few more babies and bumps and the odd wedding in the pipeline, everyone is going along as usual. What a relief. It would have been very upsetting to come back and find London an arid desert, my parents playing golf, my friends living in Hampshire with dogs and bridge nights, IBM sold to Virgin and milk costing £1.20 a pint. If I could think of another way of putting it I would, but my memory for quotations is very poor - `Methought I was enamoured of an ass`. I feel as though I have dreamt it - except for the suntan (ha!) and the photos. And the memories, and the trunkful of brightly-coloured and useless trinkets that I have amassed from around the world. (Friendship bracelet anyone? I have 7 going for a song). What on earth am I going to do with all my Indian clothes? When I was there I thought that I would just wear the tunics over here with a big belt and lots of eyeliner - now I`m back I realise that this would be a gross sartorial error.

It`s great being back on my own territory, and to be `home`; however well I felt I got to know a place while I was away, and however familiar the culture, I was always aware that I was not at home, always a stranger; and being back in London is like walking into a room full of old friends, it`s very moving. I felt very emotional when I walked out onto Shad Thames on Sunday afternoon and saw Tower Bridge in the late afternoon sun; equally so yesterday when I crossed Waterloo bridge and walked into Somerset House and then down past Temple and along the river. London is actually a beautiful city and I am seeing it with fresh eyes. (It`s also ludicrously expensive and terrible for the skin. I have developed more spots in the last 2 weeks than I have had in the last 12 months. Gaaaaaah).

So, I thought about doing a `Best and Worst` list (I love lists) but it has proved impossible. The places and times have been so hugely varied that I can`t pick out one thing from another. Obviously the most monumentous event of the year (apart from me actually going away) was getting engaged. But the other things? There was so much, I think it will take some time before I can actually process it and come up with anything lucid and intelligent. So I have just tried to brainstorm (oh you can tell I`m back at work) the stuff that stands out when I try and fit the whole year into my head at once.

Some of you will choose not to read any more, and I admit that the list is quite smug. So I will say at this point that I truly appreciate all the time that you have spent reading this, and all the generous comments you have made to me about it. I have loved writing this blog, and will really miss doing it. I have had an incredible time this year and thank you to all my family and friends who have provided so much love and support. I am a very lucky girl.

Bye bye! xxx

List of stuff which sticks out

Everest Base Camp walk
Salt Lakes, Bolivia
Inca Trail
Rajasthan
NZ South Island
Amarpurkashi (school in India)

Buenos Aires
Delhi
Christchurch, NZ
Phnom Penh

Steak at La Cabrera, BA
Kheer (rice pudding) at APK
Mango and sticky rice
Picnic and mankyroskas on Copacabana at New Year
All food everywhere in SE Asia
Snickers bar at Everest Base Camp

Lowest point - Vang Viang, Laos

Highest point - many, many, too many...
Getting myself around Delhi and out to Amarpurkashi in the 36 hours after I left the UK
Holi festival (paint throwing at Amarpurkashi)
Coming out of the dorm in the early morning at Amarpurkashi
Riding on the back of a motorbike for the first time (in India)
Seeing Ess walking into arrivals in Delhi
Walking around ancient temple sites on my own in Thailand
Getting onto an elephant for the first time
Sailing down the Mekong
Driving in New Zealand
Seeing dolphins
Standing on the shores of Lake Tekapo (NZ)
Sunset at Kakadu (Oz)
Dives on the Great Barrier Reef
Drinking champagne out of plastic cups in our room, the night G arrived in Delhi
Sitting in EBC (eating a Snickers)
Siena
Reaching the Sun Gate
Sunset on Isla del Sol
Sunrise over the Salar Uyuni
Copacabana fireworks at New Year
Iguacu Falls, late afternoon
Driving through Patagonia
Living the fine life in BA

Most useful thing in my pack - headtorch
Most useless thing in my pack - waterproof trousers (carried for 5 months, worn once) and universal plug (sorry mum)
Stupidest decision - flying into Cairns when I wanted to visit Darwin
Worst purchase - `Little Dorrit` - and all of the clothes I bought in Thailand and Cambodia (there are no survivors apart from 4 `Tintin en Cambodge` T-shirts)
Best purchase - my second memory card (boring!), my hiking boots
Best books - Midnight`s Children, Any Human Heart, 100 Years of Solitude, The Kite Runner, The Virgin`s Lover(!)
Worst book - The Argumentative Indian (sent home in disgrace after 10 pages)
Missed most (apart from people) - Boots, London`s buildings, English tea, tomatoes, my K-Swiss trainers, Oyster cards, my brown cords, sushi, cold bright English weather, good G&Ts, the countryside, things that work, the National Gallery, being able to get places in less than an hour, the Today programme