The journey is the experience: Addendum

*In the rearview mirror*

I am back home now. Surreal, but nice. And very very familiar.
The moment I landed on Swedish soil again I just had the biggest smile and a nervous feeling about it all. I was also happy to actually land, since my flight to Heathrow ended in a little drama. We had lost parts of the nose wheel (which us passengers didn't know luckily) and the pilot wasn't really sure how bad it was. All this told to me by the steward as we were waiting for the airport bus..
As the sliding doors on Stockholm ARN opened, I stepped out to meet dad. But my two pirates were also there to my surprise, with flowers and pirate flags!! I think I just let out a scream and ran towards them, trying to capture it on film. Haha. The Japanese in me never rests.

After chatting away in my flat with Sara and Lisa it was time to go to Street Bagel Cafe, where we said our goodbyes just before I left for the airport 18 weeks earlier. Hanna joined us and it was great to be back, actually being abl to talk without webcams, msn-windows and bad internet connections.

Then it was time for dinner at my sisters. Dad picked me up and as we got closer to Folkungagatan the butterflies in my stomach just wouldnt keep still. I was gonna se Dolly again!
Would she remember me? Be happy or shy?
As I rang the doorbell I heard Ola tell Dolly that I was coming. And I could hear her shout.
When I stepped in she came running towards me, shouting "Katta! Katta!" smiling and giggling. Amazing little girl!

Anyway. The days after I came home have meant at least ten trips to the attic, carrying the contents of my flat back down from the attic in boxes.
I have also been to job interviews and trying to contemplate and sum up what I've actually just been through.

It's still hard to have perspective. But I thought I'd present some trivia.

During the past 4,5 months I have visited 4 countries and 33 different cities, towns, islands and villages.

I have boarded 11 different flights, and had at least 25 square meals onboard these flights.

I have spent 54,5 hours in the sky. The single longest trip was from Bangkok to London, 12 hours and 50 minutes.

At my turnaround point I was 17000 kilometres from home (Auckland, NZ).

I have covered a total of 42999 kilometres stuck in an airplane and who knows how many k's by bus, car and boat.

I have spent the night in roughly 35 different hostels, beachhouses, bungalows, cattle boats, monkey class buses and even a Rathole!

I have fought for my bedspace with termites, cochroaches, spiders, gecko's, rats, backpackers and bedbugs.

I have tried some new food, the most exotic being kangaroo meat, that Isaac managed to make eatable after I accidentally boiled it in the microwave oven. Kudos!

I have swum in the South Pacific Ocean, the Tasman Sea, the Pacific Ocean, the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand.

Yes, I am very happy to have done this trip. To have seen the things I've seen, met the people I did, and done the things I've done.
The most memorable activity is the dolphin swim in Kaikoura. And feeding Kookaburras. And diving on the Great Barrier Reef as well as off Koh Lanta. It is impossible to choose actually.