The weekends previous to this one have been very social affairs. A wedding in Whitby, my degree students end of year exhibition and bbq’s with friends in our courtyard. This weekend i find myself quiet and rested, packing up the drawers of the sideboard and deconstructing our hilariously gay collection of books and putting them into cardboard. The more empty the flat becomes the closer i feel to the change.

Before heading to India when i was twenty-five i spent many years living, studying and working in London, Newcastle and Devon, leaving County Durham when i was eighteen. I was away for around twelve years, hence why i thought i never saw myself settling here, especially after going through the changes i did whilst traveling. To return home has been amazing and enriching. I always saw it as a step back in life, but this return has been so positive in so many ways. I have spent valuable time with my parents and family; hung with my most amazing and oldest friends, met my partner of almost seven years and made many new friends who has made my days full of love and usually alcohol!

I am surrounded by all of this but still i have plans to leave. To move my life on faster than it would if i spent another ten years here. I am unsure if  life will go faster in Asia but it will certainly be more varied. I don’t know why i feel the need to justify going as we as humans have choices. Enough.