This isn't Goodbye, it's See You in 11 months

At six o'clock this morning my phone vibrating woke me up. I had fallen sound asleep before I could turn on do not disturb. I rarely use the feature back home but it's been invaluable while literally on the other side of the world from my family and friends who would otherwise be waking me up repeatedly between 3AM and 6AM. I suppose if I one day relocate to Oceania I'll need to get used to it. Anyway my phone was going off and it was my mother wondering if I was on my way home. It seemed like a classic text I'd get from her on any night of the week when I was living at home. I had to remind her what time it was in my part of the world before turning over and trying to sleep. It was useless for the most part so a few hours of YouTube videos later I was getting dressed and checking out of the hostel.

My walk to the train station was suspiciously devoid of any human life. The only people I saw were the security guard of my building and the man outside mopping the sidewalk. The sidewalks just outside the buildings are tile so I suppose that's one way to keep things tidy. Normally the short walk from my hostel to the train is brimming with life - people shopping, pedestrians trying not to get run over by scooters, buses zooming by - but at 9am on a Saturday it seemed as if the whole city was sleeping.

My ride to the airport was crowded though and once I got there it seemed like I had finally found all the residents of Taipei, all waiting at ticket counters and repacking their bags. Once through security I went to one of the lounges where I had access. The one I intended to go to I couldn't find and the other one was just out in the open like a food court so in the end I wasn't totally disatisfied but I wasn't impressed with it either. I did finally get to eat Taiwanese beef noodle soup and omg why didn't I eat it for every meal every day. I made a mental note to look up how to make it so I could enjoy it back home too.

Now I find myself once again back in the lounge at Guangzhou airport. It's my third time here in as many weeks and it feels like old hat for sure. I can't believe that my journey is almost over but I also can't wait to go back to Australia. Bren, if you're reading this which I doubt you are, I had the most fun with you and will definitely be coming back next December so we can have a lot of fun in person again. Of course I'll have to find another country to visit on the way but that shouldn't be a problem with almost all of Asia left for me to explore.

To everyone else that's followed me on this journey through my blog thank you. It's been many late nights spent writing everything down and there were definitely many nights where I thought maybe I'd skip that day, but you've all kept me honest and have given me something to look back on that I'll cherish forever.

As soon as I'm home and my laundry is done it'll be back to the drawing board to see what long weekends are coming up and where I can go next in the world with that time. I hope that you'll continue to follow along with me on whatever adventure awaits.

Location:Guangzhou,China