One year since I left England

Today is exactly one year since I left England. I can't believe it was one year ago on 17th May 2011 that my brother dropped me at Poole bus station early in the morning to get the bus to Heathrow to get a flight to Bangkok. I remember thinking to myself 'what am I doing?' as I boarded the plane. Looking back now, which I didn't realise at the time, its one of the best decisions I've ever made.

Night out on Tuesday

So much has happened in that time. I've seen a part of the world I'd never seen before, I've retrained and become good at a new career, I've met some amazing people, I've seen some amazing things and learnt a lot. Below are just some of the many many things I've learnt.

1. You can make a living from selling sugar cane - all you need is a bicycle.

2. Never underestimate how much you can carry on a motorbike.

2. Cats are just as unlikeable in Asia as they are in England.

4. I will never complain about being cold again... ever!

With some ILA friends

Seriously though I've learnt so much and I'm not in a rush to go back to England although I will try and visit at the end of year for Christmas. There are some thing I do miss, see the list below - one of them however is not true - see if you can guess what it is.

1. Family and friends.

2. Real Ale.

3. Monster Munch (roast beef flavour) and crisps in general.

4. The cold.

5. Banking.

Originally I wanted to stay a year and see how I feel..... and I've done that! I think I want to stay in Vietnam for longer. I'm still keen to work in other countries such as China, Japan, Korea and I'm keeping an eye on Brazil for 2014 but will just go with how I feel. It's nice to know I can work in most places in the world!

Below is a picture of the Bangkok skyline which I took on day one. That place used to scare me a bit but now I'm used to Asia I'd like to give it another visit.

Day one - the Bangkok skyline

Not much else has happened. I'm still having fun, I've had a hangover, the cats stayed away, darts was cancelled this week and the bees are continuing to making honey - albeit very slowly.