1^st June.

One year since we set off on our worldwide adventure to god knows where.

One year since we put on our backpacks and donned our disgusting sandals.

One year since we left home armed with 100% deet, a Lonely Planet travel guide to India and mosquito nets that we didn’t know how to put up.

And one year since I had a full set of toenails.

1^st June. One year since we left England behind and fell in love with India. Well, that’s a lie we didn’t fall in love with it straight away, we were too busy dodging tuk tuks and trying to avoid Indian women thrusting their children into our (very) white arms. And Lyvette was too busy fly fitting her way across Delhi to fall in love with anything.

One year since we left England and since then I’ve managed to get a rash in every country we’ve visited, Lyvette has collapsed in every town in Asia and we’ve climbed a volcano for sunrise. We’ve fallen asleep on tiger safari, been chased by monkeys and visited more temples than we could ever imagine. We’ve waded through cow s**t, lost our entire (limited) wardrobe and Lyvette has cuddled more strangers on bus journeys than she’s had hot dinners. We’ve used hair dye as shampoo (I’ve always wanted purple hair), seen wonders of the world and hurdled dinosaurs. We’ve surfed in nappy infested waters, almost been knocked unconscious by a single packet of chewing gum and had a near miss with a shark (sort of). We’ve visited Saksham school in the slums of India and had the worst £1.50 haircuts ever. We’ve been sick on snakes, almost died tubing in Laos and been chased by rabid dogs. We’ve stayed in crack dens, found cockroaches in our brews’ and hit a woman whilst driving a scooter (no guesses who that was – hint; not me). We’ve got drunk off $3, swallowed flies, ninja rolled off trains, discovered corn on the cob flavoured crisps and Tiger Balm. We’ve jumped off waterfalls, experienced frogs in our knickers and one of us has developed a fear of every living thing in the 9 countries we’ve visited (another hint; not me).

We’ve done a lot of things and the above is a teeny tiny handful.

One year since we set off on our worldwide adventure to god knows where. And an adventure it has definitely been.

A year can be a long time, but it can also disappear so quickly it’s actually no time at all. In a year you can miss much but gain more. In a year you can take 1000’s of photographs but create too many memories to remember.

During our next year we’re hoping to come away with just as many stories, fall in love with a lot more places and maybe not use hair dye as shampoo. We’re also hoping to find our paradise that we’ve not quite discovered yet.

We have just over four months left in Australia before we have to leave and hopefully we’ll head back to our beloved Asia for some corn flavoured crisps, valium and a bout of malaria. I’m also hoping for a 50 cent mojito at some point.

During the next year I might even lose a few more toenails and obtain some more rash, because really…why change the habit of a lifetime?!