I’ve been thinking about my ideal lifestyle lately – or more accurately, what I wish I could be doing every other week or so.

• Cinema: Back in the UK I regularly went to a see a film – Orange Wednesdays and so forth. Since coming over here, I have been to the cinema just once.
• Guys’ Night Out: It would nice to go to a quiet bar with a close friend and just talk about guys stuff
• Road Trip: Hire a car, go driving through those winding roads? Stop off at look out point, sit on the hillside and chill out…
• Weekend Trip: A domestic or NJA trip. See more of this beautiful country and continent

Things like the cinema and the chilling out and chatting at a bar/cafe would be something I’d like to do week in week out. The guy’s night out doesn’t really have to be guys only, I think I just feel that it’d be nice to take some time out of my hectic life to just sit and chat.

Romantically or just with friends the road tripping and weekend trip have the same aim really… to make new memories.

I knew what today was; I’d been reluctantly counting down the days ever since we hit September. Up to that point it was aiming for that one year landmark of my career. I managed to get through most of the day without making a big deal about it. However, then it all went pear shaped.

Drinks, parties, celebrations? Why would I want to celebrate this. That fateful day turned my whole world upside down. I hate that slogan… but then again, I realised today that it was the biggest shock of my life. I have no regrets choosing the path of leaving on a jet plane and not knowing when I’d head back again. However, so much changed on that day, so much.

No time to settle in, no time to make my mark, the clocked stopped that day. When will it start again?

Ok, I am still employed, I have new friends, I have work and responsibilities, I am experiencing a once in an era event first hand… a clash of cultures, etc, etc, blah blah blah…

Reality is cruel and depressing.