And so...abroad in All Good Things

My third new country of the year awaits (ninth country overall). Given how much I loathed both of the others (Kenya and Tanzania), I'm somewhat edgy, but Will assures me I will love Israel, that it will be civilised and orderly. I am taking his word for it, but given how much anxiety I've suffered recently about merely catching the train across my own country to cities I know very well, I'm struggling a bit with this.

It's so different from how I used to be that it's hard for me to fathom. I used to love nothing better than heading to a brand new country I knew nothing about; it was my favourite thing to do on earth. Now I just feel sick at the thought....

This morning I got an email from the office in Hong Kong I used to work for asking if I was free to come and do a job there for the rest of June. Obviously the office in London didn't pass on the news to them that I've quit. In the old days, my heart would have leapt at the thought, and I'd have been so disappointed that I can't go because I've already committed to something else. Now all I thought was: thank God I don't have to go! Much as I love Hong Kong, I have zero desire to go anywhere away from my own home.

I used to really envy people who didn't have a driving need to travel, to constantly be heading for new horizons. Now that I've unexpectedly become one of them, I hope it lasts for the rest of my life. I hadn't realised what a burden it was, that burning need to always be on the move, until it vanished. Being able to actually make plans, to book things in advance, to be here for things like weddings and birthdays.....wow. It's a whole new world for me, and I love it.

When I get back from Israel, though, I'm going to have to see about earning some money. The situation's pretty dire since I haven't worked since October (other than those couple of weeks in Dubai in December and April). Big changes will be in the air. But for now I have to pack what will hopefully be my last suitcase for several months, find my passport, print out my boarding pass and head for the airport hotel with Annette. This time tomorrow we will just have arrived in Tel Aviv!