>For all those wondering if/when I would get round to booking my flight to Australia, the deed has been done. It has been, I agree, a long time coming. I leave on the 16th January, stopping off in Hong Kong then onwards to Sydney, a place to call home for 3 months or so.

It has taken so long to confirm a departure date as I had been waiting for confirmation that my overseas account had been opened. On applying I was informed it could take up to 6 weeks, but it has taken just over 3 weeks. Were I not heading for Seville and Paris over the next two weeks I could have conceivably have left this month (as I had originally hoped – see earlier blog), but my family are happy in that I spend Christmas with them once again, and I am happy to spend some time travelling Europe, albeit two cities within it before I go.

>With a little time on my hands before Australia I have decided to fit in week in Seville. I leave a week Tuesday in search of warmth and culture. I have booked a return flight but I may not use it. A oneway flight was £49 and a return £79.80, so I’ve booked a return should I decide after a week to return, but I am tempted to take a train up to Madrid and possibly Barcelona and extend my stay. I hear the weather isn’t all that great (rain) but I hope it is in a warmer atmosphere. Certainly today it was as I met a friend for coffee overlooking Swansea bay. It truly is a great sight (even if the light was fading and the sky overcast) – with a little sun it would be a perfect place to call home. Sadly, with it being winter those happy days of glistening waters, yellow sands and warmth of the summer are over for another 6 months at least. I believe it is true what they say, that there is no place like home, but to know that I also believe you have to experience something else before you can say with conviction. Paolo Coelho wrote a wonderful book entitiled “The Alchemist” which explores that very idea. A story of a Porteguese sheperd who leaves for the desert shores of North Africa in search of treasure but ulimately ends up discovering himself, and where he belongs.