My first ever post on this site was aptly named, “Pilot;” the first post of many to come, documenting the journey I’ve been on since I left the land of the long white cloud. The journey ended up being, well, fuckin’ awesome.

I began this blog for several reasons. Firstly, I enjoy writing, and I wanted to keep that part of my mind ticking over while I was gone.

Another reason is to keep one element of routine to routine to my life while I was gone, some small form of regularity.

I also wanted to keep a record of what I did this year. Already, going through some of the posts I’ve written, I’d forgotten some of the finer points of experiences I’ve  had in over 26 countries I’ve visited since I left New Zealand in December 2015. Some people keep diaries, some take the odd photo, some don’t record anything at all. I’m glad I recorded all of this to look at later.

On that note, it’s been great for letting my ever-worrying mother know what I’ve been up to, as well as my mates if they wanted to.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking about what to write as my first post to be published when I’m back home in New Zealand! I was initially going to do a bit of a summary, but after giving it some thought I’ve opted to insert a select a few photos, one from each country I visited, into this post instead.

I selected the word interim to title this post, because using a word signalling finality would be to insinuate the end of me exploring this world, which isn’t going to be the case.

I’d like to also take this opportunity to thank every single person who has helped me out along the way. Be it directions, a place to stay, a recommendation, a beer or a meal, advice, or just being good company; I appreciate it. I think that you can learn something from every single person you meet, and I have tried to. I hope to be able to repay your kindness in some way in the future, and should that opportunity not present itself, I will endeavour to pay it forward!

I covered over 35,000 km’s covered by land this year, and it’s good to now chill out for a bit. I’ve unpacked my bag and it’s refreshing not having to think about where I’m going to stay the next few nights!

So, thanks to those that have kept up with my entries, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them! I’m looking forward to continuing on with this site when the time comes.

Thanks for reading!

– Damo