The END...

Right, I've been home a week now and it's time I tried to summarise my trip, so here goes. South America is the most naturally beautiful place on earth. Geysers, fjords, lagoons, deserts, glaciers, mountains, waterfalls, beaches, moonscapes... It would keep any geographer happy for a lifetime. South East Asia is above all, fun. From partying all night in Saigon to drinking beer on the beach in Nha Trang and shopping in the night markets of Laos, there's nowhere better to kick back and put a smile on your face.

India is the biggest challenge of all, but also the biggest reward. As Lonely Planet so rightly put it, 'This extraordinary country has the ability to inspire, frustrate, thrill and confound all at once.' And it has changed my perspective on life. Without my permission. I didn't go on this trip to 'find myself,' I just wanted to be awed by the beauty of Iguazu falls, Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal. To see the world and all it has to offer. To break out of my little bubble. But it did. And most of it comes down to India. So here's just a little bit of what I learnt...

Once you've seen the grace and serenity of Indian women you will forever know that it is possible to stay peaceful and positive whatever is going on around you. The external situation is irrelevant. Many families do not have any running water to wash their clothes or themselves in. They sleep on the road side, or in one room in a slum with twelve other family members. They have never known privacy, or silence. But they glide through insanely chaotic streets littered with potholes, shit, litter, dirt, noise, pollution with an elegance and beauty that is nothing short of remarkable. They are a lesson to us all in resilience and mastering your own state of mind.

Also, a simpler life with less money can actually be a happier and more rewarding one. You meet so many travellers who don't have much financially but are out there living life the way they want to, doing something that matters and makes them feel good, whether that's working for a charity or rescuing turtles on a beach in the Galapagos. You realise a different way of life is possible. You don't have to have a complicated, stressful 9-5 office job (if you don't want to) just because that is all you have ever known and believed to be acceptable. There are many people in India who have very very simple jobs and very little, but they are happy. And it makes them appreciate the small things. This came to be true of us too. Buying a cup of chai on the railway platform for 5 rupees was something we were grateful for, rather than just taking it for granted.

As an atheist (I still am) it would have surprised me so much to hear that I'm saying this, but we could learn an awful lot from Indian spirituality. I sometimes wonder if the pervading spiritual atmosphere is there as a coping mechanism because life is so chaotic and intense, but techniques like yoga, meditation, ritual and holy worship hold a hugely important place in daily life, and unlike here, India's atmosphere is very supportive of such practices. Whether you believe in god or not, whatever religion you are, the themes that run through yogic and meditative practice in India are inspiring. I think the most important ideas are a oneness with the world and everyone in it, so you treat everyone as you wish yourself to be treated, and it eases feelings of ego, jealousy, anger towards other people. At the very least it certainly makes you less judgemental of others. It stops you comparing yourself to anyone else, because you realise that everyone is the same inside. It's also about having a direct experience with yourself, and learning what really makes you happy, rather than defining who you are through other people's opinions or how much money you have, or how thin you are, or what shoes you're wearing. Finally, on a simpler level, as introduced to me by a teacher in Rishikesh, meditation is just wonderful for taking some time out to give your mind a BREAK, to stop it working overtime and be still and silent for fifteen minutes every day. The results can be astonishing.

And finally, possibly the most important thing is perspective. To actually think about what is important. Does this really matter? When you've seen people struggling day in day out to survive, the answer to that question is more often than not, no. And it's a great lesson, because once you've learnt it, not much can stress you out. When I stood in a cow pat in my flip flops in Varanasi I thought, oh well. When I got a fly in my drink, I fished it out and carried on drinking. When I got food poisoning for the third time it was no big deal.

And so, I will say goodbye with an Indian head waggle and some quotes I came across and loved while I was away...

'Live dangerously if you want to develop your personality.' Nietzsche

'Somewhere in the five or more millenia of its history the culture had decided to dispense with the casual, nonchalant glance. By the time I came to Bombay, the eye contact ranged from an ogling gaze to a gawping, goggle eyed stare.' Shantaram

'Enlightenment is freedom from delusion, selfishness, attachment, insensitivity, pride, arrogance, hostility, perturbation, envy and greed.' Meditation teacher

'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.' Henry David Thoreau

'In all its chaotic glory India is an eternal, and if you tune into its unique rhythm, curiously melodic work in progress.' Lonely Planet

'If the roots are taken care of the flowers will be taken care of automatically.'

'Fearlessness is the total presence of fear, with the courage to face it.'

'Surrender to all of life. Without accepting the mud there is no possibility of growing the lotus.' Osho

'It's the challenge of getting up close and personal with one of the planet's most confronting and intriguing countries, and quite possibly unravelling oneself along the way.' Lonely Planet