Things I've Lost Since Being Away:

I'm a real hoarder and I hate getting rid of stuff, let alone losing it, but I don't think I've done too badly on this trip in that I've managed to hang on to most of my bits and pieces. In fact, my main problem is carting around too much rubbish. Perhaps a better list would be "Things I've Discovered at the Bottom of my Bag that I Really Should Have Ditched Months Ago." Anyway, I just thought I would commemorate my lost stuff, so a minute's silence please for:

1. My purple "Lucy the Elephant" t-shirt from Margate, NJ that I bought with my friend Jo on Independence Day weekend 2003. Lucy was a huge tacky fibreglass elephant overlooking the beach that had been lived in once upon a time. I left it with some shorts in a room in Ranthambore, India, since I had more important things on my mind that packing. Like... mmm... going five minutes without throwing up.

2. A pair of turquoise earrings which fell out of my camera case where I'd foolishly left them. I lost them individually, so it's not even like someone will find a nice pair of earrings they can wear.

3. My Bruce Springsteen mix CD. No more humming along to "Thunder Road" on those long bus journeys...

4. My phobia of deep water I've had for years. I used to swim a fair bit when I was a little but I think as you get older you become more scared of the what-ifs and I developed this irrational fear of being out of my depth. Diving still frightens me, but I see it as a challenge and feel a great sense of achievement after each one. It's such an incredible feeling of weightlessness and there are so many fascinating things to see.

5. My cheapo Valleygirl hat and scarf I bought in Sydney in preparation for chilly New Zealand. I took them off to go skydiving and left them behind in Glenorchy. Now I wish I'd brought that "I heart NZ" hat and scarf Kerry-Ann gave me! All I have is my free Road Safety beanie... classy!