a hot flush in a less tropical climate

I'm now in the fidgeting disillusioning part of travel where you feel a little unsure of the what comes next?

See I have stopped "travelling" and have settled back into my old flat, back to familiarity. Or so I thought.

See we hosted the Olympics in my neighbourhood so the area is "regenerated". Don't get me wrong my timing couldn't have been better. I missed much of the reconstruction, road works and delays leading up to the world coming to the neighbourhood. "Regeneration" generally means suddenly white middle class folk think that they should live here. I am white and by New Zealand standards middle class but have always loved living in London where my people don't. So coming back to my flat after a year to be surrounded by hipsters instead of burkas (I live in the East End where it may as well be Bangladesh). So the familiarity is well on the way out...and my sister moved out, so I now share with an Italian chocolatier - so the habits of living with a sibling are having to be revised. The idea of living alone has suddenly become rather attractive.

So in my time rich life I decided to walk down to the West End for some much needed shopping for my favourite man. I was seeking out a world jigsaw puzzle and aimed for Stanfords Travel Book store in Covent Garden. On arrival I was delighted to find several eager staff to help me find my puzzle, carefully choosing one with a nice image of NZ on it....(argh!). After taking a stroll downstairs to a place that I consider a slice of heaven with walls full of maps, guide books, atlases, travel journals and biographies of adventures in foreign lands. I started to have a hot sweat, flushing like a woman during the change. For fear I would buy a mountain of travel guides and autobiographies I bought several children's Xmas presents and RAN out the door....seriously RAN! I really had thought I had itched the scratch. But on account of my physical reaction I'm not so sure. And just as I think the world is against me as I attempt to normalise, the Big Issue man on Long Acre came to comfort me and remind me that the world is a wonderful place.

So where to from here?

For now I am logging onto the jobsites looking for work, calling agents and as a bit of fun I'm researching flights home for my friends wedding in February. Until then I am going to dig my teeth into Londontown and starting to absorb all the things you always wish you had time for...

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