Home

We arrived home after our bumpy 15-hour flight from LA bleary-eyed and ready for an early night.

After a day or two of unpacking, doing copious amounts of washing, celebrating nan's 70th birthday helping friends celebrate the arrival of two new babies, and picking up the dog from his grandparents' house (he appeared to have had a fabulous time but was still happy to see us), my 31st birthday had suddenly arrived, seemingly without warning.

I spent the last week of the trip running a daily countdown, mostly to torment Bryan but also in a bid to build some momentum for this birthday that we had almost forgotten in the hype of our holiday. Despite a low-key celebration (drinks and dessert pizzas at Cargo with a handful of good friends) I couldn't help but note the significance of the day.

There's no doubt that it has been an amazing 12 months -- from the fabulous glitz and glamour of my bling party at the start of the year.....

...to the awesome holiday at the end -- and all the fun stuff in between.

Everyone has asked which destination we liked best (and where we would live given the chance), and the answer is undoubtedly Greece.

But there were plenty of other highlights too -- whether we were climbing China's Great Wall, relaxing in the 40C water of Budapest's hot springs or getting amongst the craziness of New York's Times Square, it was a holiday we'll never forget.

Of course there were some dramas -- credit card fraudsters ripping unathorised money from our account, a swag of car rental companies who refused to accept our bookings because they didn't like the Commonwealth Bank's travel money card, and some extended airport stop-overs due to delayed flights.

But there was also plenty of laughter, plenty of relaxing, and plenty of shopping (Bryan now has enough t-shirts to start his own shop), and I even managed to find some bling along the way.

So thanks to everyone -- those who gave the amazing gift of travel vouchers to kick-start our saving effort, those who offered itinerary suggestions from their own overseas travels, those who looked after our home and our pets, and those of you who followed this blog. And a big thank you to my fabulous travelling partner who was not only great company but was also VERY good at carrying my heavy bags at the many airports we flew in and out of!

You all made 30 special -- it definitely was a year to remember.

Our last day

The last day of our trip rolled around before we knew it.

But luckily we got to spend it casually wandering around Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier, where the beaches consist of acres of white sand and the footpaths are dotted with street markets and all sorts of kooky people.

The area is also known for amazing sunsets and this day was no exception.

After the sun waved us goodbye we spent a couple of hours curled up on a couch on the rooftop bar of our hotel (pictured below) and enjoyed some beer and cocktails before boarding our red-eye flight home.

Spook-tober

Being in America during October meant there were plenty of pumpkins about.

Driving down the West Coast we passed about a dozen specialised farms, all elaborately decorated, and all harvesting plump orange pumpkins in time for the October 31 celebrations.

The characters at Disneyland were dressed in Halloween attire, business owners dressed up their shopfronts and offered free sweets to shoppers, while the doorsteps of homes in big cities like New York were dotted with decorative pumpkins.

Supermarkets and grocers were running huge ads for their large crates of pumpkins perfect for carving out creepy-looking Jack O'Lanterns.

There were also loads of dedicated Halloween ''superstores'' selling every imaginable costume and decoration needed to celebrate the spooky holiday.

Of course when we walked past one of these mega stores in Venice Beach -- which was offering everything at 50 per cent off -- we had to go inside and check it out...

It made me wish we were staying in the US for longer so we would be able to experience our very first Halloween...