Thinking of the last 3 weeks of my life have been insane. I'm a Canadian solo female traveling the world for the past 16 months, mainly making my base in Queensland Australia but doing some amazing travels in South East Asia as well. After working 6 months in an australian desert I finally packed my bags and headed out on a pretty intense journey back to see all my friends and family in Canada. Day one started out in Carins,Queensland, Australia where i jumped 14,000 feet out of an airplane .. just because.. i could.. haha. It was an amazing exsperience and something i'll always keep in my memory. After a short visit there I headed out on a 17 hour journey to Shanghai, China. To my surprise I was not prepared for the hustle and bustle of Shanghai and ended up meeting a few dishonest people who just wanted my money, followed by getting lost all alone at night. It was a pretty overwhleming feeling and kinda discourged me as a solo female backpacker.. I felt like no matter where i go i'll always be a target. But in the end i belive its all about preparing yourself. RESEARCH! and even if your a free spirited traveler like myself who hates making plans, its always good to research some common scams in major cities like Shanghai... oh well another lesson learned. A couple days later I was on another plane.. a long plane.. 14 hours to be exact.. and after no in flight entertainment, a hard as rock seat and a bug in my only meal... i arrived in my dream city... NEW YORK CITY... looked out the window and saw snow for the first time in 2 years, it was a great moment.. i actually cried a little... but that wasn't new.. it seemed as if the previous few days were just a mix of wild emotions .... I deboarded the plane, waitied impatiently to get through customs and couldnt stop thinking of the fact my best friend whom I have not seen in 1.5 years would be waiting for me in TImes Square. THe few days i spent in New York were FAB! shopping, laughing, city lights, centrual park, empire state, christmas lights, christmas trees, SNOW!.. everything! :) i was happy to be back in North America. In fact i was so happy to be back I thought that I would never return to Australia.... My next plane to Canada finally arrived ... this was my last plane of the journey and on the other side my dad would be waiting for me at the small airport on my little island on the east coast of Canada. Seeing him when i got off the plane was such an emotional moment.. for so many reasons... i felt safe finally.. I mean i threw myself out in the world all by myself for a year and a half and there i was... back where i grew up.. where the dream to travel all began. The first few days were exciting.. reuniting with everyone, trying all the old food I missed, it was christmas after all, and altough jet lagged, I was in the spirit. After a few days things began to feel different to me.. I was intiminated by those to were speaking of their carrears and families....should I be at that point in life? why am i still traveling? do i even want to travel again? so many questions... very little answers ... Not many people have traveled in my home town so it was hard to speak to someone who understood. �Instead of telling travel stories, I kept them to myself when people asked about my travel I would just smile and say "it was great" ... �I think the most emotional difficult part of my travels so far has to be coming home. After flighting this emotional battle for a couple days I realized that my journey isn't over. I just didn t feel myself fitting in in the conventional life at this time. I felt like there was so much more for me to do... I still hadnt found what i was looking for. SO i must so back out there. after 50 attempts of booking my plane.. i finally did... this time starting in Bali Indonesia then finally back to Australia where i plan to work and save to travel some more.. i guess some change goes down deep inside of you.. and your only meant to know it.. not anyone else.. and thats okay.... So i guess all i have to say is ..cheers to 2014... whereever this world may bring me.. im ready.