I realised, yesterday, one major way in which this trip is different from a holiday.

It’s different in a lot of smaller ways, of course – we’re working as we go, we’re doing it for a cause, I have to be a lot more aware of my health, we have to document everything along the way – but there was one main difference that I hadn’t really come to grips with:

We have to create a home as we go.

I think that’s part of the reason we haven’t become travel weary up to this point, is because we made a decision right in the beginning that we would spend slightly more on accommodation, and get something that was comfortable and clean and nice, rather than a cheap dingy hole. But even when things are comfortable and nice, they don’t always feel like a home. And when you’re camping out instead of living in a room, that’ll get you down…

I think that’s part of what was getting me down yesterday. We were staying in this beautiful location, with amazing views out over the ocean, but the actual room we were in was a little wooden thatched bungalow, with a creaky fan and a creaky bed, and not much else. The bathroom was tiny with only cold water and one of those toilets where you can’t flush the loo paper (you have to put it in a bucket next to the toilet, which I hate!) There was no fridge, no TV, no desk, no space for anything. And although it was clean enough (the cleaner came in every day and sprayed everything down with bug spray), there were mysterious droppings in the bathroom, and we didn’t want to buy any food and leave it in the room in case it attracted mice (our bungalow was right next to the forest).

Today, however, we’re staying in a lovely sterile room in a hotel just around the corner. It’s really big, and it has lots of light, and aircon, and a TV and a fridge and a large desk and chair. The bathroom not only has a hot shower, but a bathtub (hooray!) and everything is brand-new because the hotel just opened (I mean: brand-new – we pulled the sticker off the basin, and took the sticky tape off the fridge. It’s the newest place I’ve ever stayed in!) And I immediately feel happier. We can unpack, we’ve bought supplies of snacks and fresh fruit and yoghurt (which we can put in our fridge) and I feel like I can settle in here for a few days.

So that’s something to remember for the next many months… In order to make small homes along the way, we have to find places that make us feel comfortable. A worthy travelling lesson, I think.