Wednesday 19 December 2012. Sometime during the night between Los Angeles and Brisbane we crossed the International Date Line and the Equator in quick succession. Sleeping, I had passed from West to East and North to South in a matter of minutes. Waking, I reflected on my Eurocentric view of the world and the relative nature of time and place.

Way out of my comfort zone … away from things familiar … I was moving towards the furthest extreme of my journey … Christchurch, New Zealand … where I would find familiar faces. For me … Paradox … even though I will travel far from home I anticipate finding something familiar to anchor me in the present. I feel reassured. I dream on … in the comfort of my flat bed in the darkened cabin.

The landing in Brisbane was smooth and the passage through immigration surprisingly quick. The previous year I had been taken aside to join a short line of travellers and their bags to be given the once-over by Lucy the sniffer dog. She had no interest in any of us. If travelling for six weeks in the States has taught me anything it is this: To be open to my experience of the present and leave my beliefs about the world at home … or prepare to have them challenged. Needless to say, I had been anticipating another meeting with Lucy … so much unnecessary, excess mental baggage …