Day 20 - Its home time

Hey travel journal,
That's it, we are done, it's time to go home. Im sitting on plane waiting for take off thinking about the last three weeks. It's gone both really quick and feels like forever all at the same time. I woke up early this morning because I couldn't sleep and just potted around and had a cup of tea before and Sam and I headed out to the usual place for traditional Taiwanese breaky of fantwan (rice roll) one last time and said she good bye to the guys at the store. Then we headed back to the dorm and just chatted for ages. One by one people starting getting up and joining us in the lounge and with our box of left over goodies from last night most people just dug in and had break and jam or Nutella, or biscuits or what ever else they could find to eat. Some people sat up chatting to the buddies until 3am this morning, so I'm not surprised they are tired this morning. Then we spent some time packing before toni left at 12.30pm to get her flight to nz. Then after our goodbyes with toni - Sam, Sophie, Sara and sahama and I went to lunch while the others took the buddies to a fancy Japanese restaurant. Today of all days it's raining so every time we went outside this morning we got wet. But that's ok. Then we headed back to the dorm and met up with the rest of the group and the buddies and headed to some underground markets. While we were waiting Wendy gave us all little hand made cards at she had written in and drawn little pictures of each of us. It was so cute. Then back to the MRT for the last time headed to the markets. Taipei is quite interesting, it's a literal basin where the city is in the middle and mountains surround the entire edge. It's quite pretty on days like today when the tops of the mountains are covered in cloud. The markets are pretty cool. It's literally under ground and has a few different sections. We went to 'Z' section because it's cheapest and the most like street markets. We all wandered around for a bit and spent some monies. I got a four leaf clover necklace. Then we headed back to shipai and all split up and had a last tour of food street. The girls and I got DYI hotpot and I visited the juice bar for the last time. Then we headed back to the dorm, showered and did the last of the packing and final checks of the room. Then it was time to get on the bus and head to the airport. All the buddies came with us which was nice. On the bus we all just chatted and laughed and had the most amazing time, a few of us ate our dinner and jasmine came through and gave us all a photo of the trip with a little message on the back and some essential oils. I got a little roll on that you put under your nose to keep you awake and Andy's stick that you put on mosquito bites and bruises to help with healing. Then we headed to check in, put our bags in and all said good bye to the buddies and hugged everyone and took photos and then that was it, through customers, and slowly make our way through the airport. Sharni took a travel calm that made her slightly stoned, so waiting to bored was the most hilarious thing ever. But then once we sat down she passed out so it clearly worked. And now to settle. In, watch some movies, and try to sleep. Can't wait to get home. Until the next adventure... Night xoRead more