This came about as I sat, alone, on the first flight of my trip wondering what the hell I had just done. I thought that a list of my observations, thoughts and lessons learnt might be an interesting thing to have by the end of my trip, and it's turned out to be quite an entertaining way of remembering the stressful or immemorable moments. So, here you go:

1. I hate landing cards.

2. Always have a pen. Otherwise you have to awkwardly ask someone (the non-English-speaking German couple) next to you for theirs.

3. Never be late for tour pickups. They will leave without you.

4. When someone asks if you came alone and you did, lie. Lie, lie, lie.

5. When the tour guide says we’re meeting back at 9.10, don’t leave to go to the meetup at 9.09. There’s always a queue for the lift.

6. I don’t know why I was surprised to see pigeons in Singapore.

7. Always have your hotel’s address with you or you will end up at the wrong hotel.

8. There are McDonalds in all the right places, and by that, I mean everywhere.

9. Time differences are hard when you’re alone.

10. Making decisions when you feel completely alone and not confident and in control is really hard. But, you do eventually overcome it because you have to – even if it takes a while. Watching Friends and looking out the window to see where in the world you are helps.

11. Making friends on planes is fun.

12. Cold McDonald’s on a flight isn’t.

13. Singapore airport is flipping huge. I’m talking multiple gardens.

14. Looking at stars out from a plane window when you’re 39,000 ft high is pretty cool.

15. Always bring a mask with you for flights. It helps with the whole gross guy next to you that’s burping and coughing everywhere and picking his nose. (I’m talking disposable ones, not like a Darth Vader one or something – that’s not necessarily going to help in the same way)

16. You’re always sticky. Literally always.

17. Stand on the left on escalators in Singapore.

18. I just realised that I started this as a way to make the hard things funny or bearable for me to process and deal with while I’m by myself.

19. Personal space, people, come on.

20. Am I the only one who has problems with people taking shoes and socks off on coaches?

21. Dear Person Behind Me: please stop putting pressure on my seat, I can’t begin to explain how much it hurts after 5 hours. Yours Sincerely, My Back.

22. Friends always helps. (I actually mean the TV show, but real friends help too)

23. Going to meet new people when you’re by yourself is THE hardest thing, like ‘I can’t leave my room’ hard. But, it genuinely may surprise you. In a good way.

24. There is something bizarrely magical about knowing that there are wild crocodiles in the water right in front of you but not seeing them.

25. Very little beats seeing kangaroos in the wild.

26. Even if you think you’ve put enough sun cream on, you absolutely haven’t.

27. You really do only share the highs. My Instagram followers are seeing a very different reality.

28. You get to know people on your tour very well, very quickly. Make of that what you will.

29. Don’t ever let me try to whip-crack again.

30. Lake McKenzie is one of the most magical places in the world.

31. Take extra storage for your phone and take it everywhere with you. Attempting to decide which apps to delete whilst in the rainforest on the world’s largest sand island kind of puts a damper on things.

32. Driving from Brisbane to Surfers Paradise, there’s a car and dog wash. In one.

33. Check your room again and once more because you’ve almost certainly forgotten something. Like shampoo in Noosa.

34. Koalas smell worse than you think they would.

35. Don’t put your water bottle down while hanging out with Kangaroos unless you want it covered in kangaroo dust or you want to share a bottle with one.

36. There’s nothing like waking up from a nap on the coach to realise you were leaning on a stranger’s shoulder.

37. Packing is the bane of my life.

38. Turns out, surfing lessons in the cold and the rain aren’t my thing.

39. Always check behind you in a taxi. Thank god for Uber (Thomas, you g.)

40. Opal cards in Sydney are a life saver.

41. Having a couple of downloaded podcasts or Netflix shows on your phone can make all the difference in keeping your sanity.

42. Surfing is so much harder than it looks. Unless you nail it, you just end up looking like an absolute pillock.

43. I love that there’s a place called Woolloomooloo.

44. Everyone stands on the left of escalators in Sydney too.

45. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I hate packing.

46. Make a list of what you need on the plane and then don’t pack it in your suitcase accidentally.

47. Never had I heard ‘nobody is allowed to sleep on the floor’ on a flight announcement until my flight from Sydney to Hong Kong. So, that’s a new one.

48. The Hong Kong MTR and bus system has everything Sydney was missing.

49. Oh, and by the way, how many people taking floating balloons with LED lights on the MTR did it take to need this sign?

50. Do not, I repeat, do NOT get on a bus without an Octopus card in Hong Kong – there is unparalleled embarrassment and stress when you do the whole bus journey and can’t pay at the end.

51. Citymapper is your new best friend.

52. Meeting new people with different experiences, backgrounds and outlooks on life is one of my new favourite things.

53. PSA: you can’t bring chickens or cows on the Ngong Ping cable cars to Lantau Island. In case you were planning to.

54. I’m never going to get used to waking up a stranger in order to go to the loo on planes.

55. Alright guys, who’s been releasing their own fish and terrapins into Hong Kong Park ponds?