The train pulls into Saltburn station with an extended wheezing puff of its brakes, and my arrival on the platform marks the end of what has, on and off, been just over four years of travel. I can’t deny that I’m ready for a rest.

I’ve read many travel blogs over the last few years, mainly ones relating to long-term travel. The majority of the writers were on a career break, taking 6 months to a year out to do some form of RTW trip. There were also others for whom travel was the main thing in the writer’s life, with occasional bursts of working to finance it. I spent much time looking for the different reasons that compel people to travel.

And people take many different things away from a long journey. For some it’s just a lip — they return to the same life they had before, with the obvious tangibles of photos and souvenirs but not a substantially different outlook.

For a smaller number, their return home signifies the start of a sea change in their life. — travelblog.org