2009 was like the Friday of the decade. It had been a long week full of excitement, adventure, and life-changing experiences – but I was tired and went home early to have a very lazy afternoon.

That’s not to say I didn’t accomplish much that year, just that it was the more sedate and simple things that entertained me such as catching up on missed television programs, drinking with old friends, and certainly not blogging about my experiences.

But 2010 is now here: ‘The Year of the Future’, ‘The Year of Change’, ‘The Year of Progress’ (and apparently also ‘The Year of the Girl Guide’.) And for me personally it will also, at least in part, be the year for catching up on my blogs.

I wrote many travel blogs in 2007/2008 because I was doing lots of things which I felt were exciting, for myself and hopefully for one or two others that know me. I enjoyed writing them immensely, and the occasional feedback I received was always very encouraging; and given my tendency to forget – I think it was a valuable way for me to consolidate the memories that otherwise might have drifted off into obscurity.

So now I start a mammoth task: to remember 2009! I have a few photos at hand to try and stir my hippocampus into something resembling normal activity, a pot of fresh coffee at my side, and a host of music from the last year at my disposal to try and awaken those forgotten thoughts and emotions.

I will be organising my posts not by the dates they are eventually written, but by the dates the events I discuss actually happened. In that way, I hope to produce a diary of 2009 which doesn’t all occur in the first few weeks of 2010! I will publish them in no particular order, but will add a note to this blog as each one is written.

So it is with a promise that I will try to make my next blogs much more interesting than this one that I now begin….