Leaving Home

Well...what can I say...It's finally here!! The aspect of my life that I have been planning to and saving for and dreaming of for before time for living man began (well technically since I was around 18 years old but 6 years is a hell of a time don't you know)...I have left everything behind me that has made me what I am today and am about to embark on what everyone tells me is the trip of a lifetime! I'm going to start by saying *DO NOT WORRY - NOT EVERY DAILY POST WILL BE THIS LONG I PROMISE* This is more like an introduction and then the daily stuff will be much more to the point as you have your lives to get on with and I definitely don't have enough hours in the day to keep this up! So to start with, there were a few things that have driven me to spend years saving the money to do it:

• the deteriorating town that I live in; as a kid, Chingford used to be such a cool place to live in but slowly and surely the results of having Walthamstow on your doorstep soon start to have an effect and even if I wasn't going travelling, I would most definitely be willing to sacrifice the fortunate lifestyle I have at home and onto somewhere different no doubt.

• the lack of ambition of the people around me; I've been lucky to have made some great friends back at home but surely there's a time to call it a day and try something new when the people around you feel it ok to slug away at work Monday to Friday week on week and only reward themselves with a night out to O'Neil's in Leytonstone followed by with a day of hungover wallowing and self pity - this got old at 18 years old, I can't be doing this at 24 people!

• working in insurance; ''how did you end up in insurance?'' ''errr....sort of just fell into it'' words that are continually rolled off of the tounge around many offices, buildings, bars and restaurants in the city on a daily basis. I mean let's be truthful, I know it's not the worst industry in the world but who wakes up as a kid one day and dreams they want to work in insurance? I've been in the market since I left college and feel like I need to try my hand at something new...while i'm still young enough to dream, i'm going to dream damn it! I feel that i've got skills that a lot of people don't have and insurance has never gotten out the best in me so hopefully Australia will provide the answer...

• never going to university; oh come on...seeing someone go to uni for an incredible social experience for 4 continuous years followed by a trip travelling around the world for a couple of years is always going to effect someone who has had neither of these experiences. I resented not going to uni for a very long time...but then I realised it wasn't uni that I was so cut up about but more the social and cultural experience it brings...there's no better way than backpacking to bring this right!

I could go on and on...but let's be honest...months of no responsibilities along with loads of beer, sunshine and exciting experiences was the main factor!

I was due to leave my house for Heathrow Airport for 5pm that day, and upon waking up that morning soon did I realise that in true, typical Webster fashion that I had left too many things to sort out until the very last minute. I had clothes to pack, bank payments to sort out, things still to buy, various memberships to cancel, music to download, facebook to update, people to get in contact with before I leave...seriously the list goes on forever and as a result I was stressing round my room like a pitbull on coke.

Mum seemed to be crying throughout the day but for me, it just felt like I was getting ready for a very, very, very long holiday, that's all. To be honest, during the build up to this very point in time I was frightened to death about leaving everything behind...but now that I was getting ready to go, the whole feeling was ever so surreal and this was the least emotional I had been during the last 2-3 weeks. I was running out of time, many things that I needed to have sorted went unsorted, items that I should really have packed went unpacked and I had no choice but to depart.

I said a quick goodbye to the first of our two cats Amber (bought and intended to be my Mum's, but soon taking up a place in the Webster household as Daddy's little princess) who was sitting on the upstairs landing. Me and Amber had a funny sort of relationship...I would refer to her as 'the rat', she would avoid me like the plague, you know how it is. They say a dog knows when a person is upset or down but, without sounding like some sort of Rolf Harris impersonator in his Animal Hospital days, after this farewell I believe cats do also (ok granted - I sound like a prat I know). It was just, everytime I went to stroke the damn thing with affection, it would always look away from me when doing it...like a sign of disapproval, like I wasn't good enough...damn rat. But this was the one time that when I did stroke her, she actually gazed straight at mr throughout that 30 second period. Maybe in that little ginger head of hers deepdown she was saying 'yeah see ya later kid, with you out of the window this house is mine to rule, did you hear me...mineeeee' in a James Bond villian type voice....but for me, it was a nice moment.

And then that's when it hit me. All that built up emotion that had somewhat disappeard in the day suddenly came out completely out of nowhere when seeing my cat. Saying he was mine was an understatement. I think we got him when I was about 11 or 12 years old and I named him Simba (guess which was my favourite disney film at the time ay?). My Mum used to say that his eyes would light up when I entered the room and that he cherished the floor that I walked on and she was right. Even for the last couple of years, on every single day I would come in from work between 6.30pm and 7pm, he would be sitting there in my room on his perch seemingly waiting for me to come home. Being an only child can be hardwork sometimes, especially when you're going through your teenage years with hormones flying everywhere but having him there was awesome. He seems as vibrant as ever, loving and harmless, has this knack of giving you a look which tells you exactly what he's thinking, honestly the best cat ever and I love him to bits but it was the thought of, with his age in mind, maybe not ever going to see him again after this point which had me crying like a baby. Saying that, I'm sure he'll be there waiting for me on his perch once I come back the old boy!

Travelling down with the parents, we met my Nan and my Auntie at Heathrow and had enough time for a meal at Heathrow which was nice. My Nan looked after me a lot as a kid, I love her to bits and she was like a best friend to me growing up - I could never repay her for all of the stuff she's done for me over the years. My Auntie is also a star; I could go anywhere with her and enjoy her company she's got that sort of personality, such a good laugh. Saying farewell to them all when going through to the gate was tough but do-able as I think they knew this was a great oppotunity.
Dad was strong throughout, but I think he needed to be with 3 emotional women on the scene! He's like that my Dad, doesn't ever show his feelings but you don't question it because he doesn't have to with the way he looks after the people he loves. I've always got people coming up to me saying 'he's a great man your dad' and he's got this gift of effortlessly commanding respect as soon as he walks into a room. Even when I bump into the boys that I used to play football with still say how much they loved the years when he was the manager...and that was over 10 years ago!
Mum kept her crying routine to a minimum on the way to the aiport...until at the gate bless her! My Dad was one of 7 growing up, i'm his 5th kid (to date haha!) and always has been surrounded by family where as my Mum is the complete opposite; only child, single parent family growing up (although she has found a long lost brother in recent years which is brilliant for her) and i'm her only child so I think this was always going to be difficult for her letting me go. I didn't really spend a lot of time with my Mum growing up; she would have to work, Nan would look after me all the time and weekends would always revolve around football with my Dad. She's always looked after me but it's only now since I've grown up that I really appreacite what an outstanding woman she is. Honestly, even at 24 the woman does everything for me and she's the most caring woman I know. She's always helping others first before thinking of herself and her sense of humour is absolutely classic - I keep telling her that she's getting funnier with age! I love them both to bits and here's to a happy retirement for when I get back (and they say i've got it easy...!).

It was only after the standard british way of looking at everything in duty free and buying nothing but a newspaper and a few sweets, taking my seat on the plane and then sitting on the run way due to a delay did I start to get a bit reminiscent and emotional myself.

Even though I used to moan about working at Novae on a regular basis, there were some great people at the company that had me starting to think 'Will I ever get a job with so many great people to work with?'. I had people that I would class as true mates before colleagues, people like Matt Watson and Stuart Webb, both of which I went to Nepal with this summer for the trip of a lifetime and 2 people along with a few others who I truly hoped I would stay in contact with. I had people around me who used to make my day to day working life that much easier to get through like Carly, Lou and Anna from Med Mal, people who would always be there if I needed them like Meg, Liz and Jackie, and my own team, even if it did have it's problems, of Andy, Adey, Marc, Melissa and Lynne where we had a great laugh the majority of the time.

I wondered what it would be like without the Chingford crew, who I've been mates for quite some time now and have had the best lads holidays with in Zante, Malia and Ibiza along with various trips up and down the country. These were my 'bread and butter' people, you know the guys I would ring to see what was going on at the weekend and who just lived around the corner if I needed them, how would I cope without that comfort? The laugh out loud funnyness of Denton, the football banter and serious chats with Paskell, every other bit of banter known to man with Nev, the good pal in Birchnall, the messy nights out with Gerrard, the pull off's with Breame, the great stories of Sanchez and the go way back mate in Collett to name but a few. Even though I had a little moan about them earlier about the same old lifestyle routines and unexcitedness about going around locally, I couldn't help but think that at the same time this was the great thing about them and I knew nothing would have changed about the dynamics of the group no matter how long while I was away - they'll always be there, i'll always keep in contact and they'll always be mates of mine.

Otherwise known as the Reem Team(!), I knew I was sorely going to miss the guys i'd been spending most of the last few months with not only because of the quality nights out we seemed to have literally every time we went out (plus the ones i'm going to miss in the future) and the really close friendships I'd made during such a short period of time, but because out of everyone this was the group of people I feared I might not be the same with once I get back. The group is all about the banter that occured last time out and what banter will follow the next time round, and with being gone for large a period of time I suspect it won't be the same for me once I get back (hopefully i'll be proved wrong!), but I'm sure no matter what happens I will stay in contact with each and every one of them. Josh is a great dude to go out with, someone I should have definitely definitely got to know earlier and if it wernt for his warmth to everyone then I suspect we wouldn't of had so many nights out in the first place if it wasn't for him so the group owes him a lot. Marc's a top dude and surprisingly, even though we worked across from each other every day for 2 years, I feel we've become better mates since the team split. He's a really caring guy and it'll be good to see him in a few years time as he's got a lot going for him. Out of the group Em's the one I know least, but that doesn't mean I look on her any less favourably as she is such a great laugh and easy to get on with. Behind the great banter, she's a very intelligent girl and i've got a lot of time for her although she is crazy! Becci is one of the nicest people I'ver ever met I think, I don't think I've ever seen her in a bad mood. She's so sweet and is always up for a laugh; one of them people you'd feel comfortable spending time with no matter what the occasion and I always feel better for being around her. Becci's sister Melissa is like the little sister I never had even though we only worked together for just over a year but she's on my wave length with everything. She's great company, I can always count on her to have a laugh with and would also turn to her before most for advice if I ever needed someone to speak to.

I was also feeling gutted about leaving my Saturday league football side Hannikins Farm as, after only joining them in the summer, the commoradary there was brilliant and I had already made some good friends over there.

But all in all, I was on the plane and there was no going back no matter how scary it felt. It was only after watching a quick film to take my mind off of things and then going to sleep for the rest of the flight did I wake up to find that we were approaching to land and suddenly, all the nerves had been replaced with excitment....this was it....I was here...it had started....I was in Bangkok...OMG!!!

RW