But as soon as I landed in Bangkok, although jetlagged and totally disorientated, I felt completely alive as I unfolded a map the size of my upper body and explored the chaotic yet mesmerising city. I took the overnight train to Chiang Mai, where I trekked in the mountains and tried a Thai cookery course, and island-hopped across Koh Tao, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Lanta, picking up friends on buses and boats, at beach bungalows and bars. I travelled overland to Malaysia and Singapore, before living and working in Sydney – first in a houseshare in Bondi with a smart and beautiful blonde German woman I ached to be like, and then in an apartment block with Harbour Bridge views (if you craned your neck out of the window, that is) with five other travellers. Christmas was spent wearing silly Santa hats with my new pals on Bondi Beach while on New Year's Eve we crammed together on a patch of grass to watch the spectacular fireworks over the bridge with thousands of others.