One of the good things about being home is catching up with family and friends and catching up on all the gossip.

I phoned mum and dad as soon as I got home obviously- they were a little bit worried about me travelling alone around South America. It doesn’t matter how old you are your parents will always worry about you. Anyway, I think they’re relieved that everything went so well.

I spoke to my sister straight away too – she’s also living in Germany so I won’t see her for a little while.

And yesterday I spoke to my older brother and visited my little brother and his girlfriend, Helen, for the weekend. This is my little bruv with one of his cats.

It was a great weekend. A couple of Helen’s friends were down for the weekend too. Helen cooked a delicious spag bol, we drank gin and prosecco and had a quick dip in the jacuzzi. After all this we were dancing and singing in the kitchen until the early hours of the morning. We also watched some Eurovision – I actually thought the UK entry was pretty good but we didn’t do that well as everyone scores politically!

I probably should have felt worse than I did this morning, but I was up fairly early eating porridge and drinking coffee, watching the cats playing in the garden.

After driving home I started to sort out my patio but then had a little nap. Think it will be an early night tonight.

Today I was working from home so when I woke up at 8am I decided to get up and go for a run. As I’ve been away I haven’t been running yet this year so I took it nice and easy and just ran a gentle 5km. The sun was shining and it was really nice running along the canal.

It’s strange because when I was at school I used to hate running. I really only got into it again a few years ago. In 2014 I signed up to run the Surrey Half marathon as motivation to get me out and running. And it did motivate me, I ran the half in just over 2 hours. And I got the bug for running so decided to try a marathon. In 2015 I ran the London marathon and although I loved it on the day I didn’t enjoy training for it so I’ve vowed I won’t ever run another marathon.

Over the last few years I’ve run some more half marathons but mainly I run 10k or just a little run in the mornings, mainly at weekends. I still enjoy running, I think it’s because I’m outside and I can switch off from everything.

This year I’m not intending to do any major runs, although I might do the Denbies half marathon as they offer wine every couple of miles!

This is a photo from last year’s ‘race’. I think it took us around 5 hours to run 13.1 miles!!

Today I travelled into London to go back to work. It was a lovely sunny day which made the commute in a little bit easier and nicer.

It was quite depressing though, being back at work, although of course it was lovely to see all my friends at work and catch up on everything that’s been happening whilst I was away. Another reorganisation has been put in place but luckily this doesn’t affect me directly so my job is safe for now. I think it’s just the thought of getting back into a routine and not seeing new things every day that’s a little bit hard to get my head around.

I had quite a few emails to get through – just under 2000. I deleted all the ones that were no longer relevant and answered a few of the more recent ones.

I was really tired by the end of the day and glad to head home, again in the beautiful sunshine, I’m loving this weather.

I don’t think it will take me long to settle back into work and my life back here in England but now that I’ve been travelling I really want to do more of it. I’m seriously looking into how I can make that happen!

After two 40th parties it was time to do some exercise. I’ve been lake swimming for the last 2-3 years and I absolutely love it, for me it’s much better swimming in s lake than a chlorine filled swimming pool despite having to wear a wetsuit and the temperature of the water. There’s something good and healthy about swimming outdoors.

My friend Paige picked me up with her daughter Jordyne, which was a good thing as my car is still dead, and we set off to Heron Lake (http://www.swimheron.co.uk). It’s only a 20 minute drive away.

Because the weather was so gorgeous today, and because the surrounding lakes aren’t open yet, it was really busy. I think we waited at least 30 minutes in the queue to get in.

Paige’s husband Carl joined us at the lake too.

The lake was cold but not as cold as I thought it would be, I even managed to get my head under the water without debilitating brain freeze! Think it must have been around 11 degrees.

I swam around 500m and at least half of that was front crawl, not bad for the first swim of the year. It’s so refreshing and makes me feel really energised.

Pete and Paul and their grandson Harrison were at the lake too so we all had a coffee after the swim. It was really nice to catch up with everyone.

I’m definitely going to try and swim once a week during the summer months.

It still feels a bit strange being home. It all feels a bit surreal, like the trip was just a dream and never really happened. It’s s bit of a culture shock coming home.

I’ve spent the last couple of days sorting out my room. I rented it whilst I was away so now I’m slowly unpacking everything and I’m sorting through it all as I go along. I already have a big suitcase full of clothes for eBay!

Saturday night we celebrated my friend Kate’s 40th at the local wine bar. Although I’ve had a few drinks whilst I’ve been travelling I haven’t had a lot all in one go so I struggled a bit and ended up going home around 11pm. Bit of a lightweight but it was a good night anyway.

And yesterday evening it was Anna’s 40th.

I was going to drive over to Faye’s – she was hosting the party – but my car battery was flat – so I got the train instead. It was a great party, good music, lots of people and lots of dancing. I did drink but made sure I had plenty of water too.

I stayed overnight at Faye’s and then headed home to do more unpacking. My room is slowly looking like normal. I think I may have managed to keep one wardrobe completely empty.

So I arrived back in Heathrow around 430pm yesterday and my lovely friend Jamie came and picked me up from the airport. I was pretty tired as I didn’t sleep much on the plane but I did manage to watch a couple of great films and also eat loads of food.

The journey from the airport was a nightmare – there was traffic everywhere. I felt really sorry for Jamie, especially as the flight was delayed by around 30 minutes too.

When I got home I had a lovely cuddle with my cat, I have missed him a little bit but I knew he was being well looked after by Belén.

It’s kind of strange being back home. It almost feels like the whole trip was just a dream and didn’t really happen. I need to start planning more adventures, and soon!

Today I’ve mainly been unpacking, washing and wrapping presents. I’ve also done a food shop and started to sort out my room as I had to clear everything out in order to rent it whilst I was away.

Luckily I’ve got a busy weekend lined up which will hopefully stop me getting post trip blues!

After a shower and breakfast I finished packing up my things and checked out of the b&b. I left my bags at the b&b whilst I had a last little wander around the main square. I stopped off for a coffee and did a bit of people watching.

At 11am I went for a therapeutic massage and it was just what I needed, really relaxing. I had some time to kill before I needed to go to the airport so I decided to get a pedicure as well.

And then it was time to leave. I’m excited to be going home to see everyone but I also want to keep on travelling. I’ll just need to book another holiday soon!!

I flew from Cusco to Bogota and got my last glimpse of the mountains. I’ve loved being and trekking among the mountains, it’s really been something special.

This whole trip has been amazing and I think I’m going to need to reflect on it and make some changes in my life when I get home – as well as plan some future travels.

I managed to get a photo of the sunset in the clouds, although in real life it looked much better.

And now I’m at Bogota airport waiting for my flight to London which is currently delayed by 20 minutes.

I’ve met some great people on my travels and hope to keep in touch with them and hear all about their adventures too.

See you soon.

After a shower and breakfast I finished packing up my things and checked out of the b&b. I left my bags at the b&b whilst I had a last little wander around the main square. I stopped off for a coffee and did a bit of people watching.

At 11am I went for a therapeutic massage and it was just what I needed, really relaxing. I had some time to kill before I needed to go to the airport so I decided to get a pedicure as well.

And then it was time to leave. I’m excited to be going home to see everyone but I also want to keep on travelling. I’ll just need to book another holiday soon!!

I flew from Cusco to Bogota and got my last glimpse of the mountains. I’ve loved being and trekking among the mountains, it’s really been something special.

This whole trip has been amazing and I think I’m going to need to reflect on it and make some changes in my life when I get home – as well as plan some future travels.

I managed to get a photo of the sunset in the clouds, although in real life it looked much better.

And now I’m at Bogota airport waiting for my flight to London which is currently delayed by 20 minutes.

I’ve met some great people on my travels and hope to keep in touch with them and hear all about their adventures too.

See you soon.

Today I’ve been taking it easy. After breakfast I went to the San Blas area to pick up some final souvenirs and presents. I took these back to the hotel and srmi- packed my suitcase.

I then headed to the other side of town and by San Francisco church I got caught up in a procession to celebrate the ‘Virgin of Chapi’. This is celebrated throughout Peru on 1 May. Chapi itself is an area around 90km outside of Arequipa and many Peruvians go on a pilgrimage to this place.

After joining the procession for a bit I headed over to San Pedro church.

And then into San Pedro market. This is a huge market where the locals come to shop and it has absolutely everything. I bought some coffee, quiona, Macs and a mug. I also had a juice from a fruit is not heard of before, lucuma. It kind of tasted like swet potato mixed with maple syrup, really nice.

After spending quite a long time in the market I had a look around the chocolate museum and then booked a massage for tomorrow morning.

This evening I went back to Organika restaurant with two Swizz ladiez who hsd just arrived in Cusco. I had some delicious alpaca and the best melt in the middle chocolate pudding.

Last night I took Ayahuasca. The main ingredient is the Ayahuasca plant but it is mixed with a variety of other plants.

As for the San Pedro ceremony, Katy came and picked me up and we travelled by local minibus to Ollantaytambo. We went to the Elders house at the full moon lodge. We had a bit of time to spare so we played with the dogs and had a little rest.

In order to prepare for the ceremony I’d stopped drinking alcohol and coffee and stopped eating red meat, sugary foods, salt and chocolate for around 3 days prior. I’d only had a light breakfast and just a small salad for lunch so when we got to the lodge Katy and I were both pretty hungry. But we just drank some chamomile tea and tried to sleep for a bit.

Around 930pm we went and sat outside by the fire and Elder introduced us to our Sharman, Daniel. We also met Gustov who was doing the ceremony with us too.

Daniel drove us to a house out in the countryside and we went into a room where we all had our own mattress, blankets and sleeping bag. Daniel began by lighting a small fire and blowing the smoke over us whilst praying to Pachamama. We then took a small cup of the drink each. It was pretty bitter but not as awful as I was expecting. It’s good to have an intention in your mind when you take the Ayahuasca, although it doesn’t mean that you will see something related to it.

I laid down on my mattress and after a while snuggled into my sleeping bag as it was quite cold. Daniel sang and prayed as the plant started to take effect. He also had made up some cigarettes with special tabacco but i only had one puff of Katy’s as i find it hard to smoke anything. After about an hour we each had another small cup of the Ayahuasca.

There was a full moon and the windows were letting in quite a bit of light so I pulled my hat down over my eyes so I would be in complete darkness and not get distracted. I drifted into a semi conscious state – I was awake but I saw things. It wasn’t like a continuous hallucination but rather a kind of sporadic one.

At one point I think I fell asleep for around half an hour. Like the San Pedro ceremony I am not going to share what I saw as a lot of it is personal but it’s making me think about things.

Later on, you loose track of time, Katy opened the door and it was daylight outside. When I looked at my watch it was 6am. I was surprised as it didn’t feel like it been there that long.

Soon after we left the house and went back to the full moon lodge where we had breakfast. Katy and I chatted about our experiences. After breakfast we went and slept for a couple of hours before travelling back to Cusco.

I had a little wander round town when I got back but I was pretty tired so went to bed again.

This evening I met up with Mara and her boyfriend for dinner. They’d both been sick recently. Mara’s boyfriend had picked up a parasite and had to spend some time in hospital. The restaurant was really nice and just as we started to leave a guy started to play the harp.

After dinner I met up with Louisa and Adam for a drink at the limbus bar. The views out over the city were amazing and the cocktail had was very tasty too.

On the way home the moon was out so I had to take a picture.