I don’t have to be up for hours but I can’t sleep and for one of the first times in my life, ever, I have decided to get up rather than just lay in bed getting annoyed. I’d already been doing that for an hour anyway.

So I’m now sat in the hostel common area which is pitch black and has two of the people who work here sleeping in it. The only thing I can actually see are about 10 mosquitoes circling me. And I’m in a malaria zone so that really isn’t great.

My dorm wasn’t much better on the mosquito front anyway though so I guess it doesn’t make that much difference.

I don’t really know why I’m awake, it’s certainly not stress induced insomnia. I haven’t felt that in a happily long time.

There are just so many thoughts going round my head right now.

I’ve spent the last week with two of the most interesting people I’ve met on my travels so far which I’m pretty certain has largely got something to do with it.

The longer I’ve been travelling the more I’ve found myself thinking in general about nothing and everything all at the same time. Not even necessarily about particularly profound things but definitely considering more what it is that does or doesn’t make me happy. Since I can affect that pretty easily now. If I don’t like something I can just stop doing it, if I’m not happy somewhere I can just move.

And I think that’s what I found so interesting about them, they were both in their own ways equally as interested in what makes us happy and had clearly at some point in their lives had the realisation where it, for whatever reason, properly hits you that this is actually it. This is all we get. This life. So if you’re not happy with something you’ve got to change it. And if you want to do something you’ve got to go do it.

One had even been going round the world filming a documentary on what it is that makes people happy (you’ll be able to check out their project soon on The Wonder Junkies).

Since I’ve been away I’ve actually found it’s the simplest things that make me happy and really surprisingly for me they’ve actually mostly been based in nature.

I say surprisingly as I’m not really someone who spends lots of time outdoors normally or goes on walks just for the sake of it. I’m usually far too busy for that shit (how ridiculous is that!).

But now I’m not and sitting looking at a view from the top of a mountain, watching a sunrise or just staring out and looking at the sea have been some of my most amazing moments whilst away.

Because the world is actually pretty cool if you look at it properly. Like really look, just sit there and get lost in what you’re looking at. It’s fucking amazing.