Coming down

I've been out of Palestine for 2.5 weeks now, and I realise something that I should have learnt before. Every single time I get back from a mission I go through the same process and every single time I get stressed about it. I think that the stress is part of the process and needs to be endured like the other stages of "coming down" but it does become tedious.

The first stage of "coming down" is the flight home; many long days of travel, recycled underwear, sleeping in an upright position with my tray table folded and arriving jet-lagged and tired, but determined not to be affected by these
nuisance value physical complaints.

The second phase is the "catch up with everyone in the shortest possible amount of time while simultaneously stressing about the amount of mail that needs to sorted out, the boxes in the shed and finding a pair of trousers that hasn't been on a 1:3 rotation for the last 6 months". This phase may also be accompanied by worrying about or sorting out my next contract and starting to let my mind wander out to the airport, onto a plane and across the world to my new destination.

The next phase, which is the one I am currently entering, is the "everything is under control, I'm ok, make lists and start being efficient" phase, whereby I get a grip, suck it up, and get on with it. Yesterday was Day One of Phase 3; I spent 5 hours driving all over Melbourne whipping out my credit card, moving with determined focus through pre-Christmas retail madness, and filling the boot of Ding-Dong the Car, with bags and bags of necessary yet indulgent things.




Finding a car park in central Melbourne is an exercise in frustration at the best of times, not to mention cripplingly expensive, but I perservered through throngs of vehicles and masses of swarming shoppers in order to position myself in the centre of it all for maximum efficiency.

I don't shop often and only out of necessity; I have retail self-discipline which, if applied to Paris Hilton, would probably result in the collapse of the major designer labels.



So, I brutally executed a complete overhaul of my underwear, a chat with HSBC, replenishment of my Aesop products (body and hair products, highly recommended by me - expensive but lasts an entire mission in a range of conditions from mountainous mud huts to dusty deserts), craft supplies, and bags of Asian foodstuffs so that I may make Udon soup, sushi, Madras curries and Thai delicacies in the jungles of Ghana.

Phase 4 will commence just prior to my departure.... stay tuned :-)