HOMEWARD

During the night I sleep badly as I can't stop myself worrying about the last stage of the journey, particularly because I have so much baggage. I imagine I will take the tube but wonder if this is wise because I have 4 bags, there are no lifts in Whitechapel station and it seems signal failures causing severe delays are common. I suppose I could try and take a taxi, it's only about 4 miles to Kings Cross, will take about 20 minutes and cost around £24.

In the end I check the status of the underground and it seems there is a good service, so I check out at around 9am and slowly make my way to Whitechapel station with my cases. I have to carry them down a short flight of stairs but its OK if I take my time, and with careful planning I avoid them getting stuck in the gates. The journey to Kings Cross passes off without incident and once there I have about 45 minutes to wait before boarding the train. I prefer this to panicking at the last stage!

The train departs on time, although the ride is rather bumpy. I suppose I've been spoiled with Chinese trains which are as smooth as anything. As I travel further north, I anticipate my long- awaited reunion with Sarah! I update my blog on the train, and the journey passes very quickly.

When I arrive at the station everybody hurries off the train and I let them go on ahead, waiting for a couple of minutes with my bags as I want to be by myself with Sarah.. In the next moment I can see her running down the platform: she runs into my arms and bursts into tears.

And so we hold each other in our arms as we did when I left from Nottingham Station in 2015. The wheel has turned full circle.