It’s ten days since I returned from my two weeks abroad, and it’s a relief to find that the feelings of rejuvenation and optimism have not yet completely petered out. Strangely, I still feel a deep and constantly surprising pull of homelessness for Singapore. Lovely as my first spring in London is proving to be, the memory of heat is hard to shift. I could write endlessly about this holiday. 2009 was characterised by huge upheavals in my life, and yet I still managed to spend most of it within Zone 1. I became completely intoxicated with London. But my brief affair abroad has altered, although not quite broken, the spell.

Travelling alone again has reignited my independence. After months evading solitude, it was thrilling to rediscover that things can be just as exciting, just as beautiful, when seen on one’s own.

I still miss Jane though. In the heart of Colombo we made a pact - of resolutions to be fulfilled within the five months until our next meeting. Anything seems possible on the other side of the world.

At least I know my optimism and my plans will not be quashed or cluttered by my love life. One of the major disadvantages of travelling alone is having to apply sunscreen to one’s own back; mine now resembles an atlas in browns. I’d blend very well into the undergrowth. Then there’s my brown stockings, which end abruptly mid-thigh and the stripes of my midriff, which resemble a diagram of the earth’s crust, and wouldn’t look too wrong labelled ‘topsoil’, ‘permafrost’… Anyway, it’s hardly a good look for seduction.