Day 27. Tbilisi International Airport.

There was some commotion at our guesthouse as Joe and I awaited our pre-arranged taxi shuttle to the airport at midnight. US Vice President Mike Pence was in Tbilisi for reasons no one seemed clear about and it was causing huge traffic delays. Our taxi would be 25 minutes late. Not a problem, said our guesthouse owner, Giga. He powered up his Prius SUV and packed us up. Along the way we picked up Ada, our friend from the Caucasus who in another uncanny coincidence was booked on the same flight as Joe.

Ada and Joe left on time for Doha at 2.25 but I had a further three hour wait. By 6 am we were airborne and by 11 am local time I had arrived in Cologne but barely able to drag myself off the plane as I hadn’t slept at all.

Day 1. Bonn.

I took a bus to Bonn and got off a bit shy of one kilometre from my pre-arranged apartment. I shouldered my huge rucksack for one final hike. I was finally heading home but to a home I had never seen before. A home which I could only find using Google Maps. The landlady met me and showed me my cozy little apartment located a few minutes’ walk from Bonn central. It was a temporary home until Padma and our furniture would arrive.

My Crop Trust colleague, David, became my first visitor and welcomed me to Bonn and walked me through some of the paperwork I needed to do to become a city resident. It was a warmish August day, and we went for a stroll so David could introduce me to my new home city. But there was someone I wanted to visit. David brought me to the central square and there he was. Huge and unmistakable. Bonn was his home, so I wanted to announce my arrival to Ludwig van Beethoven and let him know I’d be hanging around for a while.

David left me to explore my new city and I indeed wanted to explore all of the cobblestone streets and alleys. But exhaustion and fatigue from a lack of sleep overcame me so I walked back to my apartment. I threw a couple of brats and eggs on a fry pan and opened up a cheap Rioja from Aldi and put my feet up.

I had arrived. I was home.