And so the trip of a life time ends - jet-lagged but home

Back yesterday morning and very jet-lagged. Flying east is always harder and the airlines don't help. To minimise jet lag you need to shift to the end point, whereas the airlines focus on the start point. And the need to keep passengers sedated to minimise nuisance! Flying in bright day light with the cabin darkened and all shades shut because that fits with night at the time you left is a case in point.

I used to be able to read and write on the plane, but that is no longer possible. It's partly that that I feel that I shouldn't put the reading light on, more that space is now so cramped that real reading or real work is very hard. Business class let alone first class is out of my reach. In cattle class, if you drop something you almost have to get the entire row to move so that you can recover lost object.

The jet lag wasn't helped by my decision to stay up to see Australia play Wales in the Rugby World Cup. At one level that was crazy stuff, but I'm glad that I did.

Wales threw everything at the Australians. For ten minutes Australia, reduced to 13 men because of infringements, held the line in the face of the Welsh barrage. A try seemed inevitable, but Wales could just not get through. In the end, that defence plus the accurate kicking of Bernard Foley gave Australia a 15-6 victory.

Helen and I watched a lot of rugby this trip. We went to three games - one in Birmingham, two in Cardiff - watched more at pubs and clubs. I will share some memories of all this later. The finals are yet to come, but in a way, last night's match provided a satisfactory book mark to end the trip. Helen watched the game at the Irish pub in Copenhagen where we had seen the opening game of the World Cup, exchanging messages with me as the game went on. So the trip ended as it had begun, with shared experiences.

I feel very lucky. This whole trip was a birthday present organised by Helen before she went to Copenhagen. A number of people contributed. I could not have gone, otherwise. Apart from the pleasure of eldest's company, the trip has been something of an energising circuit breaker.

I think that we all get stale from time to time. That was certainly true of me. So now, while still jet-lagged and with my luggage stranded in Germany, while needing to clean and sort, my thoughts have begun to turn to ways to maximise and consolidate my experiences from the trip. I say begun to turn advisedly. I'm still too bloody tired to focus properly!