Family and friends aside — who I’m obviously going to miss dearly — there are a number of things that are dear to me and that I reckon I will miss as we travel. Thought that I’d take a moment here to list them for posterity.

My Oskimo slippers all the way from sunny South Africa, surely the finest export from that part of the world? We don’t really do the shoe-thing indoors and sometimes bare feet just make you feel quite naked. Slip on the Oskimos and you’ll believe that you’re standing on a couple of sheep who will walk you around the house. Goodbye, my sweets!

My camel mug from Abu Dhabi that my sister gave me for my 30th birthday. A fairly new entrant into my list of most cherished things, although every bit as deserving as the others. It holds an oversized cup of tea or coffee and the handle has clearly been engineered to exactly fit the top two fingers of my right hand. So long camel mug, see you in the UAE!

The Bookseller Crow on the Hill in Crystal Palace. Probably South London’s finest independent bookseller. I have spent many a happy Saturday afternoon browsing through the beautifully mixed bag of imported books, annoying the hell out of Squiffy who simply wanted to go home to eat lunch at lunchtime two hours ago.

Sergio’s Delicatessen is unquestionably the finest food store in Crystal Palace (and famous too!). Over the last year and a half of living here, I would conservatively estimate that I’ve eaten twice my bodyweight in Italian chicken baguettes and vegetable samosas prepared by the hands of the great Sergio Gozales and family. (I’m only sad that Caesor was not working when I took the photo — sorry buddy!) Adios my favourite family food — you are an institution and, upon my return, I will make a beeline for your coffee.

“Look at that view, Chicken.” As we walk from our home to the triangle of shops in The Palace, that view never fails to pass me by unnoticed. As the old regional postcards used to say, we’re “380ft above the Thames and therefore out of the valley of the fog” (London). This photo doesn’t really do it justice at all. Ok, maybe you’ve got to be there yourself.

Some people smoke.

Some people drink.

Some people blend.

I shred.

The Sonicare Elite Pro ‘tuthbrush’ (alright, toothbrush). You may think that spending a hundred quid on a toothbrush is utter madness. You’d be right. That is, until you try it. There’s toothbrushes and there’s the Sonicare Elite Pro: Just like there’s earphones and there’s custom-moulded, noise isolating, reference quality Etymotic ER-4P earphones. Happily, I’ll be taking the Etymotics with me, but the toothbrush is a step too far for a backpacker. Can you imagine the green-eyed looks of fellow hostel-room sharers as they fruitlessly compare the size and effectiveness of their toothbrush with mine? :-)

My rig. As the gormless stars of MTV Cribs usually say as they usher the cameras into their celebrity bedrooms: “This is where the magic happens”. How on earth am I going to survive writing this blog at, worst case, an underfunded cybercafe that is on the trailing edge of technology, fighting Microsoft Windows to work how computers should work? It’s going to be a real test of my technomettle.

My World Map , lovingly framed by none other than The Squifter herself for my birthday last year. I was so overwhelmed with genuine surprise and pleasure at receiving such a thoughtful gift that I cried five times. Nobody ever made me a map before.

My Barbapapa oh-so-squeezy beanbag cushions have been a great comfort to both Squiffy and I over the last twelve months or so. Initially sighted in Iceland, I fell in love with them immediately and had to have them — although not at the inflated Icelandic price! Rather, a feisty eBaying session turned up this set of four in Holland. They calmly waited for their turn on the sofa whilst SQ tried this cushion and that cushion to fend off these cartoon heroes.

After a while, SQ fell helpless to their charm and eventually agreed to let them sit with us on the couch. Needless to say, as soon as her head hit the soft, yet supportive mould of Barbapapa goodness the deal was done and they have stayed by our side forever since. Sorry guys, you’ve got to go away now — sniff — adios amigos!

Awww. The blue one looks so sad. *sniff*

What would you would miss if you were going away for a while? (Share, share — leave us a comment!)