Global Time = Quality Time

[tweetmeme source=”@mummy_t” only_single=false]My son and I set out to travel the world together in January. I’d imagined many wonderful things about the journey. What I hadn’t imagined is the sheer quality and quantity of time together.

This morning's walk. Sapa, Vietnam.

Or, for that matter, the absolute, unalloyed luxury of starting every single day with a complete free rein.

Where shall we go today? What shall we do? What shall we see?

All, as it happens, for less than the rent or mortgage on a one-bedroom London flat.

Before I Kill You, Mr Bond . . .

The crocodile pit at Snake House, Sihanoukville, Cambodia

There’s something of the Wild West about Sihanoukville, Cambodia. A sort of post-Soviet Wild West, where Hummers park off Soviet Avenue, portraits of two kings and the Queen adorn the brutalist concrete of Independence Square, candy-coloured cod-Buddhism is just a step up the hill, the crime rate is the highest in Cambodia, backpacker guesthouses and low-rent girlie bars fight over hillside space, and, oh god, did I mention the snakes?

The elegant Nikolai, who owns the Snake House restaurant, the Airport disco and an exquisite and extremely expensive island, is responsible for the snake thing.