Musings of an insomniac traveller

I have a travel secret. I can read anywhere.

When I was young and we went on holiday there would always be a layer of books at the bottom of the case, to keep me occupied during the trip. I'd have a couple of books in my carry-on and another three or four, if we were away for a week. If a fortnight, I'd try and find big fat difficult books which would theoretically keep me going for longer. I read fast, and I read everything.

If we were driving somewhere on holiday, even better; there'd be a bag of books in the back seat with me. I'd open a book as we left our driveway and my head would be down, disregarding the view, until we got to our destination. I travelled twice everywhere we went – once physically, and once through my books. That's why the Kindle has been such a blessing, especially now I'm travelling more for longer. Gone are the days of taking up half the luggage allowance with books, and gone are the days of hoping tonight's hostel has a decent book exchange so I can switch the trashy novel from two days ago with something else I might not have read.

I don't get travel sick, or seasick. Everyone else in the family would munch on pieces of crystallised ginger to help keep nausea at bay if we took the ferry to France. I'd have a piece too, mainly because I liked it. Even in the roughest seas while sailing I've felt fine. I don't particularly like rough seas, or turbulence in an aircraft, but I don't get sick.

But I don't sleep well while travelling. I'm writing this at 9.20pm British time, which is 5.20am somewhere over the Himalayas, monochrome and majestic in the dark below us, and 6.20am in Seoul, where this plane is headed. Oh, and 1.20am in Abu Dhabi, where we took off from. I've just been trying to sleep for the last couple of hours or so; I think I've dozed a bit but I couldn't actually sleep. When I get to Seoul I have a four-hour window to go through immigration, collect my bag, and check in again for the next leg to Kuala Lumpur (where it's also 5.20am).

Perhaps it's also excitement at the prospect of the next eight weeks or so that's keeping me awake. After getting back from Rio and South America in November 2016 I've been longing for another decent trip. Last year's holiday in Georgia with Julie and Andrew was excellent, but somehow three weeks after the big three and a half month trip seemed like nothing. So when the offer came through last year to work as a reporter at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics I leapt at it, and started planning how I could extend the journey for a bit longer.

Initially I'd thought of going to Japan before or after PyeongChang. Flights between Korea and Japan are cheap and I do want to visit. After thinking about it I decided to delay Japan for another time (fingers crossed, Tokyo 2020!) and to take the chance of going back to New Zealand as I was already halfway there.

I had to then work out a way of getting to NZ easily from Korea, as my flights were booked return London-Seoul. It so happened that direct flights to Auckland from Seoul were horrendously expensive; direct flights the other way a few weeks later were much cheaper. But there were some good deals between Seoul and Kuala Lumpur, and between KL and Auckland, so that's what I've ended up doing – although I didn't really think about just how long the London-KL journey would be when I booked it.

NZ is the real draw. It's 11 years now since I first went out there on my working holiday visa. I settled in Wellington and had a fabulous two years with a good job. I went back in 2010 for the rowing world championships at Karapiro, and stayed for a hectic two weeks. This time I have a little longer, and have planned a circuit of the North Island with the four-day Tongariro Northern Circuit as the main event towards the end of the trip, combined with plenty of catch-ups with friends and the aim to ensure I eat and drink everything I've missed (Kiwi fish and chips, golden kiwi fruit, Monteith's Summer Ale, Ata Rangi rosé wine in Martinborough, green-lipped mussels, Whittaker's chocolate …).

And then it'll be back to Seoul for a few days' sightseeing including a tour of the Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea before taking the fast train to PyeongChang for three weeks of immersion in the Olympic bubble. Afterwards I have a week of decompression travelling around Korea, yet to be planned properly. In total it's two months of travel. I know it'll be gone in a flash.

It's now 5.35am over western China and I've properly woken myself up by blogging. Time to pick up the Kindle and read a bit. Maybe then I'll sleep.

(In Seoul, waiting for check in for the next flight: I did sleep, for a couple of hours, although feel a little blurry still).