Julie Griffin just joined Epic Europe. This is her first contribution to Epicurus Life.

Over the last year, I've had more new experiences than I could have ever imagined. Riding a bike from Thailand to Switzerland is a good way to cheat and get a lot done, because it's like cramming three years of living into one. And yet, I couldn't stop thinking about what I wanted to do when I got home to the Alps.

I’ve actually kept a List of Things I Want to Do for some time now and I checked off quite a few this year: see a panda, check; visit Tajikistan, check; try kiteboarding, check; go on a long bike trip: definitely, checked.

Before setting off on the Big Bike Trip, I would have thought that by the end I’d have been cured of my need for adventure. But it doesn’t work that way - doing just leads to a craving for more. It’s one of my life mottoes to Always Do. It’s a bit of a “Yes Man” thing, if that Hollywood reference means anything. And after a year out, to come up with new ideas of what I want to do – especially all the things I wanted to do when I finally got home – the list is now longer than ever before.

So once the bikes were put away and the dust had settled, I went and dug out my old list, and sat down to add the new items: ski-tour the Haute Route, ski-mountaineer a 4,000m peak, ride in a helicopter, eat as much fondue as possible (okay, this wasn’t on the list, but it’s a very important goal when you’ve been deprived for a year), ski enough off-piste to call myself a freerider, learn more about my own backyard environment, have a job that is locally focused and lets me share my passion for the outdoors with others.

It's good to be home. I think this is going to be a good winter.