I got a text late last night.

Would I like to come to my niece’s third birthday party?

I agreed. It was only later than I realised the significance of the date.

You see, my beautiful niece was born while I was in the skies on my way to Vietnam. I actually checked my email in Singapore before the last leg. There it was. I was an uncle for the first time and my VSO stint was about to begin.

Three years on I am now an uncle four times over. Hanoi and Granada are behind me and I’m back in the North East of England.

In the meantime I have enjoyed the time of my life. It would be too contrived to say I am a different person. But anyone would change to some degree under the same circumstances.

I now know what it is to feel lucky. It was a sentiment I’d voiced before my trip, without ever really meaning it. It’s not just that I have more than most people in developing countries, it’s how hard they work to get just a fraction of my relative riches. My life has been easy.

Settling back down in the North East, I’m in the process of moving into a somewhat cosy little flat. I’m buying a small, second hand car. Hardly high living.

Talking about “what next” we’ve discussed getting back to normality.

But normality will never really be normal again. Even our fairly frugal existence, we reminded ourselves, will feel like luxury.

Just as the adventure was so fantastical, much of what I took for granted back in the UK will now be enjoyed with a new wonder and gratitude.

Three years on, I even feel lucky to feel lucky.

* By chance I also received an email today from a blog reader who had seen the video below and she told me that it inspired her enough to sit her kids down to watch it too. I watched it once more and despite wincing at my own horrific voice over, it made me smile all over again. I hope that what I experienced in Hanoi will never ever leave me.