As I write this blog, we have just jetted off from the runway into the dark Turkish sky, I've set my watch back two hours to UK time and I'm thinking of rejecting the sausage and mash for a G&T; and a few hours' much-needed kip.

As I look out of the window and the lights of our latest destination disappear in the haze far below us, and the music on my phone keeping me awake, I always get a little philosophical about what has gone on over the past few hours.

It sounds silly to say it, but at the time, despite being at the centre of it, there is so much going on that it's only now, a few hours later, that I can actually draw breath and appreciate what we've seen.

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I'm sitting on the plane that is bringing me home from the opening trio of races, and I'm reminiscing.

I'm not daydreaming about the first time we heard the engines roar for 2011 in Albert Park, Sebastian Vettel's dominant start to the season, Vitaly Petrov flying or Lewis Hamilton's slow, steady reeling-in of Vettel this weekend.

Nope, I've gone a little further back: I'm re-living 1995. Trawling through the plane's CD library I've stumbled upon the breakthrough album Different Class by Pulp. It reminds me of my mum's pistachio green VW Polo, studying for my A-levels, David Coulthard's first Formula 1 win and me, at 17, thinking the world started and stopped at the Norfolk county border!

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This blog entry is being penned as I fly over Quanzhou on my way to Shanghai at 3,9101ft, travelling at 616mph.

I've just watched possibly the greatest boxing movie ever made, in my humble opinion. The Fighter is a gritty, emotive film about human endeavour, sporting brilliance, and defying the odds. Christian Bale is a master of his craft, isn't he?

It got me thinking of some of the greatest sporting tales ever told. I grew up with my Dad regaling me with tales of watching George Best's electrifying feat at the 1968 European Cup final. We all know about the sheer bravery and mastery that Sir Steve Redgrave displayed in winning Olympic gold number five or Red Rum's historic third Grand National win in 1977.

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