Madness. For over a year, two? … I have sat at the edge of galaxy staring into the Great Nothing beyond. I seem to have lost time in that endless staring, and maybe a little of myself.

The caravan I traveled with to Beagle point has long since departed, leaving me as refuse its long wake. Restlessness stirred me to action once more, reminding me why I came here. A seemingly endless galaxy, a corner to myself but nearly all of it in someone else's footprints. I have discoveries of my own, hundreds eked out from the thousands of stars I've seen. I need to return and share them.

I spent that last few days reacclimating myself to my ship and its controls. It was both easier and harder than I had anticipated. Twice, I nearly stranded myself too close to a star. With heat syncs long since depleted, I watched as my dashboard smoked as my ship broke orbit. Complacency kills. This was a lesson I should not have needed reminding of.

Where to go? Choices abound. My ship is badly in need of refit and repair. The former waits in the form of a fleet carrier only five thousand light years from me. Nearby lies the Abyssinial Hidden Paradise. I can't recall if I'd seen it before. It's going to take months to make it back. I might as well see some the sights. After all why else am I out here?

The day started off well enough. I visited the Crux, before swinging over to the Amaethon Nebula, and Michell's legacy. The plan

Somewhere between the Clockwork Rings and Crayfish nebula, I encountered one of the densest neutron star I had ever found.

A slight miscalculation and I watched in agonizing as my ship crumpled around me.

Amaethon Nebula (and the Polonium Fields) - GalMap Ref: Floalt GO-G d11-9 Death Spiral - GalMap Ref: Blaa Phoe NC-D d12-230 Michell's Legacy -

I was taken a bit off-track this week, but was finally able to lift back up from Gagarin last night. I swung by Jo-Ellen's Flares before stopping at the Crux. Today I have a long road ahead of me, if I want to take the scenic route to do some sight seeing (which is why I'm out here in the first place). To make up time, I may neutron jump between Gandharvi and the Amaethon Nebula.

I believe this is the last leg of our journey before heading core-ward. Not sure, after departing port Polo tomorrow, I'm not sure when the next time I'll see civilization again.

Yesterday, I was reminded that this expedition is a journey and not a race. So I decided, rather than heading straight back to meet up with the expedition, I would take a (neutrino-aided) detour through the region's nebulae. I was not disappointed.

I toured my way through the Hammer & Chisle, Spear Thistle and Octopus nebulae. The journey was neutrino aided, but only so I could catch back up with expedition in a reasonable amount of time, but I'm switching back to conventional travel from here on out.

The highlight of the tour was the final stop, a system in the Llyn Tegid Nebula. Someone would have to look real hard to find a place in that system that didn't offer a jaw-dropping view. I wish I had more time to test that theory. Perhaps next time...

I should hit Gagarin gate in the next day or two, which will provide much needed respite and a chance to reload and repair. I am continuously surprised at how far flung these outposts are. Just when I think we are beyond the bounds of civilisation, deep in some nook or cranny of space is a little crumb of hope.

It's strange to think that I'm now several weeks' journey from the bubble. With months to go, I cannot fathom how strange it will seem when I return.

I took care of a few errands before leaving Colonia. The new coat of paint looks great. I forgot to snap a 'before' picture, but the outfitter reckoned there was only about 15% of the original paint left. I also upgraded my fuel scoop and AFMU since I finally had the cash on hand.

The big news of the night was that I finally got my 'Elite' pilot's rank. Jameson Memorial here I come (in a few months). I had about 99% progress through Pioneer, so I did a little bit of recon on the nearby systems. As luck would have it, I stumbled into a system with three water worlds.

After hopping back on the neutron highway, I made it about 5k back towards Sacajawea. Once I hit the port, I'll do some light repairs (those neutron stars aren't exactly kind to the FSD), and head up to meet with the rest of the expedition. If I have enough time, I may even swing through a nebula or two.

I've been meaning to keep one of these for a while, but the last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. Just a short time ago, my Phantom was brand new, and now, well, now all that shiny 'new ship' paint is almost gone. I've had her less than a month, and already this ship has seen more mileage than every other ship I've owned combined.

'If you want to explore, you need a Asp!', everyone told me. So I got an Asp, and flew her for a good while, but it wasn't for me. Aesthetics aside, I would definitely need space for things like AFMUs and mining gear for long distance journeys. So, after a last minute flurry of delivery mission running, and on the very day the expedition was to start, I managed to scrape together just enough to buy a brand new Phantom. I was so broke afterwards, I couldn't afford new components, and had to strip nearly everything out of my Asp.

It was a worthy investment, though. I made nearly every penny back in the first week of the journey.

There have been so many firsts on this trip. I even learned to mine, pitching in for the new station construction. I also learned not to park too close to an asteroid before you detonate it. I rolled halfway across a planet (albeit a very, very small one) in my SRV. I explored ancient guardian ruins. I almost got sucked into a black hole.

Only a week ago, I had never even done a neutron jump. I had only read about them and thought, 'Who would be crazy enough throw their ship into a neutron star?'. Well, when you're 12k ly from home, and none of the nearby ports will let you upload exploration data, because of a "misunderstanding" involving an SRV, a launch pad and a very irate pilot flying a Dolphin, jumping 200K starts to look pretty attractive. So, I hopped from Sacajawea to the nearest neutron star and 50 jumps latter, found myself in Colonia for the first time.

Colonia and I didn't get off to a great first start. Apparently, the little incident at Sacajawea had followed me all the way out to Colonia. Just as I prepared to settle down at the Colonia Hub I got a stray scan, and then, with my landing gear down, the bastards started firing at me. After a narrow escape, I reached out to the IFC at Jacques and got the whole mess sorted out.

Tonight, after slapping a fresh coat of paint on my ship, I'm going to jump back on that quantum highway and re-join the expedition. I may even give the collection of wonders another visit.