This will most likely be my last "Letter from America", at least for the moment as this is my last night in this country. Tomorrow I fly home to Australia, and from late spring into what is by all accounts an early winter. I normally like to travel around the equinox as it gives the least disruption to your natural rhythms. Sometimes, though, you don't get to choose.

I'd have to say that I have really enjoyed my time here, even if most of it was spent working. Talking to others about this country I certainly feel I have landed in the right part of the country. If you've been following this series you will no doubt have noticed that I really enjoyed San Francisco, a city that even much of America will attest is their most attractive. Silicon Valley is at once laid back and intense, something that is at first hard to understand, but then not so after you get to know the people who live and work here.

I think the real thing I learned on this trip is that no matter where you go, it is your attitude that will determine how good a time you have. You can listen to the horror stories and look for fault and you will find horrors and fault. You can instead open yourself to the possibility that every country has something to offer, if only you are prepared to receive it. My last visit to this very same area was done when I was in a relatively new relationship, at a time I didn't want to be here. I brought back photos of ugly roads, miles and miles of concrete, and a distinct impression that the place was going to the dogs. This time I went while I was working for a great company, having a stable, long-term and loving relationship, and hoping to see the place with fresh eyes.

Sure, the roads are still badly maintained, ugly and ubiquitous. Sure there is still a class-based society that tries to pretend it isn't. But that isn't what defines the country or its people. I have to say I hate what the US government is about, just as I hate what my own government has been doing of late. But I know that I was one of the ones who voted against the conservatives, just as I know that almost half of America voted against Bush. But there are people who care that there are problems. There are people who think the rat race is just that, for rats. There are people, companies, and even hotels, that try to make the world a little better, in their own small way. There is hope. And people with hope are some of the most interesting people to get to know.