Chuckling softly at that. He's also noted ( gratefully ) that you have not moved away. It's an improvement, and he has never been one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"It can sound incredibly trite when you're in the middle of nowhere with no bloody clue where to go next."

Literally, metaphorically -- it's all the same, really.

"I am almost afraid to say, old friend: but please don't throw yourself back in the general direction of the Middle East." Those wounds worry him. He understands that you can take whatever is thrown your way, but it hasn't exactly been the most stable year thus far.