When I went to Europe before, I didn't overthink it. I booked airfare, bought a rail pass, and booked my hostel nights day by day. This time is so different. I've been staying up until 1am reading books on European history and art. I want to get as much out of it as I can - time is so much more precious now. Travelling with Daniel is different as well. By myself, I'm carefree, but with him I need to make sure that we have a decent place to sleep and that things work out transportation-wise. He cares way more about these things. We balance each other out in that way - I doubt that I'll end up sleeping on the floor of a train station if he's around.

Also, I haven't had this much time off of work in a single chunk since 2009. That was five years ago! Jeeze. What the heck. I need to change that.