Hi everyone,

Sad times, broke my promise to myself that I would not binge in July. The good news is that I went 20 days without doing so, which is "good" if you're me. I'm undeniably stressed out at the moment about moving and such and I haven't been sleeping very well. This too shall pass - in the meantime I'm concerned about getting home (on foot) in the midst of a thunderstorm. The dumb impulsive wild child in me wants to run out the door and brave the storm, but the cautious superego worrywart remembers all the times I've faced near-lightning-strikes - 3 separate incidents - and thinks I should stay put.

As for the Rick Steves recs, I definitely prefer traveling "on my own" to with a tour group, but I'm 24 and my home responsibilities are very few. It's steep price-wise but that includes a bus and driver, hotel lodging at pretty nice places for every night, half your meals, various guided tours, and little bonuses here and there. The European language barrier is pretty negligible at this point, most people speak or at least function in English.

I'm going to go out in the storm and probably get hit by lightning and die. Pretty anxious to escape from work. See you later!