I wish someone would have told me

or I take that back, I am glad that no one told me...

planning a trip is A LOT OF WORK, its exhausting, its hours upon hours of researching everything from the fun stuff to the nitty gritty, its a full-time job,
and that it has been for MOI!

As I have told you guys, in Feb, my friend and I are headed down to Italy for 9 days and in that 9 days we are visiting 5 places. That means a lot of trains, planes, hostels, hotels, cars, passes, DETAILS!
My friend gave me the lovely task (or did I just take on the job myself?) of planning...EVERYTHING. I have thuroughly enjoyed the process, learning so much along the way about Italy, which will be very useful when I am there, but as of right now, I am FATIGUE! (thats a french word)

Last week I spent researching all about one of our random locations I decided we just HAD to go to and then last night I spend 6 hours booking trains. ONLY TRAINS. It's a lot of math and negotiating with myself how much time we have in each place and when can leave and arrive and how much we want to pay and what that is in US dollars (since everything is in euros). Who knew?

Oh, and I can't really decide which part I am most looking forward to, but as right now, I am SOOO excited about renting a car in Florence and driving around the Tuscan villages for a day! How freaking cool is that??? (Yes, I just mastered the art of a manual, but don't worry, this will allow me to perfect it!! and I did buy us car insurance...don't worry)

And for those you who might be planning a trip somewhere cool in the near future, here's a lovely travel tip, look in iTunes for some podcasts from the famous Rick Steves. My friend's roommate said we should check him out since he has some pretty popular travel books (I have one for Paris and LOVE IT) and we found some FREE podcasts. So super excited that for once since I started planning this trip, someone else can tell me what they recommend (and it doesn't involve reading either :-) ).

I am so thankful for lowkey weekends, gaining a little more freedom (yay cars) and anticipating a much needed holiday (I think I am becoming French, I just had a 1.5 week holiday not even a month ago and I work 20 hours a week and get to play in Paris every weekend, how could i possibly NEEEEED a holiday???)

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Miss y'all and love y'all!!!

Love, me