I leave for Paris in 10 days.

*coughs* Last week I booked a trip to the City of Lights, and I'll spend a month there this summer.

After Nico-kitty died, I was in a pretty big funk. I'd put off traveling while he was sick, and although I'd started doing some job-hunting, nothing really panned out. I still haven't written anything in the last month, and yeah...it was generally a pretty big downer-fest for me.

I got to the point where I felt cooped up and needed a change of scenery. With a LOT of frequent flyer miles accumulated, I had enough for a round trip flight to pretty much anywhere I wanted to go in the world. A search of airBNB led me to Paris and a cute little apartment with lovely views of the rooftops for a relatively affordable price. On top of that, Paris has the benefit of being one of the largest European train hubs, so short trips elsewhere were also a possibility.

I hemmed and hawed for a few days until finally realizing that the opportunity to do this trip -- a month! in Paris! -- was something that doesn't come around often. I still have a lot of money saved up, and I have plenty of free time. If not now, then when?

So I booked a trip. And I'm really excited!

I'll be completely honest, though: it's difficult when the everyday people in my life are not nearly as open-minded to new things. I'm talking about my family, with whom I've been staying since moving back to San Francisco. I made that decision since I wanted to be close to Nico and because I've been without an income for a while.

Even after the kitty's treatments, though, I do have quite a bit of savings still -- enough for a couple more years of voluntary unemployment and finding my own place to rent, to be quite honest -- but that's a topic for another day. Anyway...given the fam's lack of interest in new things, I've tried to keep my excitement under wraps since booking my trip, but now I'm starting to do an inner-squee because it's ALMOST HERE. And hey...what better place to inner-squee than all over the internet??

So...squee!

I'm going to Paris for a month, and it'll be super fun. YES, IT WILL.

I'm crossing my fingers it will be the perfect place to get me out of my funk.

Now let's just hope I pick up some French while I'm there...

Au revoir!
NJ