Only two more nights and my adventure is over. Part of me wants to continue this crazy trip, while the other part is looking forward to being back home in my cozy bed with my husband, and enjoying my cats, horse, the Tango DIva team and friends. The part that is winning is the cozy home part. I want to reconnect with everyone who is inportant in my life. I sure have missed everyone.

Something happens to my identity when I travel alone. I forget who I am and it’s my chance to reinvent myself. Ironically, the person that was invented is not like the one I expected to invent. I thought I would be more healthy, more patient, more giving, and more outgoing on this trip. The person I am right now is someone who is not very patient, not interested in meeting anyone, and who is less giving than I expected. Oh, and I’ve haven’t stopped eating or drinking since I got to Europe  and I’ve only worked out twice. I have no excuse for not being someone better, I just didn’t take the time to be aware of it as often as I should.

Time on this trip was shorter than I expected. I thought there would be plenty of time to write each city chapter and enjoy quiet mornings meditating. Nope. It was hard to sleep and most mornings started at around 10:00 am, where I would jump out of bed, grab breakfast and hit the cities in search of perfect sites and activities for solo travelers. Nights where long. I’d eat out, find the perfect après-dinner local for a nice nightcap and get back to my hotel around 2 am, where I would then toss and turn for another hour or two

Tonight I’m going on a boat cruise of the Danube and then dinner with Marta Palfalvi, the public relations manager of the Four Seasons (one of the great perks of being a travel writer, and soon-to-be best selling author!). I leave Budapest tomorrow at 4 pm. I’ll spend one night in London, then back home on a painful economy seat on British Airways. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to move from economy to business or first class yet.