I have set an approximate date for my first trip to mainland Europe. I have finally found a travel partner. Now all I have to do is wait the 9 months until March 2010 rolls around and I can hop onto a plane and sit with nervous excitement until I finally arrive in the place that has been the focus of most of my thoughts for the last several years. Europe. I cannot wait.

Of course, this means, spending at least several hours a day doing nothing but looking at pictures, finding awesome places to go, reading hostel reviews. Even if the vacation is a far-fetched dream, like the time I was convinced I was going to spend the summer in Yemen with a Yemeni guy I barely knew, I love love LOVE planning!

Irma, my travel partner, who took me to NYC last July, is a lot less militant than me when it comes to planning. This is why I love traveling with her. I make sure we have a way to get there and a place to stay, and she makes me calm down and just enjoy the experience. We’ve decided, since we are traveling in the off-season, to really play this trip by ear. We’re going to arrive in Paris and travel as we please. If we end up spending two months in France, then so be it. In reality, we both want to do France, Spain, Italy and Germany. Though I am usually nervous about this sort of thing, I am incredibly excited about this plan. Friends who have already travelled Europe have commented on how they arrived in cities only to want to leave right away but being stuck in a hostel reservation and unable to arrive any earlier in the next city on their itinerary. Irma and I shouldn’t have this problem. Deadlines and schedules should not be part of this adventure.

All that being said, there are a few things I am hopeful to cross off of my list while I am there. Here are a scant few!

72. Smoke pot in Amsterdam
211. Ride a gondola in Venice
246. Go clubbing in Spain
401. Spend a day at the Disneyland in Paris (I made Irma PROMISE to do this one)
428. Drink wine in Paris
523. Go to the Louvre
568. Eat French fries in France
607. Eat tapas in Spain