I miss my mess

It was last night, after a meal and a couple of Guinesses at a wonderful authentic bar in downtown Galway, that I realized I am going back to the fray of normal life.  It'll be an intense day of travel (about twenty hours worth), and an even more intense week for work -- there's a lot to get caught up on.  It is nice it is to plan a full day of "stay-cation" after a trip, and yet I still often forget to do so (including this trip.  D'oh!)

So I reflect back on the trip now, sitting in the airport, trying to make the memories of the trip slightly more permanent.  I have been incredibly lucky, from the gorgeous weather to the perfect amount of fuel -- I pulled into Hertz with zero liters of petrol left, which is equal to zero gallons of gasoline (in case you didn't want to do the math).

Each city was different, though the locals were consistently friendly, and the experiences were more about what I brought to them than what they offered me.  My favorite moments were those which included a playful nature, which I didn't think to capture with my camera.

I played more chess in the past two weeks than the past six months combined, sometimes even two games at a time.  Playing chess in public with a pint harkens back to college in Santa Cruz.  Yeah, I'm a nerd, so what?

I liked the "neighborhood park" feel of our walk yesterday, including stumbling and drooling toddlers on leashes.  Looking back, the whole trip was pretty bromantic.  Yes.  Bromantic.  I don't know how many times the conversation rolled back to:

"So, what do you want to do tonight?"

"Dinner and drinks?"

"That sounds nice."

It was nice to have a travel buddy, but now it's time to focus on all the things back home.  Thanks for reading!