I feel very lucky to have just spent the last two weeks away - 12 days in Portugal, 2 travel days and 2 days with my mom in NJ. I took a walking tour on the southwestern coast of Portugal - it was amazingly beautiful and challenging. I was with a group of 13 women and we walked over 90 miles in 9 days. We also ate and drank a lot of delicious local food and wine.
I haven't yet figured out the total that I spent on the trip, but it was worth it. On my way home from Portugal, I stopped in NJ to spend two days with my mom. It was fun to rehash the trip with her. Who else would look at my many photos? 
I returned home on Saturday evening, snuggled with my very lonely cat all day Sunday, and started back at work today.
Now it's time to get back to my routine and to get a grip on my finances. I spent A LOT of time preparing for the trip - walking, buying gear, deciding what to take, packing, and making sure everything at work and home was taken care of before I left. Consequently, I ignored many other parts of my life and now need to refocus.
I think the first item I will tackle will be returning the many hiking shoes and boots, rain gear, backpacks, luggage and other unused miscellaneous items that I bought. I have at least $2000 worth of gear that was charged to credit cards. Some will be returned via mail, some to stores. I can't wait to get rid of it all!
I made it through my first day of work and now it's almost time to go home. Yay. I am very tired. I look forward to catching up on all the blogs. I'm sure that a lot happened while I was gone.
I will post more about the trip, but in the meantime here is one photo of the coast of Portugal.
back from vacation, back to reality
October 24th, 2016 at 08:42 pm
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