So I’ve been back in Madrid for a short while, and I’m finally finishing up with teaching. (More on that soon, if I ever get around to feeling introspective.) But I’m not heading back to the States yet — I’ve actually got more than a month left.

I’m partially writing this down to gloat about my good planning and pleasant immediate-future, but mostly I just want to have it on record what my plans were before I left — in part so I can compare them to how they ended up. So: my plans for the coming weeks follow.

On Wednesday, school ends. It’s over already, in many ways, but Wednesday’s the last day the kids have to be there, and it’s the last day I’ll be going in. That evening, I head off to Galicia, with my friends Emily and Ashley and Mateo (who’s grandmother’s house we’re staying at). We’ll be in La Coruña for four days, for a summer festival/Feast of Saint John — but also just to see Galicia, explore, and so forth. I’m excited; it’s one of three places that I’ve really not yet been to in Spain, but care to. (The others are Valencia and the Picos de Europa, which I’m going to miss this time around. Another time! Also maybe the beaches on the southern coast, but beaches aren’t as exciting.)

Then I’ll be back in Madrid for either a few days or a week. I haven’t yet decided. Surely, I’ll be in Madrid for a few days, beginning on Saturday. I have a few plane tickets, though, so let’s see: I’ll be heading to Berlin, Germany, for a while, where I’ll get to see my friend Karina. Thence, I’ll probably stop off in Dresden, Germany, for a day or two, before heading out to Prague, Czech Republic, which I really need to see now that I’m almost finished with The Unbearable Lightness of Being (which, by the way, is so much more enjoyable than I feared; it’s wonderful; in case it’s not obvious, it takes place primarily in Prague).

From Prague, I’m flying north to Copenhagen, Denmark, which I admit is a bit unnecessary, but which should be fun; I’ll be there for only a few days, and also hopefully in Lund, Sweden, where a friend, Hana, lives. Afterwards, I take flight again, now for Paris, France. I’ll get to hang out with some friends there, including my high school friend Reshma, and hopefully a French kid I met last year, Benoit. I’ll be there only briefly as well, before heading south to Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, where a friend and former professor, Maud, has offered me a night or two at her house. (This is one of the main places where they filmed the 2000 film Chocolat, although not apparently where the river in the film is.) I’ll fly out of Paris, heading through Rome to Umbertide, Italy — in the Umbrian countryside, where my friend Jacob and his family will put me up for a few days.

Then I’ll finally fly out of Rome, spend a day or two more in Madrid, do anything I forgot to do, collect my things, and head home.

I am really excited. And curious to see how this will play out. I’m moving around more than I would really like to be, and flying more than I’d like, but it is as it is, and frankly air travel is often cheaper than train travel. If I manage to spend my money carefully, and don’t stress things too much, I think this will end up being a lot of fun.