I bought two books about Italy today, one about Rome and one about Italy in general. I love having a robust travel library. I definitely want to spend a week or so in Rome, because I really gave it short shrift when I was there last time, and it’s just incredible. The rest of the trip is up for grabs. I’ve been pressing Denny for an opinion, and such options as Cinque Terre and Dubrovnik, Croatia have come up. I’m also batting around the idea of Pompeii. But you couldn’t keep me away from Rome if you tried with medium amounts of effort.

How much longer till we go to Rome? Six months? That’s not so long I guess.

Actually, it’s pretty long. I wish we were going to a conference there so it could be partly paid-for by work, like the Portugal trip last year was. Oh well. I’m sure some people think it’s weird that I spend so much of my money and leisure time travelling, but really, how many more years do I have of being half of a dual-income family with no debt (except mortgage, which doesn’t count because we’d be paying rent anyway)?

I’m sure our travel budget and free time will shrink mightily once we have a kid or two, but that’s ok because we’ll have all the entertainment we need gazing at our amazing offspring. I’m already pretty entertained by my friends’ babies, and I’m not even related to them.