Adventure!

Constant travelling place to place is a continual cycle of anxiety, triumph and departure.  You venture into unknown territory, not uncommonly getting lost, and establish yourself in a strange place.  After orienting yourself, things become familiar and you’re comfortable enough to enjoy the novelty and newness of everything.  You even become a minor authority and pass on recommendations to fellow travellers.   Then you move on—sometimes it’s bittersweet when you leave a favourite place—and the anxiety begins anew.  It’s a slow-burn adrenaline rush.

I’ve stuck largely to my planned itinerary on this trip, adjusting it only slightly to stay a day longer in Mertola or Tomar, or dropping a destination like Elvas or Viseu because I try to do too much.  I think Croatia and Montenegro will be even more fluid, as it was planned with the least rigour and because my itinerary has now gained two days.  I had planned to raft Montenegro's Tara Canyon, but I have just learned that the rafting season is now over.  October is late, but some years the water is still strong enough for rapids.  It must have petered out.