I haven't let myself worry about this too much on the trip, but in a place like Barcelona, where people are gorgeous and the clubs are hot, it's rough living out of a bag.

Also, the last couple of hostels have had some gross elements to them. In Avignon, when I was pulling my bags out of the storage closet, a rat ran right by my toes. At this hostel, the shower is completely clogged, so it fills up within a couple minutes of turning it on, and you're forced to deal with the standing water.

Both of these things completely gross me out.

The worst part is that I am running out of money, and my clothes from 2 months ago are completely falling apart (not to mention I am outgrowing my shorts) so I am starting to really look homeless. Which, as a friend pointed out, I technically am.

We're going out for Dan's birthday tonight, and meeting a friend from home, and the best thing I have to wear are flip flops, a $10 euro dress, and a white stained, misshapen sweater that's completely lost its shape and completely wrinkled. I am trying to hide it all with a scarf, and all the jewelry I brought with me on the trip.

I feel like it's one thing to acknowledge that fashion isn't what backpacking is about, but it's another thing to be ok with looking like a hobo in a world city. I would never go out looking like this in San Francisco. Or even the grocery store.

Well, maybe the grocery store.

Oh - latest update - torrential downpour has resumed. So now I will be wearing a blue windbreaker over all of this. Ugh! This is definitely a moment where I am wistfully thinking of my shower at home.