Disclaimer: Josh and I did not break up, and I am not flying anywhere by myself. For the past week, I’ve been living a faux bachelorette life as Josh has been on vacation in Italy with his two best friends on what I’ve been calling his Euro Bro Trip™.

Josh went on an international trip in September 2022 to Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary for nine days, so this isn’t the first time my passport-less self has stayed home. But back in 2022, Josh hadn’t moved in yet, and I was still going in to work three days a week. Now, Josh lives with me and I work from home full time, so I knew the adjustment would be different while he was gone for just over a week.

To be honest, though? I enjoyed my time alone. Yes, I do miss Josh and can’t wait for him to come home tomorrow, but this past week has felt very circa 2021 when I first lived alone. I do feel more confident in my ability to live alone now, if that makes sense. I think before I would be worried about being alone for so long, but I think I’ve made the best of my alone time.

Josh has been texting me when he can, either based on whether they’re busy exploring or how bad service is where they are. Plus there’s a six-hour time difference, so by the time I’m eating dinner here, he’s usually in bed, and when I wake up around 7:30 a.m., it’s already 1:30 p.m. in Italy. So we’re trying the best we can.

Thankfully, I have my dance class on Wednesday nights, so that’s an excuse to get out of the house and interact with others. However, from last Wednesday night until Friday night, I did not verbally speak to another person—until I saw my parents at our weekly date night dinner.

Saturday night, I went out to dinner with Josh’s best friend’s wife, who was also flying solo during the Euro Bro Trip (well, they have a dog, so at least she had a companion). It was our first time hanging out just the two of us, but it was a lot of fun.

I’ve been spending most of my free time painting my kitchen cabinets. Shout out to my mom for coming over on Sunday and helping me for three hours.

This is the current progress as of last night; there are two coats of primer and two coats of cream paint on the upper cabinets. The lower cabinets are the original color and thus why it’s taking four coats to cover the dark brown. It’s still a bit overwhelming, but I’m trying to just do a little bit each day. Listening to podcasts and music helps pass the time.

Monday to today has gone by sort of quickly. Monday and Tuesday were really nice weather-wise, so I sat outside at lunch and read and also went on a walk after work. I’ve also caught up on some of my shows (NCIS and Resident Alien), and after working for an hour and a half on the cabinets last night, I ate ice cream right out of the container.

Tonight is my last night having the bed to myself, unfortunately. That was probably one of my favorite parts of being alone for the last week. I am looking forward to Josh coming back home tomorrow night—I mean, I had to kill three spiders while he was gone.

Enjoy a few pictures: the Colosseum in Rome and Mount Vesuvius in Naples!