My body and I have a tense relationship right now. I don’t think it likes the way I’ve been treating it. It hasn’t necessarily been intentional, but I haven’t been sleeping nearly enough since I arrived in Europe. It’s not easy being surrounded by 18-30 (mostly early 20’s) year-olds that are very persuasive in their attempts to keep the party going. I’d love to keep going but I have to listen to my body. The last thing ANYONE wants is to get nauseous on the bus, or even worse – sick! I predict that some of my fellow tour-goers will learn very valuable lessons by the time the trip nears the end. Or, maybe they’ll be able to pull off the night-after-night drinking until late, to rise early. Once upon a time it was more appealing to do so, and my body could handle it. Approaching 30, I don’t feel the same desire I once did to be in a constant state of inebriation.

This is the breakdown of the trip’s sleep schedule thus far:

London: 4 hours
Amsterdam: 3 hours
St. Goar: 3 hours
Munich: 2 hours
Austria: Hopefully at least 6 hours (UPDATE – about 7 hours or so)

I love my sleep, too. At first I thought that less sleep meant more time to do things, which is partially true. But after 4 days of depriving my body of something it is severely lacking, I actually don’t feel like myself. It’s been a non-stop flurry of awesome activities, long (not overly comfortable for extended periods) bus rides, rushed meals, late nights and early mornings. Today is the first day that I feel it catching up to me, and I don’t like it. I can honestly say that every day has been better and more exciting than the previous. Currently in Hopfgarten, Austria, the way here led us to white-water rafting (made much more difficult with the late night, many drinks and 2 hours of sleep) along with a gorgeous drive with a view of what I believe are the Swiss Alps.

It’s currently 9:15pm and I’m exhausted. To add to my already tired state, dinner included Turkey – with its sleep-inducing agent, tryptophan! I think that may actually help me to crash tonight. Tomorrow’s bus ride to Venice is quite long and the last thing I need is to feel ill or weak for the drive. A few of my co-travelers are realizing that sleep is probably a better option than another late night of drinking, but the majority of them are still going strong.

Breakfast is at 6:45am tomorrow morning, which would be 1:45am Halifax time. Wow. It’s probably best not to do the time conversion. If that’s how they choose to spend every evening, that’s entirely their choice. After all, they’ve spent the money to come enjoy Europe, so why not live it up? All I know is that partying (even if it IS in a place I may never see again)is not worth losing all my sleep, and becoming weak, shaky, losing my appetite and feeling delirious. It remains to be seen if I’ll keep up the responsible approach, but for tonight it’s going to be an early one.

Nick is currently adventuring in Europe. One of RBC's partners, Carlson Wagonlit Travel, has recently launched a travel site featuring exclusive travel deals. Deals are exclusive to students who have RBC No Limit Banking for Students™ and Nick is currently experiencing one of their travel deals. Over the next 2 weeks, Nick will be writing about his experience as he tours Europe on a Contiki tour.