I apologize for my harshness. I didn't say you cannot post your planning trips and hope that you do in the future. Tbh, was trying to save all of us from the whirlwind of threads previously, especially with some repeated thoughts and potential destinations. People can throw out idea after idea - and have - but at the end of the day, it is ultimately the traveler that decides.

You have made firm decisions without an internal struggle before. You got to go to both Iceland and Thailand in December, it seems? I'd love to hear about those, too. And also a trip to Aus and NZ, too. I want your job - your idea of not having a lot of vacation time seems as if you have more than most at 26.

There is no wrong answer. There might be bad itineraries, but no wrong answer. If the Baltic states and the midsommer festival interests you the most, you can do a great 2 week trip to Tallin, Riga and Villinus. You do not have to limit to just one. Grouping those 3 together makes sense. What kind of does not make sense is throwing another region, such as Budapest, on top of it. But like many of us have said over many threads, it's your trip.

You do not need ours or anyone else's validation. I understand being your age with social media you may think you do. But you don't. Plan. Keep it simple. Just go. And let us know how it goes.

Have fun!

You are aware of the fact that, if you still want it, you can have beach time in the Baltics. If you choose to visit Vilnius (a gorgeous historic city), within a few hours you can be on the Curonian Spit, a UNESCO world heritage site with beaches on the Baltic Sea. Palanga for a more lively time or Nida for a more quiet retreat in an old fishing village.

I don't think the OP ever mentioned what he considers to be relaxing. It was ME that mentioned the beach because that is where I prefer to go to relax. I am sorry if I was the one who sent everyone on this path. Edit: I missed that the OP does mention the beach. Please excuse my mistske.

But when I was 26 and traveling to Europe, relaxation was not my focus, either. I know I am not the OP.

I know he mentions several locations, even with the almost-narrowed list. But, OP, if you've been under as much stress as you say you have, I would think having a complicated itinerary would make your trip less relaxing and more stressful.

So to achieve this 30% relaxation for the second part of your trip, what would you as the OP consider to be relaxing? Your answer to yourself may help you figure out where you can go to achieve that.

You are still bouncing around the continent which is daft, not only a waste of your precious time, butt also so polluting. Stay with the Baltics. if that is what you have decided. Beautiful countries, you can probably still use your Russian at least with older folk. You can find enough to interest you there, and save on CO2 output while you are at it. You will almost certainly have good weather without the risk of heat stroke. You are young, it is your future on this planet at stake.

I will check it out! I assumed the beaches wouldn't be as nice as those in the Mediterranean but I could be wrong.

I would even say relaxing might be 10-20% not 30% of my trip. Basically just want a couple of days at the end of my trip to just chill on the beach before I go back to work. But want most of my trip to be sightseeing, cause otherwise I would get bored.

I think the other person mentioned to limit my flights due to CO2 which I agree. So I will just limit it to one region. So either just Iberia, Balkans, or Greece.

Good point, I can limit it to just one region then, to avoid bouncing around. Tbh I don't have a lot of interest in the Baltics besides the festival and seeing Tallinn (which is a fairly small city). So maybe I can save it for another time to avoid bouncing around and CO2 output.

I think to limit stress and pollution, I will just limit it to one region of Europe.

Honestly, Slovenia sounds amazing! Lake Bled looks so cool and Trieste seems very underrated. Thank you for the idea!