So I’m facing the first free couple of days after exactly four months of relentless work and I’m remembering once again how difficult it is to (re)learn to enjoy free time when you’re so used to running around. Furthermore, as I approach the 50-day mark I’m finding that being as observant and open as in those first few days is a tough, abeit welcome, challenge. Strategies I’ve developed to deal with this include taking purposively different (occasionally longer) routes to get where I want to get, and making an effort to talk to strangers even if I don’t need anything. Perhaps when I’m writing up my fieldwork paper there should be a parallel narrative of self-reflection running along with my observations re Boston – distinguishing between the two is not easy.