I wake up at my next hotel feeling a little better. Maybe my body just needed to be used to a new place. I grab some breakfast on my way out and head to the Riva to enjoy a latte by the sea.
I feel less overwhelmed today and decide to get to know Split better. I walk around enjoying the palace, listening to music and really take it in. I slow my pace, which has been the hardest thing to do, but I notice no one is in a hurry here. Everyone here is just in the moment. There’s no large vehicles or people trying to harass you. There’s no police officers anywhere and I can browse the shops without being bothered. Everyone minds their own and it’s wonderful.
It’s the safest I’ve felt in a long time. And I start to truly embrace everything Croatia has to offer. Peace.
April 22, 2024 – Day 5 – Dubrovnik and the problem with Tourism
I get up early to meet my tour bus. I’m taking a day tour to Dubrovnik instead of staying there a few days. I’m very happy with this decision because it turns out, it’s a tourist destination.
My tour guide is less than enthusiastic to be there. He is most definitely hungover and everything he says on the three hour drive makes me wonder why he does it. He talks about the impact tourism has had on the country and I slowly start to get it.
Dubrovnik was used for Game of Thrones at King’s Landing. The iconic shame scene was filmed here. And by the time we arrive at 10am, it’s overloaded with other tourist. He gives us a 15 min walk around and then we are on our own. Which I’m grateful for. I’ve always liked exploring on my own.
I start by finding the shame steps. I want to make sure I get there before it gets filled with more people. And then I move on to one of the oldest pharmacies in the world. It was fascinating to see the artifacts here and I had a great time seeing the old remedies they used.
From there I grabbed some lunch, my umpteenth gelato and tried to walk around the city slowly. It’s become very hot at this point and the streets start to really fill up. As I’m approaching the steps to walk the walls of Dubrovnik, I spot a sign for the artist Dali. I make a beeline for it.
I pay to go in and head up to the gallery. Inside, there is no one but me and Dali’s work. My favorites were of the horses and of course the Tristan and Isolde story.
And after a long day on the tour, I was happy to get some food and go to the hotel to rest because Days 6-8 were life changing.
*A few months earlier, I decided to take a big risk and let a company pick a place for me to go and then not find out where I was going until I get to the airport. It’s a big risk because well I’ve never been to Europe and I’m almost 40. The company is called Journee and they curate a vacation for you based on a questionnaire you fill out and a budget. Then, leading up to your trip, they give you eight clues to try and figure out where you are going. They also send you a reveal postcard to open at the airport.
April 18th, 2024 – Day 1 – Airports and Goodbyes
As my partner is driving me to the airport for an overnight flight, I’m starting to get nervous. It’s been a crazy last month and we’ve been too busy at work to do anything before I leave. We go for a late lunch and then experience the weirdest drop off at JFK airport. I’ve watched too many rom-coms in my life and this was not it. We quick kiss goodbye and he’s ushered to leave immediately by airport staff. I grab my bags and head thru security.
I haven’t flown by myself in a decade. There’s kiosk and rude airport staff and I get a little overwhelmed. Once I get to my gate, I grab my bag and pull out my postcard reveal to find out I’m headed to Croatia! I call my partner to let him know and then dive into my itinerary and guide. I have a layover in Amsterdam and then onto Split.
I’m excited. Croatia was not on my top choice of places to go but they have curated an amazing trip for me.
April 19th, 2024 – Day 2 – Fuck. What am I doing here?
I arrive a little before noon in Croatia. Exhausted and feeling more dehydrated then ever. I did drink an enormous amount of water but something isn’t right.
I’m supposed to be meeting my driver but I see no one holding a sign with my name. I start to have a tiny panic attack but it turns out, my phone did not have a international data plan like I had thought and my driver could not reach me.
He finds me about 5 minutes later, tells me to figure out the data situation and we head out to the city. It’s about a 20 minute ride from the airport and during this time I realize why they choose this place for me. It’s beautiful coastline has me an awe. When we arrive to the city, my driver pulls off to the side. He says he can’t go down towards the hotel but shows me how to read the signs on the houses. (I find out later he can, he just didn’t want to.) And then tells me good luck.
The problem is, I can’t check in for 2 more hours and I have no service. I try to calm the rising panic in my chest. I want to desperately go home. Everyone is speaking another language and I am not the most logical thinker. Flight response wants to kick in and I decide I need to take a deep breath and be my partner. He’s the most logical person I know. What would he do here? He’d find an open wi-fi, just like he did when we were in Canada and everyone spoke French.
Luckily, there’s a bank near my hotel that does. I do some research and find out I’m not capable of having an e-sim on my phone. So I login to my cell phone carrier and add on an international data plan to my current service. Within seconds, I start to get my missed messages from my driver and the hotel. Then google maps works. But I still have too much time to waste and I’m drained from travel.
I walk down the block and find a gelato place and have my first of many gelatos. Then, I find a spot to sit with my luggage and check out the map to see what’s nearby. I find myself very happy when 2pm rolls around and I can check into my hotel. It’s beautiful and safe. I check in with my family, take a nap, get my wits about me and try to navigate the area to find this gluten free restaurant. It’s a tiny little place and there’s a man making a delivery. When I ask the woman there what was good for dinner, he says “You can’t have dinner here, come with me to the actual restaurant.” Turns out, I found the snack part and not the actual restaurant. I take a leap of faith and follow him down the tiny street to the restaurant and order a pizza.
I’m starting to feel better about my surroundings but my stomach has not felt right since I started on this trip and no matter what I do, I still don’t feel hydrated enough. I decide to call it a night early so I can be fresh for my journey the next day.
I call my partner just to let him know I’m okay and just to hear his voice. We’ve never spent more than 4 days apart in the last 15 years. And I haven’t been alone in almost 20 years. But that was the point of this trip. I had dreamt of being an explorer/archaeologist since I was 7 years old. And my life had not gone the way I had planned (but who’s does?). Now I’m here and I’ve got to make the best of this.
April 20th, 2024 – Day 3 – Sick but having fun
I’m still feeling quite not myself but I’ve got an excursion to go to. A waterfall hike and a wine tasting. I can not miss this. I meet the tour group and head out on a hour drive in the country. I can’t stop looking everywhere and I feel like a little kid again. It helps that my tour guide was amazing. She made everyone feel included.
When we arrive, we learn the history of the park and then we have free time to explore and hike. It’s honestly one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. The water is so blue, it looks unreal. I could spend hours here but we have more to do. We catch a boat to a little city and do some shopping before heading off to the wine tasting. If you’ve never had Croatian wine, I highly recommend catching a flight immediately. It’s the best wine I’ve ever had. I talk with other people and I start to feel better about being there.
By the time the tour ends, I’m feeling a little worse. Maybe it was the wine or the cheese or maybe it’s just me. I decide my body needs rest and decide to not continue with some of the plans for my trip. Turns out I was right to do so. But I wasn’t going to let my body keep me from having a good time.
I’m gearing up for my first trip in a couple of weeks and I’m very excited. This will be my first trip in a long time where I am by myself. It’s also a trip where I have no idea where I’m going! Before I get ahead of myself. Let’s start with where this idea began.
Earlier this year I started to get a little bug to get out more. My daughter is graduating high school this year and going to college. She’s the second to last child and I started to feel the pressure of being an empty nester. I’m lucky because all of my kids are fairly independent but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the “wait, don’t you need me anymore?!” that most parents feel.
After talking it out with myself, I decided to finally take a trip. But to where?! My bucket list was a mile long and I quickly got overwhelmed. Even after writing them all down and budgeting, I still couldn’t choose. Then one day, I was scrolling through Instagram and saw an ad for a place called Journee. They curate an entire vacation based on your budget and a quick questionnaire. I figured why not. And then I waited for my proposal to come in.
My free proposal came pretty quickly and after reading it, I was sold. First, they came under budget and second I was blown away by the details they gave me about my potential trip without actually giving it away. I talked it over with my partner and decided to take the plunge.
Over the last month, I renewed my passport, paid for my trip (in 3 installments which was a huge highlight for me) and waited for the clues to come in (they give you 8). I received my reveal postcard, itinerary and guide in the mail last week which I will not be opening until I’m at the airport! And now I’m counting the days.
Roaming Spirit Travels 