How do you choose where to go on vacation? I know there are several methods that people use. Some are successful and some not so successful. So, here’s the run down…I’m sure there are many more creative ways, but these are the ones that I have used or heard about.
- Talk with your travel partner about places they’d like to see or explore and decide together.
- Tell your travel partner that there’s a place you always wanted to go and suggest it.
- Surprise someone with a pre-planned trip.
- Take your tax refund money and go someplace fantastic.
- Visit friends, family, or (in my case) vineyards and wineries.
And the totally blind…
- Close your eyes and throw a dart at a map. Go where it lands!
All these methods are valid but sometimes you just want to go someplace exotic and where neither you nor your partner have been. It can be fun and exciting to discover a new world together. If you agree on the location…your trip is off to a great start.
So, here’s where my travel post begins…discovering a new country from the historic perspective. We chose Croatia. Why Croatia? Well, until recently, it has been kind of an unchartered territory. Especially for Americans.
Before I get into it, let’s talk a bit about pre-planning. As I learned, it’s so important in order to have a stress-free vacation.  I will admit most of my recent travel has been in the continental US so I wasn’t too familiar with pre-planning and details for a trip overseas. But trust me…it’s essential! Here’s a few things I learned the hard way:
- Don’t trust that you will have internet and phone connections. Most countries will have some sort of connection, but it may be sparse in some locations. You lose your phone; you lose your sense of being. Maybe you panic!
- Learn to navigate your route (google maps or whatever) and plan the route ahead of time. Test it at home.
- Print everything out at home…hotel/Airbnb reservations, flights, directions, everything!
I made WAY too many assumptions that were totally misguided. I have learned quite a valuable lesson for the next time I travel. Trust me…being prepared is a life saver.
Order or get some of the currency for the country you are going to. In Croatia it’s the Kuna (at least for now). Getting Kuna for this trip was very smart. We used it for tips at restaurants (usually 10% of the bill), the heavenly gelato on our evening walks, miscellaneous food, water, and other items that we couldn’t pay for with a credit card. By the way, credit cards are taken in most locations so no worries there. Your credit card company will do the exchange rate on the back end. Check to see if your credit card charges a fee for this.
It took quite a while to get used to the exchange rate. Something in the thousands in Kuna was only equal to tens in US dollars. For a while it felt like I was spending millions!
At most restaurants and shops English is spoken. Sometime broken English but we definitely didn’t have much trouble communicating. Croatia is a vacation spot for Brits so Croatians are very familiar and comfortable in English as well as multiple other languages. Most menus and signs are in Croatian and English…sometimes Greek, French, and others. I was very comfortable.
Speaking of comfort, Croatia is very safe. I didn’t feel nervous at any time! Overall, it’s a fun, relaxing, pleasant environment made up of warm and friendly people. I wouldn’t hesitate to visit the beautiful country of Croatia again!
In my next blog post, we will explore food and drink Croatian style.
Cheers!