Hey everyone! Wow at the time of this post it’s been really busy! I’ve started a new job which has been incredibly busy!
I hope you read my last post where I described the connection and soulfulness I felt with the sea. It was quite amazing actually and I just felt like home – that I was welcome! Hope you read the post and do let me know what you think 🙂
In this post I talk about the amazing friends I made in Croatia from around the world. I describe some conversations I had and what it means to have different perceptions of the world. I never intend to be political in any way and these are just conversations I’ve had with fellow travellers.
If you enjoy the post please do keep sharing and let others know!
Trogir Hostel
I flew into Croatia at Split Airport in the afternoon. I was meant to land in the morning but my flight was delayed for over an hour due to congestion across Europe caused by a technical glitch with UK traffic control.
Because I flew in from Rome, again there were no border control or passport checks, I simply just walked out of the airport to the bus stop. It is normally quite easy to find your way around big infrastructures like airports or bus terminals. I have a great tip: follow the crowds.
I got to the bus stop and there were a few tourists already there who I could see had luggage and bags. I asked one guy who turned out to be Australian. Is this the stop to go to Trogir. He said yes. The bus itself was much like the UK where you can pay using a contactless card so you don’t actually need cash.
So I got on and bought my ticket. I knew from Google maps I needed to get off at the main bus station at Trogir which was something like Kolodvor Trogir.
It was only a 10 minute ride. On my way during the ride I kept looking out towards all the scenery. It was a really sunny day with no clouds in the sky. It was so beautiful and stunning just to see the sea, the hills of the islands and the small boats lining the marina.
Once I got to the main bus station, I then connected my wireless earbuds so that I could use google maps to direct me to the hostel. This was actually quite easy and it was a 12 minute walk.
If you do use Google Maps, a key thing is to just trust that it will give you the right directions. This is so that you stop yourself from constantly stopping and bring out your phone to check the screen that you’re going the right way.
So I went over the bridge from the main island over to the small Trogir island. The bridge and the water were absolutely beautiful. The sidewalk on the bridge wasn’t too big and I occasionally found it really annoying when people would stop halfway on the bridge to take photos across the water and the marina. But I could understand as you won’t ever get this view again.
The good thing about the hostel was that it was actually located on the marina so all I had to do was follow the shore and the marina once I crossed over the bridge in order to find my hostel. The entire journey took about 12 minutes and it was a beautiful walk.
Arriving at the hostel, you had to take some steps upstairs. As it was such a sunny day, it was quite dark on entering as my eyes hadn’t adjusted yet. So you had to be really careful with the steps to make sure you didn’t fall over.
Checking in was an absolute breeze and Oli the hostel owner was so kind and helpful. He checked me in and gave me all the keys for my locker and to enter the hostel at night. The Hostel was pretty basic but I liked it.
I like that it was small and close knit and that all the basics were there and it wasn’t filled with massive TV screens, a pool table etc. I mean if you’re on holiday in Croatia you are not going to spend the majority of your time in the hostel anyway. You just need a place to sleep, shower, eat breakfast and maybe rest a little on coming back at the end of the day.
Once I checked in, I spent the next hour or so just packing away all my luggage and bags and then I went out just to buy some shower gel and shampoo as well withdraw some cash.
This was a learning point for me about cash machines. Be wary because a lot of them charge high fees so if you do need to withdraw, withdraw in large sums. I took in some of the sites and took a few pictures but not great ones given the actual scenery of where I was. The photos I took in Croatia do not do it justice. It was just so beautiful in the summer.
When I got back to the hostel this was the first time when I met the other guests who I now call my friends.
As it turned out we fell into our roles within the social group quite easily. There were 5 of us in total. 2 girls and the rest guys. Most were in their early 20’s and me being 32, I became the “grandfather” of the group. The girls were 21 and 23. They were from California and Germany.
Ben was the boyfriend of the German girl (sorry I can’t remember her name!). He was 25. And Oscar, who was from Norway, is 30 years old.
There was also Kel from California. She wasn’t a guest at the hostel but she would always come by every evening to have dinner and spend time with us. She actually joined us on the beach the following day.
That night we were all in the dining room. Oscar had cooked dinner for all of us and we were there just talking and eating talking about where we’re from and how long we were in Croatia for.
The guys had hired a rental car and that evening I was told by the German girl that they were all planning to go to a local beach the following day. There were 5 spaces in the car and she invited me to join them if I wished.
I did originally have an itinerary for the following day about places to go in Trogir but this was my first opportunity to actually socialise with a whole group whilst on my holiday so I immediately took the opportunity to go with them the next morning.
I have realised that I am a quiet person that probably doesn’t engage too much in conversation unless asked a question or unless just in a one to one conversation. For the most part whilst we were just talking as a group I was just trying to listen and hear what they were talking about but I think also one of the problems is that I don’t have some of the shared experiences that they probably have.
So it’s a little difficult at that point to partake in the conversation because well what would i have to say? How could I really add value to this conversation or topic?
The first day we just talked about where we were from and what our plans were. I’d been invited the next day to the beach with the group which was really nice of them as they’d hired a car. At this point I did have quite a lot of painful blisters at the bottom of my feets and one of the girls offered me a plaster and some painkillers to treat them.
This was really nice of her but I said it was ok. I didn’t really want to impose more than I already did and if she needed those then that was for her.
In my next post I describe some conversations I had with my new friends and how it made me think differently and changed my perception of people and communities. I think this is one of the great benefits of travelling which I hope you share!
If you’ve loved this journey so far have you checked out my 2024 European holiday? This is definitely one to read and was an unforgettable experience!