Tuesday, September 24, 2013

14 Days, 5 Countries, 9 Cities - Part I

During my previous travels, I’ve always found time to write. Whether it is on a train, people watching at a café or on the flight home, I’ve found an hour or two to contemplate, reminisce and jot down recent revelations and memories. This trip, that really didn’t happen for me. There were a couple of points when I was somewhat worried that my days and memories might blend together, they didn’t. I have to say, I’m glad I got over the worry. For one, I was in incredibly good company. This is the first trip I’ve taken with friends where their presence played a huge factor into why the vacation was as wonderful as it was. Two, it gives me topics to write about now and to re-live; my favorite post trip activity (which also is a good cure for post vacation blues).

When I travel, there are always things I learn about myself; what to do, or not and how to lose (or adjust) my expectations and go with the flow because what I just learned in this country will no longer be applicable or relevant in the next. So this is the first of a multi-part blog post on the lessons learned, tips, highlights and fun stories from my adventure abroad.

To give you an idea of my itinerary, first let me tell you it was a little crazy. I actually enjoy this kind of travel because I’m not very good at relaxing or sitting still. I live by the beach for goodness sake, and do you know how often I actually go down to just sit on the sand, by the water and under the sun to read a book? Not enough. I digress. Anyways, on this trip, I finally learned how to relax. I learned to let go of all the crap that is the noise in my brain. You see, when you are sitting next to a clear, blue-green sea and there are no emails, laundry or other nagging errands to run, there is nothing else to do but sip a cocktail, read a book, engage in random conversations with your friends, take little snoozes in the sun and be incredibly thankful for the moment you are living in. Aside from learning how to sit still and just enjoy life, here are a few other things I’ll remember for next time.

Part I – General Lessons for Every Trip
  1. Pack smart. If you decide to check a bag, make sure that you bring a carry on that allows for you to pack for extra days. In my instance, I had a 12 hour layover in Amsterdam (which was intentional) so I knew that I would want to take a shower and therefore have clean clothes. I also had this crazy intuition that my bag would be lost and as luck would have it, it was. Well, it didn’t get lost so much as just left in LA. At any rate, I trusted my gut and had all of my beauty, hair and unmentionables in my carry on so when my bag never arrived, yeah sure I was frustrated but certainly wasn’t pissed off or stressed about how I was going to survive the next few days.
  2.  Rent a car. One of the highlights of this trip was being able to come as go as I pleased and spend extra days / nights in places I didn’t want to leave. This also provided pre-paid transportation to Bosnia and Herzegovina not to mention the shear adventure of driving in foreign countries. My friend discovered that Medjugorje (if you are a devout Catholic, you should read about this place) is near Mostar and we were able to spontaneously visit it. Oh – and I got to drive on the Autobahn! I realize that renting a car may not be a feasible option for every trip and I've only driven in Europe, but I would advise you at least consider it.
  3. Get to know the locals. We learned that Medjugorje was close because we engaged with anyone that had the time and patience to talk to us. We would have seen the signs on our way to Mostar, but we probably never would have gone if not for talking to them. These people are now our friends whom we plan on keeping in touch with and hope to visit when we return. I always try to pride myself on attempting to speak the local language for the basics: hello, please and thank you because: 
    • I don't want to be perceived as the stereotypical American
    • I don't want to be treated as one and
    • Most people really want to help you. I've been humbled by the generosity of people from all over the world and it's the least I can do to take a few moments to get to know them; their name, where they are from and if they find people like me interesting or annoying. Don be offended if they respond with the latter. :)
  4. Travel by yourself. Even if only for a day or two, do it. Navigating through streets, train stations, etc where you don’t speak the language and are out of your comfort zone forces you to go deep inside. To practice the courtesy’s your mother taught you when you were two, to trust your instinct, to lose your arrogance when you’ve screwed up and to adjust your attitude because the place you’re in isn’t going to change, you have to. I have very vivid memories of the moments when someone noticed that I was lost or struggling and offered to help me without my solicitation. In hind sight, I’m sure I had looks of horror on my face so no words were needed. Still, I’ve found myself in predicaments here in America and let’s just say – there were no knights in shining armor. But seriously, if anything, spending a few days traveling by yourself will leave you with an immense amount of gratitude for the simple things in life we often take for granted.
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For those of you that are actually interested in the details of the craziness, here it is:
  • 12 hour layover in Amsterdam
  • 1 day in Budapest, overnight train to Prague
  • 2 days in Prague
  • Fly to Split, Croatia, pick up rental car and drive to Dubrovnik
  • Stay inside of the city walls for 2 nights and 2 days, pick up friends at the airport on the 2nd day and head to hotel outside of Dubrovnik
  • Chill out, swim in the Adriatic, eat, talk, laugh for 2 days
  • Drive to Medjugorie and Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovenia for the day
  • Drive to Split from Dubrovnik and enjoy dinner and night scene
  • Take a ferry to Hvar for the day
  • Drive from Split to Budapest with a stop in Zagreb
  • 2 days in Budapest
  • Fly home via Amsterdam
 Ah yes, now I am remembering why I didn’t have that much time to write.

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