No Plan-Plan

I’m home.

Deep sigh, I’m home.

Sarah and I made the ten-hour flight from Vancouver to Frankfurt. We crushed a seven-hour layover, multiple delays, and a ninety-minute flight to Zagreb. We slept fast that night then climbed aboard the five-hour bus ride to the island of Cres, just off the coast of Croatia.

Our plan was to go to Croatia for a couple weeks. We did that. Our no plan-plan was to go up the coastline to a couple new cities and explore. Little did I know how much I’d learn in that short amount of time.

Some of you will know the flow that takes over when you go on vacation and you just roll with it day by day, moment by moment. That’s something I’ve only experienced a handful of times and in a way shorter timeframe. We had a big picture in our mind to hit all of the best spots and some spots that aren’t on your tourist google search. We ate classic pizza, which is definitely not North American pizza, rode bicycles into town to drink coffee and mail postcards home and drank wine almost every night. We were at a different beach every day that we were there. I paid $4 for a bag of fresh fruit and veg. I ate classic Croatian meals and soaked up the fun of outdoor showers (because.it.was.so.hot).

You can’t plan for the heat.

Wow. I’m from Kelowna where temperatures climb, I’ve taught hot yoga for 4 years which is like a man-made jungle complete with its own humidity, but no plans could prepare you to deal with the heat. Top 4 ways to stay cool: peppermint oil on the back of my neck and in my water, ice water, hat to cover my face and plenty (PLENTY) of sea dips were my saving grace. I made a vow not to complain about the heat - I basically sweat for my job so I said to myself, “Roz you’re on vacation I think you can handle it.”

After our week on the island of Cres, we made our way back to Zagreb to meet our friend Justin and get a rental car for a few nights along the coast. The best part? None of us has been to these places before! Engage the no plan plan. This was where it got real fun.

We get an hour into our 5 hour road trip and an indicator light comes on in the car. Adjust tire pressure.

We are in the middle of Croatia country-side.

So we keep driving and find a gas station - which just so happens to be the gas station we stopped at when we were bussing to and from Cres - and asked the bus drivers to help us. Thank god Sarah speaks Croatian or things may have been way more dicey. They fix it. We carry on. We organized our airbnb’s ahead of time and parked in sketchy places to find free wifi to communicate to our host that we had arrived in Pula. Beautiful first stop! We find a beach and explore the old arena where gladiator fights used to happen in the FIRST century.

The car’s GPS stops working.

Perfect!

The next day we drive around trying to find a spot we had scoped out the night before. We find our rental company! They tell us this happens all the time. If the SD card comes out just slightly, it won’t read it. Boom.

Fixed.

Carry on.

The next couple days were spent in Rovinj which had a beautiful downtown square with a giant church and more impeccable waters to jump in. We walked and walked. We rode bikes. We ate pizza (again), drank wine (again) by sunset on our last night and then dunked in the Adriatic Sea before bed. It was magic.

We packed up and jumped in the car to find a prime-time cliff jumping spot back in Pula. We typed in the GPS coordinates to this beach and rock face that was next to an abandoned military base. More sketchiness. We walk to the rock face and see kids and adults throwing themselves off this perfectly good ledge into the water. Also, might I add that this place was my idea - a friend of mine recommended it haha.

Justin jumps.

Sarah jumps with Justin.

Roz tries to tell Sarah and Justin she’s not jumping.

15 minutes goes by.

Justin jumps again.

I get up and mutter about how stupid this is.

Minor panic as I climb up to the ledge.

More reasons come out of my mouth about why I’m scared.

Sarah says “you’re allowed to be scared man!”

FINE.

Roz and Sarah jump.

Wasn’t that bad.

Roz and Sarah jump again.

ALL THE FUN.

Okay let’s go.

We get back in the car, get food and gas and make our way to the Plitvice Lakes National Park. Coolest spot that they are doing an amazing job preserving. So many people, another thing like the heat that you can’t plan for. We make our way back to Zagreb, return the car, grab a drink while we wait for our ride and wind down with dinner and wine as per usual.

Tired.

Refreshed.

Excited to come home.

Let these stories remind anyone reading this that you have to throw yourself in the deep end and go with the flow sometimes to get a fresh view. You have to do things you normally wouldn’t and rely on your resourcefulness to know how to navigate anything unforeseen. The no plan-plan can teach you equal parts patience and fun. I’m way better at the latter. Traveling is a wild world in it’s own and is best experienced with your mind wide open. Trust and go.

sending love from home,

xx

roz