In May 2016, I traveled for the first time to Croatia. I had planned a whole solo trip in the country to discover Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. Even though I didn’t know anybody there, it turned out to be one of my least lonely journeys. Even when I was not trying, I was making friends. This was an amazing trips, full of positive energy!
Fitting In Right From The Start
On my first night in Croatia, it was game night in my hostel and the hostel offered a free drink to newcomers. Things were starting well: I went to the hostel’s bar and ordered my free rakia. I had already tasted Bulgarian rakia and I had loved it, but that Croatian rakia tasted like liquorice, like ouzo, and I didn’t like it.
I told that to the barman and he was like “Oh, but there are other types, we have plum too!”. In order to prove his point, he made me taste four different types of Croatian rakias! He was so nice and friendly. And he was right, some of them were pretty good. That was fun and unexpected!
After that, I started chatting with a cool Mexican guy, Iñaki. He was traveling solo, adventurous style, with no deadline, filming his adventures. Sometimes I wish I could travel like this, but I need a bit more organization to be comfortable and really enjoy my trips.
Also, there was a British guy at the bar, but he was kinda hungover and not so much fun.
Making Friends With Canadian Women in Croatia
On my second day, I went to see the Plitvice lakes 😍 and met two Canadian women: Marie-Pierre and Marie-Chantal. They were older than me, but we immediately started chatting. Once again, I was making friends without trying, it was great! Marie-Pierre had traveled a lot and had a lot of interesting stories to tell.
When we came back to Zagreb, we had dinner together, pasta and wine to chat some more. The food was not so great and I ended up with a headache (probably because of the cheap white wine), but I had a great time with them and never felt alone.
Having A Crush In Zagreb
On the next day, I wasn’t feeling so hot, but I had booked a walking tour, so I crawled out of bed and joined the tour. It was only the guide, Ivan, a Chilean guy, Mauricio, and me. Pretty exclusive. The tour was slow and Ivan was not excessively enthusiastic, so that was nice. Mauricio was really tired as well. For a good reason: he had traveled from Split to Zagreb during the night and had “slept” in the street while waiting for the tour.
After the tour, we needed fuel, so Mauricio and I went to have some pizza. After that, we chilled on a bench and started kissing. He was leaving in the afternoon to go to Budapest and asked me if I wanted to join him. I hesitated so much because he was dreamy (and really funny)!
In the end, I decided to stay because I had booked my hostels in Croatia, and the country was treating me so well that I wanted to see more of it. To this day, I still wonder what could have been. However, I had such a great time after in Split and Dubrovnik that I’m happy with my decision to stay in Croatia.
Making Friends At The Hostel Again
After leaving Mauricio at the bus station, I went to see some street art murals. Then, I went back to the hostel. I could have felt down because Mauricio was gone, but that’s when I met Ngaire. Ngaire was a New Zealander girl who was staying in my dorm. Together, we went to the restaurant to taste some traditional food. We exchanged plates when we realized that I preferred her dish and she preferred mine. After dinner, we went back to the hostel and had a few shots of rakia. The hungover British guy was still there.
The next morning, I was on my way to Split.
To see more photos of Croatia, you can visit the gallery Croatia.
