After a month of Annelies traveling around Europe, we decided the final stop needed to be somewhere with one very important goal: do as little as possible.
Croatia seemed perfect.
I met Annelies in Split, and from there we headed to the island of Hvar for the week. Hvar is exactly what you picture when you think of Croatia — beautiful blue water, stone buildings, little boats in the harbor, and yachts that make you wonder what exactly you did wrong with your career choices.
We stayed right in Hvar and quickly settled into a very difficult routine.
Annelies rested after a month of traveling. I knitted by the water. We watched boats come and go. We ate. We wandered around. We sat some more.
It was exhausting.
One day we took a trip to Jelsa, another beautiful little town on the island, where we visited a local winery. Croatian wine tasting felt like an appropriately productive activity for a vacation that was specifically designed around being unproductive.
Another day we took a boat over to Palmižana Beach on the Pakleni Islands. Our itinerary there was even more demanding: find a spot, sit down, look at the water, eat something, and eventually return to Hvar.
We nailed it.
Most days, though, we didn’t have much of a plan. And that was really the best part.
I spent hours knitting along the shore while watching the yachts pull in and out of the harbor. Annelies had time to decompress after weeks of trains, buses, hostels, and sightseeing around Europe.
The weather cooperated, the scenery was gorgeous, and for once we didn’t feel like we needed to see every church, museum, monument or “must-see” attraction within a 50-mile radius.
Sometimes the best travel days are the ones where you don’t accomplish anything at all.
I know there is so much more of Croatia to explore, and I definitely plan to go back.
But for this trip, a week on Hvar doing almost nothing was exactly what we needed.
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