Underrated Croatia: Where exploration meets reflection

We saw A LOT of beautiful places in Croatia, which I'd say is the most underrated country we've visited so far.

The highlight, though, was spending time with our dear friend Ljiljana, who we’ve been working with online for about a decade now.

After it being just Lo and I for most of the year, it was so nice to have some friend time. Ljiljana and I had countless coffees, got our nails and eyebrows done, and walked around the local fish and produce markets.

We settled into Ljiljana’s quiet airbnb in Rijeka for 6 weeks of doing ‘real life’ stuff, like joining a local gym, going to the dentist, taking new photos for our website, organizing our next leg of travel, and getting a lot of work done.

Rijeka has an unfiltered local feel: not yet overly catering to tourism so we finally got to slow down, chill, and really take in this amazing journey that we’ve been on.

I read, wrote, and went to the gym (conveniently located next door to our apartment) more in Rijeka than any place we’ve visited so far combined.(I even ended up writing a whole thing on Substack about European Coffee Culture while I was there.)

And here’s the link to my favorite coffee shop in the heart of downtown Rijeka if you’re ever there. The cappuccino is the best I’ve ever had, and the barista has the cutest mustache.

Downtown Rijeka is also full of shops, restaurants, beaches, and a pier that makes for a really magical sunset stroll.

This change of pace really made me reflect on how much we have done this year…how fast we’ve been moving, all of the things we’ve seen, the wonderful people we’ve met…and I spent a lot of time sitting on the balcony, sipping coffee and just feeling so incredibly grateful for this life and all of the little elements that add up to us being able to live this way.

Ok back to Croatia!

Aside from our time in Rijeka, we took several day and weekend trips around the country….

Split (weekend trip)

If you visit Split, your itinerary should really just be “walk around.” The city center is a maze of small pedestrian-only streets lined with cafes, shops and restaurants and the overall vibe truly feels like you’ve taken a step back in time (if you ignore all the other tourists walking around). The best part of our visit though was a home cooked Croatian meal by Ljiljana’s friend Lydia.

Dugi (weekend trip)

From Split, we drove up a bit and then took a Ferry to Dugi Island with Ljiljana and Filip, where we rented an apartment for the weekend that came with about 21 feral cats and no air conditioning, but the nature of the island was more than worth it. Dugi has a very small population and isn’t one of the top touristed islands, so it’s relatively untouched and filled with raw beauty.

Pula, Istria (day trip)

Pula is a seafront city on the Istrian peninsula which is rich in history and home to what might be the most structurally intact Roman colosseum still in existence.

Opatija (15 minute taxi)

Opatija is a cute little vacation town just north of Rijeka that is filled with bars, restaurants, and beach clubs. We spent a couple of afternoons relaxing at one of the beach clubs, swimming in the sea and soaking up the sun.