So, here's my story: Two nights ago (August 1st), I experienced my first terrifying traveling blunder for me--the first missed connection I've had in decades!! A bit frightening, especially traveling solo as a woman in a country I have never been to, AT NIGHT, and somewhere I don't' even know how to say hello or thank you in their language (yes I am ashamed to admit I failed to do my language homework for here...but learning Italian takes just about everything I've got and I still need so much help!). But through it all, I learned if you just go with the flow, don't stress out and simply use your energy to start working out a plan B, it all can work out fabulously! Even better than you originally planned!

Here's how it unflolded: I left Trieste, a larger port city of Italy at 1:45 pm yesterday on a bus I barely made it to (yes I often over plan)!! I was headed to the beautiful seaside city of Zadar, Croatia, with an arrival time of 8:30 pm depending on traffic, etc. The bus thankfully travels down a stunning coastal route which seriously helps you forget about the hours traveling--and I am talking at least SEVEN hours! I could have flown from Detroit to Amsterdam in that time!! Anyway, around 8:30 pm I am working on my IPad (yes people I work everyday while I am here…on my two business and now this blog that just had to get written). I was so terribly focused on my work that I never heard the stop for Zadar (yes my kids are rolling their eyes not surprised!) and when we finally do stop, I am so caught up in finding a Bancomat (ATM) in the short 10 minutes that we stop, I never noticed I AM ACTUALLY IN ZADAR!!! (NOOOOO…..!!!!) I managed to find the Bancomat and take out Croation money, buy a water and bag of chips for dinner (yes super unhealthy but they literally sell nothing else except cookies and cigarettes at the Tobacco shop (they are like are mini-mart's with the true mindset of MINI!). Once we got back on the bus and took off slowly nagging, sick feeling crept up on me, hinting that something was seriously wrong, but I had no idea what. So I pulled up my map on my phone to map where we were on the route, as I figured we should be close to Zadar now, seriously close. To my strong dismay I am shocked to discover the bus is about 10-15 minutes AWAY from Zadar now, but traveling southward, past it! I started freaking out inside realizing my idiocy, that the city I had just left was Zadar! I discreetly walked to the front of the bus and sweetly asked the bus driver if I had missed the Zadar stop? He looked at me with the deepest disdain for blond American females and shook his head back and forth, communicating “shame, shame!” (well, he was actually shaking it NO like he cannot believe I am so stupido!). I try to conceal my extreme embarrassment and sudden rising fear since it was very dark and late, and found the courage to ask when the next stop is?..He's said Split....2 1/2 HOURS away!!! Ok, I had been traveling now for about 8 at this point...I felt like screaming inside when I heard this, but concealed it with only a dazed look and sick smile back, saying “OK” and returned to me seat.

Now Split is actually on my travel route, so that part is good, but I didn't have a reservation there for 4 more days! So needless to say I was panicking as I realized I'm going to land in Split around 11:00 pm or later at some random bus stop I have no idea how safe it will be, my portable charger is dead, and both IPad and Iphone are extremely low on battery! Thankfully I live in a day of WIFI on buses and Hostelworld and AirBnB apps on my lifesaving IPhone, so I contacted the hostel I researched well in advance and very selectively choose to book for Split, to see if they could accommodate 3 more nights, and of course they said they are booked! So I end up booking the closest hostel to the bus station after finding out there were no more buses back to Zadar until tomorrow, and those take about three hours! Thankfully the bus station is near the center of the gorgeous, old walled city of Split, so I was able to walk the 11 minute walk (yes- I walk people, I do not take cabs or buses unless I have no other choice due to danger or extreme distance, not due to expense, as those who know me know I like to make normal life a workout rather than take precious time out of my da to work out in Italy/Europe. This is the beauty of life in Europe, life here itself is a work out! But I deter....So I arrived at the hostel shortly after midnight in, located in the most adorable little town I could imagine, with the most beautiful, I mean seriously, freaking attractive people-everywhere- all around me, still dining, drinking, with music wafting everywhere, and flowers dripping off ancient walls while I walked on streets of large polished, cream tiles trying not to slip! The hostel was sweet and small and I was in a shared room of 4, but the two rooms of people staying in the rooms next to me were super friendly and immediately made me feel welcome and part of their group. They made me feel so at home the moment I arrived, it immediately put me at ease and gave me a second wind, which is not hard for me to get! This is a atmosphere is a major reason I prefer to stay at hostels when traveling solo rather than at hotels, and also due to the expense of them, especially if you want to travel long term as I do. Hostels have an environment centered around meeting fellow world travelers, which is particularly wonderful if you travel solo as many Europeans do, it makes it easier to meet people. Almost all the people I met that evening were traveling solo, and some of them then decided to continuing on together to other places for a bit. One guy was a fellow traveling Michigander who lives close to my brother Bob and believes he met him once through a work related dinner! This world really is so small when you start traveling you find this out!! He grew up on the East Side like myself as well, so we knew each other's “stomping grounds”! Several of the gang took me out to grab a bite since I had not eaten since 2 pm, and we sat out on the harbour talking, walked the beautiful historic city at night and had a wonderful evening. The night turned from frightening to fabulous in a matter of an hour all because of one missed connection and I met people I never would have met, making yet more friends from around the globe. That's the beauty of life, you never know what's around the corner and what you think is bad can turn out to be seriously good! So just learn to go with the flow and enjoy the ride as they say but most people have a hard time doing.

I decided to stay here in Split, just adding these 3 days on here, and just “eat” my reservation in Zadar as it was too late to cancel. Thankfully it was only a hostel payment, so dirt cheap in Croatia, although it was one I wanted to stay in as it is one Croatia's “luxury hostels”. There was NO WAY I was going to take another bus 3 hours backwards, northward up the coast to just turn around again in 2 days for another 3 hours back to be back in Split on the 4th. So Now I get to live and work in split for a week! Who knew it? But I am so glad I am here now, this city is so beautiful, everytime I walk to a cafe to work or just get lost in the city as I like to do when traveling, I am in awe of the ancient beauty of this city. Here is a picture of my remote office today as I had so much to do, no sightseeing yet at all today--except of course for the walk along the way, getting lost in the winding, little medieval streets to find my destination. One of the awesome things to me about working remotely is having an ever changing office with views of new worlds. I hope you enjoy getting to see a glimpse of beautiful Split today!