Tucked between the rugged peninsula of Istria and the sun-drenched shores of Dalmatia, the Kvarner Gulf is one of Croatia’s most rewarding — and most underrated — destinations. While the crowds flock south to Dubrovnik or west to Split, savvy travellers are quietly discovering a stretch of Adriatic coastline that feels like a secret the … Read more
When I turned 35, I made a deal with myself: no more saving the good stuff for someday. The trip I’d been pinning photos of for four years — safari sunsets, Cape Town rooftops, private game reserves with no phone signal — finally had a departure date, and it was South Africa. What I didn’t … Read more
We’d been saying “we should all go somewhere together” for six years. After the fourth postponed trip and two weddings that got in the way, we stopped talking and just bought tickets — four of us, one-way to Rijeka, with a loose plan to spend ten days along the Kvarner Riviera and base ourselves in … Read more
If you’ve been scrolling past the Kvarner Gulf islands in favour of Hvar or Korčula, it’s time to reconsider your Croatia game plan. Tucked between the Istrian peninsula and the northern Dalmatian coast, the Kvarner Gulf islands are arguably Croatia’s most underrated island-hopping destination — a place where the crowds thin out, the prices stay … Read more
When I left my job without another one lined up, everyone thought I was having a breakdown. I was. But I was also buying a one-way ticket — to Croatia, as it turned out — and those two things were more connected than I knew at the time. What I found there was a country … Read more
My boss handed me a bonus check and said “invest it wisely.” I invested it in a round-trip ticket and two weeks somewhere I’d been dreaming about since a geography class in eighth grade — South Africa, a country so staggeringly diverse it almost doesn’t seem real until you’re standing inside it. I wanted vibrant … Read more
By February, the grey had settled in so deep I could feel it behind my eyes. I needed sun, warmth, and a place where winter was someone else’s problem for a few weeks — and somehow, on a budget that had no business funding a European escape, Portugal kept coming up as the answer. It … Read more
I never took a gap year. I went straight from high school to college to a career, doing every sensible thing in the right order — and somewhere around 32 I realized I’d been meaning to see the world since I was 17. So when a friend mentioned she was heading to Portugal to spend … Read more
My passport sat blank in a drawer for two years after I got it — I kept saying “soon” until a friend called me out at dinner. We booked flights that night. I barely slept. That impulsive decision led me to the South African bush at dawn, standing on a private lodge deck with coffee … Read more
We eloped on a Tuesday with three friends and a bottle of champagne, telling ourselves the real trip would come later. “Later” arrived 18 months after our wedding when we finally stopped waiting for the perfect time and booked two weeks in Rome. What we found there had nothing to do with the glossy images … Read more
