How to pack lightly for a long trip

If I had only known that as we sailed into Pučišća on the island of Brač in Croatia, that we would be seeing the single most beautiful village I had ever seen, I would have taken time to savor it. IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN! Pučišca was an all-too-brief stop on our trip between Omiš and Makarska.  It was only the second day of our sail.  We had lucked out, majorly, because the captain was responsible for all navigation decisions and decided that this would be a better place for a swim stop than out in the middle of the ocean. As we came into, Pučiśća, I admired the scene before me with my jaw scraping the deck — I mean, who wouldn’t? But at the same time, I assumed that all villages in Croatia would look just like this.  That?  Was not so.  Whatsoever.  As beautiful as Croatian’s seaside villages are, nowhere else in the world looks like Pučišća.  The gleaming white stone indigent to the island that makes this village one of a kind. To the Kate of Croatia Cruise Day Se...

After eight years of travel and over 80 countries, I have come to the conclusion that Croatia is one of the most underrated travel destinations on the planet. I’m slightly biased, of course. When I first decided to set off on my round-the-world adventure, I decided Croatia would be the very first country on my itinerary. It was an unusual choice, I know. Most travellers set off for Bangkok or London or Sydney or Beijing to kickstart their gap years, but something about Eastern Europe fascinated me. I wanted to explore some of the lesser-visited parts of the continent before hitting up Asia, and Croatia sounded like the perfect place to start. It’s since held a special place in my heart as the destination that helped me gain my travel footing, and I immediately fell deeply in love with it. The gorgeous waterfront in Split had me declaring Croatia one of my favourite countries in the world What’s not to love?  You’ve got gorgeous architecture to snap ph...