Going Abroad: Croatia

I began my summer in 2016 strolling the cobblestone streets of Zagreb, Croatia. Eating (too much) gelato. Roaming the bustling markets. Eating (too many) truffle fries. Reporting. Taking pictures. Looking out at vast vistas. Running through crowds of locals. Listening to street saxophone players serenade you as the sun sets. Watching Mamma Mia! in Croatian. You know, the stuff European study abroad trips are made of.

I spent three weeks with 12 students and two instructors learning the ins-and-outs of what it means to be a travel journalist. We learned the art of the pitch and how to not just tell readers what we were experiencing, but show them. The work of wordsmiths. Travelers. Explorers.

We were tasked with three different types of stories: the roundup, the event, and the narrative. You can find mine here:

Roundup: An Opening Night in Zagreb

Event: “Mamma Mia!” in an Unlikely Place 

Narrative: Zagreb Through a Runner’s Eyes

We had regular meetings at a local cafe where journalists were known to gather, drink wine and discuss the stories they were in the middle of writing. We reenacted that tradition and talked to several journalists and leaders in the community, soaking up every word like a sponge. I mostly spent those three weeks completely wide-eyed at this complete foreign but captivating world I was walking through.

While most of our trip was in Zagreb, we also took a weekend to explore idyllic Istria, including Pula, Poreč and Rovinj. At the end of the course, my peers and I collected all of our work and created a website, which includes some silly team bios if that’s your thing.

As if all of this wasn’t cool enough, our group was featured on a news site and interviewed for a video. We were basically on “Good Morning America Croatia.” So, there’s that.

Croatia will always be more than a college study abroad trip to me. Not only did it electrify my wanderlust spirit, but it set a series of events in motion that would alter my life and launch my career. Also, you simply can’t meet those people and look at that scenery and eat that food and not be changed. Croatia is breathtaking, and if it’s not on your travel bucket list, it should be.