A Hitchcock Sunset in Zadar

Our time here in Zadar feels precious and fleeting; in the back of our minds, we know that we'll be leaving in a few weeks.

The beauty of travelling is that we make an effort to get out and appreciate our surroundings each and every day. Tonight, we grabbed our flip flops and went for a stroll along the beach.

At Borik beach.

It was about 8pm, and the sun was gently slipping below the horizon. There's something magical about a sunset on the sea.

We aren't the first visitors to appreciate a Zadar sunset. In 1964, Alfred Hitchcock wrote:

"Zadar has the most beautiful sunset in the world, more beautiful than the one in Key West, Florida, applauded at every evening."

I've never been to Key West, but I do know an amazing sunset when I see one!

Ugljan, aka Extra Virgin Island

Today we decided to hit the seas and explore Ugljan, the closest island in the Zadar archipelago. The ferry ride was quick and easy -- it only costs $2.50 and takes about 25 minutes each way.

Our ship has come in.

The name Ugljan (we think it's pronounced "oo-glan") originates from ulje, the Croatian word for oil. That's because the island produces some of Croatia's best olive oil. Ugljan is covered with family-run olive groves and a few low-key fishing villages.

Olive you.

Our tummies were grumbling, so we stopped by a local market for pecivo, sir, kobasica (sandwich fixin's) and pivo (beer). Here's a shot of the view from our picnic spot. We're on the east side of the island, directly across from Zadar.

Jaz beach at Uglian. Can you see Zadar and the mountains in the distance?

After we refueled, we were ready for the 2.6 mile walk up to Fortress St. Michael. It's located at the highest point on the island, at an elevation of about 750 ft.

See those TV antennas at the top of the hill? That's where we're headed!

The Fortress was constructed in 1203. While most of the fortress lies in ruin (it was heavy shelled in 1991), that didn't detract from the spectacular views of the surrounding islands.

The remaining walls of Fortress St. Michael.

Views of Dugi Otok to the west.

Inside the Fortress St. Michael.

A little piece of heaven. You can't put a price on this view!

How to Boil Lingerie

After a week of traveling it was finally time to do some laundry. It's moments like these that you realize even the simplest things can become major undertakings when you're completely illiterate! First problem, the washing machine was made in Germany. I took German for 2 years in high school, and I can sing "Oh Christmas Tree" auf Deutsch, but we never learned the settings on a washing machine. So with the help of translate.google.com, I set about to make sense of this:

Here were some of the results from Google:

Ok, the translation was a little rough, but I was getting the idea. Then I looked up the last setting:

????????......!!!!!!!!

I decided to stay away from that last one and settled instead for the "colorful lingerie" setting. Good. Now for some detergent:

The pictogram in the top left corner seemed to indicate the soap was for use in washing machines that weighed 4-5kg, which this one decidedly was not. The bigger problem was that all the words were in Croatian. After about 15 minutes with Google, I worked out that the left column was for water hardness and the top row was an indication of filth level. Judging by the scale in our coffee pot, I guessed we had very hard water and my clothes were about medium stinky, so I selected 200ml as the correct amount of detergent. At this point I realized I had nothing with which to measure out the detergent and proceeded to dump in what I best estimated was equal to 200ml. Having grown up in a nation that snubs its nose at the metric system my estimate was based on absolutely nothing.

Ok, good. Setting selected, detergent added....and go...and go! It didn't turn on. I pushed the knobs, I pulled the knobs, I pushed and pulled things that slightly resembled knobs. Nothing happened. Then I noticed a little trap door near the bottom of the machine. What was behind that door? I opened it and saw this:

On/Off Switch???

If you're at all familiar with industrial equipment (much like myself), then you know that this kind of looks like a main power switch. Why the Germans would hide the on/off switch behind an unmarked trap door at the bottom of the machine was beyond me, but I was sure I'd found the secret. I turned it about 90 degrees and fowl smelling drain water went all over the floor.

Not the power switch.

Ok, enough. It was time to look up the user manual. After another 15 minutes spent scouring the internet, I came to the distinct conclusion that the manual did not exist. At least not in English. Not very considerate if you ask me.

At this point Natalie noticed the washing machine still wasn't running after I'd been messing with it for about a half hour.

Natalie: What's wrong?
Jim: I can't get the washing machine to run. I pushed the knobs. I pulled the knobs. I drained the stinky water. I put in detergent. The stupid thing won't run! I'm looking up the manual.
Natalie: Is it plugged in?

Nope.

Jim: Hey, I got it to work!

Name that Mystery Meat!

As we mentioned in our last post, food supplies were running dangerously low back at the homestead. Once we ran out of beer, we decided it was time to get out and do some serious grocery shopping.

We have a small market just down the street, but wanted to venture out and find a bigger megamart with more selection and better prices.

Going off some local intelligence posted at 2 Bags and a Pack, we headed out to Kaufland supermarket. It's only a 5-mile walk round trip... not that far, unless you're the one carrying the groceries (thank you, Jim!)

Who needs carts when you have baskets on wheels?

Grocery shopping in a foreign country can be mentally exhausting. We couldn't read most of the signs (our Spanish didn't seem to help with the translations!), so had to rely on pictures. We're also less-than-competent at the metric system. Do we buy anything in metric units in the US? The only thing I can think of is 2 L bottles of soda.

I'll take 0.734 kg of paprika crvena, please.

Overall, the prices were pretty reasonable. We got the best deals on pasta, cheese, and wine. That covers all of the major food groups, right?

Item	HRK	USD		Item	HRK	USD
Instant coffee (200 g)	27.99	$4.78		Bell pepper (3 large)	8.07	$1.38
Olive oil (0.25 L)	25.99	$4.43		Rice (1 kg)	7.99	$1.36
Gouda (400 g)	24.78	$4.23		Margarine (250 g)	7.49	$1.28
Cornflakes (1 kg)	15.99	$2.73		Dish detergent (500 mL)	7.49	$1.28
Beer (2 L)	15.99	$2.73		Coca-Cola (0.5 L)	5.79	$0.99
Eggs (10)	12.19	$2.08		Chocolate croissant (1)	4.99	$0.85
Red wine (1 L)	11.99	$2.05		Tomato sauce (500 g)	3.99	$0.68
Shampoo (300 mL)	9.99	$1.70		Oregano (15 g)	3.99	$0.68
Apples (6)	9.99	$1.70		Skim milk (0.5 L)	3.99	$0.68
Rolls (320 g)	8.19	$1.40		Spaghetti (500 g)	2.89	$0.49

Our trip to the grocery store inspired yet another challenge for you, friends. This one's called Name that Mystery Meat. Can you identify the meat in the photo below? Bonus points if you can find a recipe for it, too, as I'd love to cook some up for Jim as a special treat.

Name that mystery meat!

Pizza, Toilets, and Booties -- Oh My!

Yesterday was a rainy day here in Zadar, so we stayed close to home and watched a lot of television in Hrvatski (Croatian). Since it was pretty chilly in the apartment, Natalie crocheted herself a pair of booties to keep her feet warm.

When life gives you cold floors, make slippers!

Meanwhile, I passed the time by documenting all of the nifty features of our Croatian apartment. Here's my short list of things that we don't have in the US, but probably should.

1. A door that flips open 2 different ways. Not sure why you would need your door to do this, but the mechanism is cool enough to warrant having one.





Normal Mode. "Please come in."



Weird Mode. "What do you want?"

2. A heated towel rack. It warms your towels, dries your wet towels, and heats a cold bathroom all at the same time. It also works great for drying your clothes after doing a load of sink laundry.





Leaves grill marks on your towel.

3. Adjust-a-flush toilets. To save water, the commodes here in Croatia let you stop the flush whenever the mess is gone. That makes sense.





Zaustaviti!!!! The toilet speaks English.

4. Electric kettle. This thing can boil 2 litres of water in 2 minutes! That's faster than a microwave. 

Insert 1 depleted uranium fuel rod and voila! Hot water!

Has anyone found these things in the US? Why can't I buy these modern marvels at Walmart? These technologies are a true testament to engineering ingenuity.

Later that night

Since we were down to only cornflakes and beer in our apartment, we decided to brave the storm and seek out some good eats for dinner. Much to our delight, we stumbled across Mamma Mia pizzeria. We've found a lot of excellent Italian food here in Croatia and this pizza was no exception!

Mmmm... tomato and prosciutto pizza.

With full bellies, we settled in to a nice, relaxing Netflix night. The storms should be clearing up over the next couple of days. We can't wait to get out and explore some islands!

Borik & the Beach

After a long night's rest (we're still struggling with jet lag!), we headed out for a walk to explore our new neighborhood. Our apartment is located in Borik, a popular tourist area of Zadar. We're only steps away from a large campground, a marina, and the beach.

A happy camper parked right beside the beach!

A benefit of visiting during the off-season: you get the beach to yourself!

We enjoyed a lovely, lazy afternoon, soaking up the sun and admiring the views. Once again, we were surprised by the similarity between this landscape and Southern California. Notice the trees? I'm convinced that they're the Croatian cousins of Torrey pines!

Islands off the coast of Zadar.

Life is good!

I'm going to leave you with my favorite photo of the day... no, this is not me and Jim! ;-)

Croatia is for lovers!

Apartment Hunting in Zadar

Since we'll be staying in Croatia for about a month, we decided to rent an apartment rather than stay at a hotel. We weren't too picky about the details; our only criteria were:

• close to a bus stop
• an internet connection -- vital to our new life as digital nomads!

We were hoping to find something in or around Zadar since it offers plenty of options for day trips, including islands, national parks, and beaches.

We did some research before we arrived to get an idea of the going rate for apartments. Based on what we'd read from Ken at 2 Bags and a Pack, it seemed like 300-400 Euros per month ($388-$520/month) would be a reasonable starting point.

Armed with a little knowledge, the hunt was on.

Our first stop was a local tourist agency. Our guidebook recommended them as a resource for local listings. We explained our criteria to the agent, he ran off into the back room to make some calls, and quickly came back with an option.

"It's very difficult to get an apartment with an internet connection," the agent explained, "but we have found one that is available in a very nice part of town."
"Can you give us an idea of the price?" Jim asked.
"Only 35 Euros per night!" the agent responded.
[Natalie nearly faints.]
"Uhm, that's a little more than we were expecting. Can you do the monthly calculation for us?" Jim asked calmly.
[Agent starts pressing buttons furiously on the calculator.]
"Well, it's 1,050 Euros per month ($1360/month), but I can give you a 10% discount..."
"No thank you, that's much more than we were expecting."

The agent proceeded to reassure us that we'd be back once we realized what a great deal we were passing up.

Later, back at the hostel

We decided to seek the assistance of our hostel's receptionist. She said to give her a few minutes and she'd make some calls.

About 20 minutes later, we were presented with a sticky note with a name, address, and a price. The rate? Only 400 Euros per month. Now that's what I'm talking about! So we beat feet and headed out to meet the owner.

To our pleasant surprise, the apartment was wonderful. Even more delightful was the owner, Darko, who kindly invited us up to his flat for some cappuccino, wild asparagus salad, and wine. We were thrilled! What a fantastic find!

Marveling at our amazingly good luck, we took a nice, leisurely stroll along the waterfront back to our hostel. Here's a few pics that we snapped along the way.

Sunny skies and smiles all around!

We present to you the Adriatic!

A view of Old Town Zadar.

So what's the lesson learned from today's apartment hunt? Ditch the guidebook and ask a local for advice instead!

Arriving in Zadar, Croatia

After three days of travel, we finally arrived in Croatia last night. Our plane descended into Zadar as the last rays of sunshine danced on the horizon. There was just enough light to catch a glimpse of many tiny islands dotting the Dalmatian coastline. A few minutes later, as we disembarked from the plane, the warm, sea-filled air was reminiscent of a summer evening in San Diego. This place feels like home, even though I've never been here before.

Zadar Airport.

Arriving in Zadar was an exciting moment for us. We chose Croatia as a starting point for our new lives. Now we're here, and we can finally say that we've made it. At the risk of sounding morbid, if I'm suddenly struck by lightning, I can die a happy woman knowing that I'm doing what I love and following my dreams.

Landing on Foreign Soil

Our flight from Phoenix to London was easy and uneventful. Our bags even showed up at the same time as we did. What more can you ask for? Our flight to Croatia leaves out of the Stansted airport outside of London, so we had to take a 2 hour bus ride to get there. I wish we could say we saw a lot of the English countryside, but we both slept for most of the bus ride. From what little he has seen, Jim is struck by how much England resembles New England.

The original plan had been to stay in the airport at Stansted until our flight to Croatia in the afternoon of the following day. However, the more we thought about the 24 hour layover, the more a real bed and a shower sounded irresistible. We found a little guesthouse near the airport that came and picked us up. It's a cute little property with a thatched roof house renovated with individual rooms. When we saw the king size bed and large shower, we knew we had made the right decision.

The Willows Guesthouse in Bambers Green, England

Once we were cleaned up and caught up with the emails, we went for a walk through the countryside to the local pub.

A little English countryside stroll to the local pub

The Lion and Lamb pub (maps.google.com)

At the pub, Jim was excited to see they had a local IPA on tap. He tried it, but was disappointed that it wasn't very hoppy. He asked if they had anything more bitter and they offered up another beer that was inspired by "American" style IPA's--it was pretty good. It's a little ironic that we crossed an ocean so he could get an American style beer, but at least we weren't drinking bud light. The food was quite good and we walked away happy. It's nice to stroll back home after a meal and work off a few of those calories.

That's all for now. We've got to get ready to head back to the airport and catch our flight to Croatia!

The Bye-Bye Blues

As I write this, we're sitting at Phoenix Sky Harbor airport, waiting for our flight to London. We'll be landing at Heathrow tomorrow afternoon and have a 1-day layover before departing for Croatia.

We're feeling a mix of emotions right now...

We're excited that the big day has finally arrived. Things are starting to feel very real.

But even though we knew this day was coming, it still feels like a hasty goodbye. I guess you can never really be emotionally prepared for leaving. It's still painful. There's never an easy way to do it.

It's also strange to be leaving on an open-ended trip. We know that we'll be back in Phoenix someday, but at this point, it's not clear when that will be. Rather than saying goodbye, can we just say until we meet again?

Wish us luck, and we'll be posting an update once we reach Europe.

From CAPow's Etsy store.

My So-Called Minimalist Lifestyle

Big news, friends: Jim and I are officially homeless and living out of our backpacks! We've finally moved out of our apartment, stored our remaining boxes, and are now enjoying our remaining time here in Arizona with our family.

Paring down our possessions has been a long and tedious process. While most of the activity happened over the past 6 months, you could say that we’ve been working towards this dream for many years. In the back of my mind, I’ve always been looking for a way to get out and explore the world, but the timing (or circumstances) were never quite right.

To give you an idea of what we’ve been working on, here’s a snapshot of the many things we’ve sold, donated, or given away in anticipation of our travels.

We no longer have:

A home

A car

Full-time jobs 

From shootingthestars.wordpress.com.

Student loan debts 

Furniture

But, if you ask me, it’s more important to reflect on the many wonderful things that are still a part of our lives:

• A loving family
• Supportive friends
• Our health
• An education
• A little money in the bank
• The clothes on our back
• A laptop with WiFi – our primary means of communication!
• Big dreams

Put into these terms, our lifestyle doesn’t seem minimalistic at all. We’re grateful for the opportunities that we’ve been given, the support and encouragement of our families and friends, and the fact that we’re healthy enough to embark on this adventure. All in all, we are fortunate to have such a satisfying and fulfilling life.

Thank you for sharing this journey with us and continuing to cheer us on!

What to Wear? My Packing List for 2012

Good afternoon! It's a lovely 90 degree day here in Phoenix. The windows are open, the fans are running, and I'm enjoying a nice, cold Corona Light. I'm feeling pretty accomplished today. I've finally conquered one of the most daunting aspects of travel prep: packing my clothes for the rest of the year!

Stuffing your life into a backpack is difficult when you're used to having a walk-in closet. How am I supposed to pick out a minimal set of clothes that are suitable for a variety of temperatures, look presentable (not too "outdoorsy"), and are easy to wash and wear?!? On top of that, the clothes need to be plain enough to mix-and-match so that I don't go crazy wearing the same outfit every day. Oh, and don't forget, shoes are heavy, so the fewer, the better.

I started my wardrobe planning with the shoes. I knew I'd be bringing a pair of sneakers (low-profile, stylish ones, not those big, white American-style cross trainers!)  as they are my footwear of choice for flights.  Next, I needed a casual pair of shoes to wear with skirts. Something that didn't require socks, didn't have a heel, and were easy to pack. Ballet slippers! Perfect! And lastly, since we're chasing an endless spring/summer during our travels, I can't forget a pair of flip flops. Three pairs of shoes: done!

Tops and bottoms were a little more tricky. I love to wear jeans, but they're heavy, take forever to dry, and I can't get too many days of wear out of them before they need to be washed. Jeans were out.

I decided on a mix of skirts and yoga pants. Why? They're comfy, easy to wash, dry quickly, and don't require ironing. Keeping these bottoms to basic black or white further simplifies my wardrobe. I also snuck in a black cardigan and white hoodie to coordinate with the pants and skirts. No brown, beige, or navy for me... not until I get a more permanent closet!

I decided to use shirts as an opportunity to introduce some variety and color into my wardrobe. They were also part of a bigger strategy: to get more life out of my outer shirts by wearing tank tops underneath them. The great thing about womens clothing is that it packs up much smaller than mens! I was able to squeeze 6 tank tops, 2 t-shirts, a henley, and an activewear shirt into my packing cube while poor Jim was struggling to get 3 or 4 shirts into his.

All in all, I feel pretty lucky about the fact that we'll be heading into mild weather for most of our travels. Not having to plan for cold weather is saving us a ton of space in our backpacks. Thank goodness we won't need gloves, scarves, hats, and winter boots. Vive le printemps!

My packing cubes. (Thank you, Bev and Jim!)

The last major battle was selecting a jacket. This was the most painful choice for me. I had to limit myself to only one multipurpose coat to save on space. So, in went my winter coat (with a removable liner) and all of my windbreakers, sporty jackets, and long button coats were to storage. *sniff, sniff

I did a nice little drawing of my 2012 travel collection, just for you.

My travel wardrobe. No zip-off pants or Tevas here!

Stay tuned, we've still got more packing to do before we leave!

Also, for those of you who are interested, here is the link for Samsonite Luggage 3 Pack Packing Cubes, Black, One Size.