{"id":44955,"date":"2021-02-08T21:52:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T02:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/?p=44955"},"modified":"2022-01-14T19:20:46","modified_gmt":"2022-01-15T00:20:46","slug":"why-zadar-croatia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therockysafari.com\/2021\/02\/08\/why-zadar-croatia\/","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting Brighter Times… My Month in Zadar, Croatia"},"content":{"rendered":"
As I sit at home in quarantine, I have decided now would be an ideal time to think back and reflect upon a portion of my backpacking trip that I actually have not yet had a chance to share stories about: the month I spent living in Zadar, Croatia.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I regret not having written about life in Zadar sooner. I never should have allowed so much time to pass since my visit there in October of 2018. It feels like I have neglected to write about a country that has, without any question, changed my life in a significant way.<\/p>\n You see, if I had to pick only one country out of all the places I’ve backpacked in that has left a lasting impact on who I am today… I would definitely have to say that place for me was Croatia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While it may not have been quite as lively as Athens, Greece, or nearly as touristic of a spot as any of Spain’s major cities, traveling to Croatia, for me, felt more like finding a hidden gem in a place where I had not been expecting to uncover one.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The truth is… I traveled to Croatia because I had to.<\/em><\/p>\n With my 90 days of free travel within the Schengen Zone running out, I needed to exit immediately and go somewhere outside of that area. While there is constant discussion about Croatia’s classification changing, at the time of my decision, Croatia was not<\/span> considered part of the Schengen Zone. So that is why when I spotted an affordable flight to this city that I’d never even heard of called “Zadar,” I sort of just shrugged and thought to myself, “Sure, why not! Let’s go there next.”<\/strong><\/p>\n Back then, I didn’t know the first thing about Croatia. I was completely ignorant to what I might or might not have found once I got there. I am not sure how else to express that I was blindly traveling to a place that I had only just started researching maybe 24-48 hours prior to the purchase of my airline tickets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Based on the aerial view I pulled from Google Maps, it looked to me like I’d be going to a peninsula off of Croatia’s mainland. I researched a few nearby attractions that looked worth visiting.<\/p>\n I wasn’t 100% sure about what exactly I’d do once I got there, but that alone wasn’t necessarily a reason that was going to stop me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Besides, I had to go somewhere <\/strong>and Zadar appeared to be just as good of a choice as any.<\/p>\n I enjoyed the idea of being surrounded by the sea. The images online made Zadar look beautiful. If it really looked anything like how it showed online, I couldn’t imagine not enjoying my time there.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n According to Instagram, there was something there called “The Greeting to the Sun.” It appeared to be an interactive, solar-powered art display. The photos had me mesmerized. If for no other reason, I needed to visit the city of Zadar to see this monumental art display.<\/p>\n
\nMy ancestors come from Italy so Croatia’s close proximity to there was yet another reason I felt more inclined to visit. I had been to Italy once as a kid, but I wondered if certain aspects of Croatia today might remind me of that beautiful place I once visited so long ago.<\/p>\n