Whenever I dreamed of visiting different places around the world it was almost never from a tourist’s perspective. I simply do not feel good anywhere I go if I am just a tourist. My travels must have a deeper purpose than seeing cities, villages, natural beauties, and historical sciences. It is not that I'm not interested in seeing and experiencing all this, but I wanted to get to know the world through contacts with the locals. Unfortunately, life is short and I am too weak to get to know more than two countries, Italy and England, in addition to my Croatia, the way I wanted to. I wanted to meet people from around the world and most importantly work with them and thus share with them both the good and the bad.
When my friends invite me to visit their country such trips have a deeper purpose. Through a friend’s wedding in Poland, I met Warsaw, spending 5 days there. At the invitation of friends, I travelled to Singapore and spent a wonderful 10 days there with them. I visited a friend in New York and slept 5 nights in Manhattan, with a former mentor I met in Washington. I wanted to see all those cities and places, but purely as a tourist I would probably never travel there except if invited. I experience places through people, this is what inspires me and encourages me to travel.
I also enjoy discovering a place through business trips. Again, I find a deeper purpose in this than ordinary tourism, and in this way I met cities such as Glasgow, Prague, St Louise, Rome, Hamburg, Grenoble… On such trips I do not feel like a tourist and therefore I am grateful I had so many opportunities to travel because of my work.
In my Croatia I do not like to feel like a tourist too, even though I often am just that. My favourite vacation spots have always included different places along the Croatian coast and islands, and I don't know anyone in most of those places. And somehow, as much as I always enjoy being there, I would love to be a part of the local people, not the person who pays them for the services that such holidays represent. That is why I have been dreaming for a long time to buy a small house on one of the Croatian islands, where I could one day return as a pensioner and become a part of the local population and culture.
One of the very important reasons for my divorce was the deep incompatibility between me and my ex-husband regarding vacations and travel. My peaceful summer vacations on the beaches in Dubrovnik and throughout the Croatian coast and islands are his idea of hell. His tours of about 20 countries in a few weeks by car, along with activities such as skydiving or bungee jumping are my idea of hell. Fortunately, we discovered in time that we did not love each other enough to sacrifice ourselves for each other to such an extent. But something good came out of it all, we raised a wonderful child who equally enjoys extremely active vacations with her dad, but also peaceful summer vacations with her mom, with a book on the beach, nice dinners, and some dancing.
Kristina
Sunday, April 18th, 2021
Ne volim biti turist
Kad sam god sanjala o posjetu razlicitim mjestima sirom svijeta to gotovo nikada nije bilo iz perspective turista. Naprosto se nigdje kamo krenem ne osjecam dobro, ako sam samo turist. Putovanja mi moraju imati dublju svrhu od razgledavanja gradova, sela, prirodnih ljeposta I povijesnih znanosti. Nije da mene ne zanima da sve to vidim I dozivom, ali zeljela sam upoznavati svijet kroz kontakte sa lokalnim stanovnistvom. Nazalost zivot je kratak I ja sam preslaba da na nacin na koji sam zeljela upoznam vise od dvije zemlje, Italiju I Englesku, osim moje Hrvatske. Zeljela sam upoznavati ljude sirom svijeta I sto je najvaznije raditi sa njima I na taj nacin dijeliti sa njima I dobro I zlo.
Ako me prijatelji pozovu u posjet svojoj zemlji naci cu nacin da otputujem, takova mi putovanja imaju tu dublju svrhu. Kroz vjencanje prijatelja u Poljskoj upoznala sam Varsavu, provela sam tamo 5 dana. Na poziv prijatelja otputovala sam u Singapore I provela tamo divnih 10 dana sa njima. Posjetila sam prijateljicu u New Yorku I spavala 5 noci na Manhattanu, uz bivseg mentora upoznala sam Washington. Sve sam te gradove I mjesta zeljela vidjeti, ali cisto turisticki vjerovatno nikada nebih tamo otputovala. Mjesta dozivljavam kroz ljude, to me inspirira I potice na putovanja.
Poslovna putovanja su mi isto super I uzivala sam u njima. Ponovo u tome nalazim dublju svrhu od obicnog turizma I na taj sam nacin upoznala gradove kao sto su Glasgow, Prag, St Louise, Rim, Hamburg, Grenoble… Opet na takovim putovanjima nemam osjecaj da sam turista I zato se osjecam dobro, a i zahvalna sam da mi je posao bio takav da mi omoguci putovanja.
Cak I u mojoj Hrvatskoj se ne volim osjecati kao turista, a cesto jesam upravo to, jer su moja omiljena ljetovanja uvijek ukljucivala razlicita mjesta duz hrvatske obale I otoka, a na vecini tih mjesta nikoga ne poznajem. I nekako, koliko god uvijek tamo uzivam, voljela bih biti dio tih ljudi, ne osoba koja im placa za usluge koje takvi praznici predstavljaju. Zato vec dugo sanjam da si kupim neku malu kucicu, na jednom od hrvatskih otoka kamo bi se kao penzionerka jednog dana mogla vratiti I postati dio lokalnog stanovnistva I kulture.
Jedan od dosta bitnih razloga za moju rastavu braka bila je duboka nekompatibilnost izmedju mene I bivseg supruga vezano uz godisnje odmore I putovanja. Moji mirni ljetni godisnji odmori na plazama u Dubrovniku I sirom hrvatske obale I otoka su njegova vizija pakla. Njegovi obilasci 20tak zemalja u nekoliko tjedana autom, uz aktivnosti kao sto su skakanje sa padobranom ili Bungee jumping su moja vizija pakla. Srecom, na vrijeme smo otkrili da se ne volimo dovoljno da bi se do te mjere zrtvovali jedno za drugo. Ali iz svega je izaslo nesto dobro, odgojili smo prekrasno dijete koje podjednako uziva u izuzetno aktivnim odmorima sa svojim tatom, ali I u mirnim ljetnim odmorima sa svojom mamom, uz plazu, lijepe vecere I poneki ples.
Kristina
Nedelja, 18. Travnja 2021.
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