By popular demand

Lynny and I took a ferry over from Bari when we did the unit drive and we did not take a lot of photos along the way but we did decide to shoot a little video. Now bear with me. I am not a cinematographer...far from it, but it was fun.

Just a little recap: this ferry is HUGE. I mean large cruiseship size and we boarded to find there were about 3 semis, 5 motor cycles and 2 cars on the whole ship (not included our van). We can only assume that these people must have bought cabins and quickly retired to them, but we did not see a single soul the whole time we were on there...except the security guy...who probably thought we were crazy...

I'm on a boat from Erin Barnes on Vimeo.

ps. After that adventure we slept in the van for about 5 hours of the 8 hour overnight ferry. Classy.

On your own

Almost every night that Backroads leads a trip we offer an "on your own" night. It is primarily so that our guests may enjoy time solo with whoever they travelled with or any new friends that they met while with us. Their choice.

A subsequent benefit is additional time with your co-leader. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad...and sometimes this is just all out dangerous. Like when Lynny decided tha tthe appropriate "initiation" to Croatia is a shot that involves pounding a glass of tequila on your head...appropriately equiped with a helmet.

It wasn't as bad as it sounds. And the best part was forcing Lynny to do it for the first time after "initiating" other leaders for 6 years. HA! We're on to you Kramm. We know you better than you know yourself.

ore, more, more

Let the exploring continue

After our biking adventures, Emily and I decided to change things up a bit and spend some time on the water. Luckily we (Backroads) hire a local company ("Huck Finn") to do our van support. Huck Finn drivers are also local guides on other trips and specifically they take people out on kayaking adventures. Excellent....

We called Nikolina who was enjoying her day off to see if we could coerce our way into a free tour of the bay via kayak. We were doing really well until the storm rolled in. (note: sudden weather changes are common in Croatia during the shoulder season)

Thankfully, Nikolina was a wonderful guide and led us in to shore safely. My left shoulder was on fire from breaking with my oar, but that's probably good training in some weird way. Lesson of day: kayaks are more affected by wind than current. Good to know. Most important thing: it was my first swim in the Adriatic this season! Don't get me wrong...it was chilly. But very worth it.

More photos here. Also, you can find some of Emily's photos from the week before here.

Time off

I know it may not look like it based on the reports and photographic proof, but since I left Portland (March 25th), I have been working nearly nonstop. It just so happens that my work involves a lot of wonderful experiences.

Regardless, just like the rest of the world, Backroads leaders get tired and need some time off to recharge the old batteries.

I finished my trip on Friday and came back to the leader house, enjoyed a fantastic meal with my coleaders and started daydreaming about my "tomorrow" and all the amazing things I could do with my day off (which, for the record: I still had to work a few hours on Saturday too). Just before bed, I called Dylan and my bubble burst with a only a few words, "I'm sorry baby, but your Grandma died today."

At first I felt ok because it was expected and I know she was ready, but the sadness found a way to creep in and the more I thought about my mom and how much I just wanted to give her a hug the more teary I got. I think back and I am just so grateful. I had such wonderful grandparents. That won't change the fact that I still wish I could have had a wedding that they attended and kids they met, but I am trying to remember how much they supported me and my crazy traveling dreams too. That is what is pushing me forward this week.

Another friend from Italy, Emily, came over on the infamous Bari-Dubrovnik ferry and she has been the perfect distraction for me. We joked about these plans the last time I was in Puglia, but her following through and the timing of it all was clutch.

Sunday we drove around in circles looking for new bike rides, had a great lunch with the family downstairs and then biked up to the overlook just before sunset. The highlight of the night: I learned a new card game.

Yesterday, we took a brief hike down to the "beach house" and then scraped up some motivation to push through the drizzly rain and bike to Montenegro. It is only about 30km south of where we live and well worth the effort.

Most of what I discovered about Montenegro can be summed up with one sentence: It is a lot like Croatia. I'm sure there are a lot of differences and I'm also sure that going 10km past the border control won't really show us what they are, but it was nice. I felt comfortable being there. Same, same, but different.

The road we biked was gorgeous with huge coastal views on one side and mountains on the other. It dead-ended into a construction site where we got a little nervous then decided to persevere as if we were mountain biking. After the construction came border control. New stamp! Check! We found a room at a post-communist, "modern"/falling apart hotel and then set out to explore Herceg Novi by foot.

One of the funniest moments was taking pictures inside a Fort at the top of the hill. We asked the man on guard if we could stand on the castle walls to which he replied, "Why not? I don't fall. You fall." Typical of Europe. They don't believe that a place should be liable for injury. They think that is personal responsibility...what a novel idea.

After taking several jumping pictures however and laughing hysterically, he came back smiling: "Please, ladies. I know that you are quite fit. But this is 12th century Turkish village. Many people die here. I do not want you to be one of them." Ok...fair enough.

I am not really sure that my grandma would approve of me jumping of 12th century fortress walls, but I can picture the little gasp and head shake I would get if I told her. I can see her face, with just a little bit of an open mouth, like she's tisking me, but with a smile on her face....as if to say, "You're crazy. But I still love you."

She would often recall a story to me from when we moved to West Virginia (I was 5). She said she was over to the house and we were sitting in my room. I told her it was the worst day of my life, and when she asked why I said I didn't want to leave and I didn't want to leave her and Grandpa. She laughed everytime when she got to this part and then she told me she'd always be with me. That we'd never be far apart. The last time she told me this was in January while I was home and I can honestly say I have felt her presence a lot this week. It is a really great feeling. I am happy for her and grateful for our time together. And I DO know she would approve of the card game!

"I love you...a bushel and a peck...a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck!"

First trip of the year!

The first trip of the season here in Croatia was designed by moi (with a ton of help from Lynny of course!) This is exciting because it is part of that "promotion" I accepted back in April. I am part of the decision making process now, which is great because I have a hard time keeping my big mouth shut about my opinions of the trips I run anyway. It might as well count for something.

Overall it was a smooth run! We had a VERY rainy first day and third day, but it let up just in time for all the crucial boat crossings and all the guests were great sports about it. I took a few pictures along the way for a slideshow presentation at the end. This is a little of what the guests see.

The best part of the week was my coleader: The Magic Lynny Bean. We have quite literally spent every waking hour together for the last month and I never once wished it any other way. I am so impressed that she can wake up without the snooze button and a smile on her face every day. We shared so many laughs that my face still hurts and she sincerely made every day better for me. She reminds me to loosen up and have a good time. It doesn't have to be perfect. Sure it's our job, but it's also FUN. How lucky are we that we can have fun when we go to work?

She's game for anything (ie last minute ferries to Bari for birthday parties) but she is also organized and efficient and gets things done. I am not really sure I could have done it without her. Actually, I know for a fact I could not have done it without her.

Let the separation anxiety begin...

Puglia Take 2

Paolo celebrated his birthday on the 19th and Scotty will have his official birthday today (the 24th). As a compromise they decided on a join birthday extravaganza Friday night.

We had joked last week that we'd come back for the festivities and every day this week we would start by researching options to get there (flights range from $570 to $5864...very reasonable). After we decided that was out of the question, we would continue on with our day and then by about 6pm it would come up again, "well....maybe we could make it work".

And this is how we ended up boarding the ferry Friday at 1, spending 7 hours working on our computers while we commuted back across the Adriatic to surprise them at dinner. We stayed until about 8:30pm the next day and then re-boarded and took the same overnight ghost ferry as one week earlier back to Dubrovnik. This time, however, it was less ghostly with screaming drunk college spring breakers and no van to retreat to.

The ferry ended up being a reasonable ratea nd we were able to push through some extra long days (with a few more to look forward to upon our return). We can take a mini-detour/adventure and still get our work in on time. That's the definition of a win-win situation. Despite the travel tiem to time with friends ratio, there is no question that it was worth every penny. If only I had a video of Scotty's face!

It is clearly outlined in the Team Awesome Adriatic manual that all members must rendezvous as many times as possible throughout the 2011 season. It is noptional.

I truly love these people like family.

Presearch Continued

Upon our return from Bari, presearch continued and we even (somehow) received a compliment from our regional manager about how much work we fit in to our 10 days. "You have had a VERY productive presearch!" The ultimate deception = success.

Here are a few more photos from our continued adventure and some from Tanya as well from the first half of the extravaganza. The set is called Tanya's retirement because this was her last year with Backroads. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but she is a wicked smart doctor who just finished school and is about to start her residency. A great new adventure!

ps. This is a hottentot fig. Or as I call it: the hot-to-trot fig. They close up at night time or when it's raining. They are my favorite.