I have found that having a destination is sometimes overrated. Many of my favorite traveling moments have been those where I’ve wandered into something magical and amazing completely by accident
The walk from our apartment to my co-working space is pretty dreamy. Getting to the Work In Progress Coworking Space is just a 2 minute walk along a beach on the Adriatic Sea. Not a bad commute. But it just seemed so important to see and experience the places and people and Croatian towns not immediate to my little corner of Split. How could I get farther into the countryside, down the coast, up on the hills overlooking the city? Uber?? Seemed like the wrong answer.
So when I arrived in Split, I hunted down a company that would rent me a decent-sized scooter for the month, just so I could really see the city and get to know it in and out. It’s October, so it gets down into the 50s at night, but during the day it’s still sunny and in the 70s – definitely warm enough to roam the Croatian coastline on two wheels.
Vicko, who owns Enter Scooter Rentals, delivered my new 125 cc baby on October 4. I am not going to pretend that I wasn’t incredibly nervous the first couple days driving it around, navigating a new city. I have a motorcycle license, and I’ve actually rented scooters several times over the past three years. But in a new country, there’s just an uncertainty in everything you do.
I got lost in industrial parts of town, took wrong turns, careened up onto a sidewalk to bail off the road when I thought I was on a freeway on-ramp that I had no business being on (I have since taken that freeway up and down the coast — It’s fine)
Over the next few days, the uncertainty wore off and I got comfortable finding my way around. I’ve wandered south toward Makarska and Omiš along the sea. I’ve gotten to the top of the mountains overlooking the city. I found an adorable seaside cafe that I never would have discovered otherwise, and worked for a morning on the harbor, miles away from our workspace.
The scooter has probably been the one differentiator that has made my trip to Split fundamentally different from everyone else in my travel crew. On days when I know I am going to be working long afternoon and evening hours to keep up with my new clients, I make sure to ride for a while, just to see something new, because sometimes, just letting yourself wander without knowing where you’re going results in the most incredible views.