My Travel Diary: Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia
They say that to live is to travel or to travel is to live – something like that… And guess what? They’re right. Every now and then, we need to break the routine, get away, explore, get lost, because trust me – the unfamiliar changes the perspective by making us adjust to the new surroundings, situations, people and culture. It’s easy to get lulled into the familiar, but every now and then your bones need to be shaken up, your mind should be wild like ocean waves and your soul set on fire. Sometimes you just need to reawaken that childlike curiosity that you buried deep in your heart and look at the world in novel ways. You just need to remember that caged birds don’t really sing, so why cage yourself? Go! Do something for yourself for once! Leave your gilded cage! Let your soul soar!
This summer I have decided to do exactly that. I needed a change so bad, even just for a brief moment, because the world started looking like a very small place and the days were all the same, just repeating like a broken record. Therefore, I have decided to travel to Montenegro and Serbia. Now, I was born and raised in Montenegro and you might say – wait that’s something familiar, it’s a direct opposite of what you were saying in the paragraph above, but the thing is – when you haven’t been to your birthplace so long, things do look completely different. This time I wanted to see Montenegro through the eyes of the tourist – objectively and openly. What I found is that once I’ve started looking at Montenegro from a different angle, I could see all the beauty that I overlooked when I used to live there. I got to experience the good and the bad all over again and finally understand my roots. For the longest time I’ve been a Montenegrin girl in America and an American girl in Montenegro, but this time around, I’ve realized that I don’t need to feel torn, that I can equally belong to the both places and that’s okay. They’re both a part of my identity and I’m really proud of that. Life was breathed into me in Montenegro, but I was shaped in America and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Therefore, I would like to paraphrase the quotation at the beginning of my post as – to travel is to understand. Understand where you come from, where you belong in this vast world and who you really are at the very core of your being.
I’ve been running around for a long, long time till I ran into myself.
In Serbia…
Picture taken in Belgrade, Serbia.
nnFloating restaurants and clubs are very specific to Belgrade.
A photo posted by Nina Vasiljevic (@ninavasil) on
Church of Saint Sava is so grandiose. Whether it’s basking in the light of the setting sun or is illuminated by the spotlights at night, this church always takes my breath away.
A true coffee addict always finds amazing coffee spots. Kafeterija is out of this world.
