Out in the Croatian countryside surrounded by lush green forest, rolling mountains, and at the end of a very long, very overgrown, very bumpy dirt road you'll find two log cabins and an amazing couple. This is where I would stay two weeks for my next Workaway experience.
My hosts, Simone and Josipa, are Italian and Croatian respectively and were looking for a life in the countryside when they bought this property about three years ago. Simone is an IT professional and his job had them based in England for a couple years, but he is now able to work remotely. Josipa is a translator (she speaks Croatian, English and Italian) and she can work remotely as well but is mainly focused on getting the house completed by coordinating the various projects and workers (which she says is challenging in Croatia). They have lived here on and off over the last couple years and at the start of this summer began living here full time. They just got running water in one of the buildings which makes it easier for them to host Workawayers. They started the program about a month ago so I was quite lucky to be one of their first workers! In addition to hosting me, they also had a French couple and a British guy there at the same time, so it was fun to get to know other travelers!
Their village was heavily affected by the Croatian War of Independence about 25 years ago. Most of the houses here used to be Serbian occupied until they fled back to Serbia after the war in the mid 90s. The houses in this village sat untouched since then, creating a jungle of trees and bushes with dilapidated houses barely standing along the dirt road to their house. It is sad to see these abandoned houses but as a young couple in the area, Simone and Josipa are bringing new energy and hope. They are just getting started here putting life back into their old property and they are hoping others will begin to do the same. Their property has two houses - a main house and a guest house, which they are focusing on now. They also have 5 sheds, a barn, a camper, a garden area and their own stream. The property is beautiful, overlooking rolling green hills as far as the eye can see. Their goal is to eventually be as self-sustaining as possible and they will grow to have animals, a full fledged garden, and one day host events and concerts.
My first week here I helped to organize the guest house kitchen/dining area (which has no running water) and some of their tools. The houses are log cabins, originally built in the 1940s and then moved to this location (with a few updates). They are made of big beautiful oak beams. I also helped to prepare the main house for the sheetrock phase of building, which involved wire brushing the wood and getting rid of any excess old plaster, bugs, dirt and dust.
My second week I helped to clean trash out of their new hammock area in the forest (we found tons of trash - shoes, clothes, bottles, you name it!), helped Simone to organize his new tool area, helped to clear sticks out of their stream, and even got to help Josipa with one of her translation assignments (no, I didn't learn Croatian quite that fast - I just double checked the English once she had already translated it).
Simone and Josipa took us to the nearby rivers and lakes for swimming days and barbecues - and I actually found one of our swimming locations just as beautiful (if not more than) Plitvick Lakes National Park! We spent two days relaxing here and enjoying the bright green and blue lakes and waterfalls. It was a truly special place and only about 40 minutes from their door. Throughout the two weeks we all spent time together working, cooking, playing games, relaxing, and comparing our cultures. Josipa was a wonderful cook so she showed me how to make a couple dishes - and one night we even made Italian gnocchi from scratch! It was delicious. Those Italians sure know their food.
Simone and Josipa were wonderful hosts and I had so much fun getting to know them. They made me feel right at home from the moment I arrived. They work very hard and have a great vision for their place. I was extremely inspired by their story and dedication to bringing new life to a forgotten area. I feel so lucky to have been able to spend two full weeks with them and I hope to come back one day!
Highlights:
- Getting to know Simone and Josipa - such a kind, thoughtful and welcoming couple!
- Exploring another area of Croatia - while the beaches are beautiful here, I preferred this area with the mountains and countryside.
- Going to the watering hole - I'm not sure I'll ever find a natural swim spot that beautiful again.
- My own glamping set up! I got to stay in a camper which was super fun.
- Getting to do house projects. It was fun for me to be a part of the renovation process as it is something I am interested in for the future.
Lessons Learned:
- There's a lot of bugs when you live out in the Croatian forest. There's too many to name but the most common guys were grasshoppers - they were all over the house and the bathroom too! Luckily they are harmless. And eat other bugs. Good work grasshoppers.
- Home renovation is hard work, but so rewarding.
- There's something so peaceful about living out in the country. The views were so pretty and the stars were so bright.
- Rakija is an alcoholic drink that everyone around here drinks at any time of day - it is often homemade and very strong. I think it might be related to moonshine.
- Although it felt like we were quite isolated, there were always neighbors coming by to say hello or drop things off - you could feel the community coming back to the area and how excited they were that a young couple was putting down roots here.
Thanks for following along!
The main house with a piece of the view.
One of the local swim spots!
The hammock spot we helped to build.