In January 2019, I found out that someone very dear to me had cancer – my Vistage chair, mentor and friend. A brain tumor, lung cancer, and a chemo regimen every 3 weeks. While I was devastated, my friend Les was only slightly phased. He took his treatments in stride and stayed incredibly positive. Les also stayed true to his mantra of “living a good life for the rest of his life.” He and his wife Teresa are big travelers, and while they made adjustments for surgeries, chemo and recovery, there has never been a plan to stop.

As I re-read this, I feel like it sounds doom and gloom. Nothing to worry about here – Les is alive and well! And while he needs to maintain a treatment regimen, as of today he has no cancer cells detected. What a gift: life! In fact, you can read all about his journey in his new book, Cancer’s Gifts, from which all proceeds go to charity.

In October 2019, hubby and I had just returned from an amazing trip to Italy and I was sitting in our Vistage group meeting when Les announced he’d be chartering a yacht along the Dalmatian coast of Croatia so that he could travel with friends and loved ones. Just 18 staterooms available. Did anyone want to go? I sent a quick text and photos to my other half, and in an instant, we were already planning our next European vacation for 2020: the Whitney Warriors Croatian Cruise.

Little did we know what would transpire in the months ahead… a full on pandemic! COVID proceeded to ruin all of our travel plans for 2020: Taiwan in April, a Palm Springs getaway in May, Vegas in August, Croatia in September, another trip to Taiwan in the fall, and Colorado for Christmas. In fact, we were officially grounded for a full 18 months! I can’t recall a time in my entire life where I wasn’t on a plane at all for that long.

It was really hard. And it was wonderful, too – I started a new job, we bought our first home, rescued our dog, spent time outdoors, hosted family and friends, and I learned more about how to relax.

When 2021 arrived, we were ready to say the least! A quick vax shot and we were on our way to Maui, Seattle, Arizona, the Big Island of Hawaii, and at last: CROATIA!

The trip to Croatia was coordinated by Les and his beloved travel agents at WOW Travel Club and it included a night in Split the day of arrival + 7 nights on a luxury yacht cruising the Dalmatian coast. I mean, commmmee oonnnnn…. Right?!

The Black Swan yacht was newer – just having launched in 2018 and everyone on the boat was somehow connect to each other through Les. We were all set up for a trip of a lifetime.

While the cruise portion of the trip was all handled, we planned the post-cruise stay ourselves. We knew a couple of places we wanted to visit and were fortunate to have a few conversations and TONS of great advice from a friend that is actually from Croatia. She helped us sort through the best ways to hit our must-do’s and provided some additional suggestions that proved to be wonderful!

Our original 2020 plan was to fly through Paris and stay a couple days there, then add a couple more days in Croatia post-cruise for a full 2 week vacay. We had snagged some amazingly cheap flights on Delta and Croatia Airlines! However when we rebooked our flights for 2021, the Paris options were inconvenient and cost more than we intended to spend, so we opted for a flight through Amsterdam on KLM with a quick layover and 3 days in Croatia post-cruise. The Amsterdam route turned out to be perfect in the COVID travel environment.

One month before our trip, our “Primary” (Below Deck, anyone?) planned a happy hour at his place so that all the guests could get to know each other a bit! What a wonderful idea! We gathered for wine, appetizers, and the cutest cookies you’ve ever seen.

Our travel agent joined us, brought our travel documents, and did a little presentation on the need-to-knows. It was really helpful to have that information, the ability to ask questions, and to connect with our new friends ahead of time.

Getting Ready to Go

In the weeks prior to our travels, there were a few important things we needed to prepare for:

COVID Requirements

Because we were vaccinated, it meant we didn’t have to do COVID tests to enter Croatia. So we got our Vaccine Cards laminated and kept them with our passports.

For the return to the US, however, we knew we’d need negative COVID tests. Those who were departing Croatia within 48 hours of the completion of the cruise had the opportunity to get tested with the group for around $13 US near the boat. Our extension within Croatia meant we’d be on our own for testing. Delta’s website had great suggestions for how to meet the US requirements and we ended up buying the 6-pack of home tests including the virtual medical appointment through Abbott. It was $150 plus shipping, and it was SO easy and convenient to do from our hotel room.

Car rental plans

Everyone we spoke with – our friend, the hotels, the blogs – said that it would be least expensive and likely most convenient to rent our car locally once we were in Split, especially since we’d be there a week before we needed it. Our pricing through Avis ahead of time wasn’t terrible, but we’d need to rent from the airport, which we were trying to avoid. Unfortunately, it turned out that upon arrival, the costs of renting through the local agency were 3x what Avis was. And when we went online to reserve, Avis was sold out. Yikes! We ended up going through Budget (which is a subsidiary of Avis, go figure!!) and it cost us almost the same as the local place would have been and was a huge hassle. Hindsight: we will always rent ahead of time from now on!

The other piece of information that was important was that the rental car companies in Croatia require you to pay a deposit (in this case 5,000 euros) in case of vehicle damage if you don’t buy their insurance. Apparently they have a hard time getting paid from outside insurance. So even though we had coverage elsewhere, we ended up adding their insurance in order to avoid the exorbitant deposit and a risk of arguing to get it back.

Sea sick patches

Hubby doesn’t do super well with the rock and roll of water, so he was a bit nervous about getting sea sick on the cruise. I don’t normally get seasick, but I also hadn’t been on a cruise since I was 18. At the pre-party, a few fellow travelers suggested to get the Scopolamine patches. A quick Telehealth call got us all set up with prescriptions, and the doctor suggested we see if we need them first, as they would activate within 4 hours once we placed them on. We brought a bunch and didn’t end up needing them at ALL. There was only 1 afternoon where we kind of looked at each other and thought – it’s really rolling!! But nothing so bad that we got sick. Any rocking was quickly solved with a seat with a view out on the deck. I am glad we brought them though. Not just for peace of mind, but because our friends’ luggage was lost and he didn’t have enough patches to last the whole trip! Glad we were prepared and able to share so he could enjoy his trip.

Water Shoes

This is an absolute must if you plan to go in the water in Croatia. There really isn’t any sand and the beaches on the islands are all rock. It’s really difficult to wade in or climb around without the water shoes. We bought my pair at DSW (Jambu Mermaid III) and hubby’s on Amazon.

Itinerary Overview

August 26th – September 7th, 2021

Thursday-Friday: LAX – AMS – SPU

Friday evening: Split

Saturday: Split, Hvar

Sunday: Hvar, Korcula

Monday: Mljet

Tuesday: Dubrovnik

Wednesday: Trstenik, Ston

Thursday: Brac

Friday: Split

Saturday: Split, Zadar

Sunday: Plitvice National Park, Bosnia(!), Zagreb

Monday: Zagreb

Tuesday: ZAG – AMS – LAX

Well that’s about enough of the teasing, let’s get into the fun stuff! This was truly a trip of a lifetime, and I am so excited to share our travels with you! Sail away with me…

XO,

J