How and Why I chose to travel to Croatia during COVID-19

The world has seemed to shut down over the past year. Businesses have closed and travel has nearly been halted, but not to those who are determined enough to continue following their dream. As an avid traveler, this has become my life. To continue traveling as long as it feels right and to overcome any obstacle that comes my way, and trust me there are A LOT of them.

Back in August of 2020 before leaving New Zealand, Laurent and I promised that we would stick out the time apart to return home, and that no matter what we would find a way to reunite anywhere in the world in January of 2021. In the first few months we really didn’t know where that would be. I searched on a daily basis for countries allowing visitors from the US and France. Some would open and then close again, making our dream to reunite seem more and more impossible. One day I came across the website www.canitravel.net which is a global travel planner to use during the ‘Covid Era.’ It allows you to enter your country of residence, where you are traveling from, and where you intend to go. It will then inform you if there are restrictions to enter the country of your choosing. Alas, came Croatia!

A country I had never really thought of, but as I looked more into the cost of living, history, and beauty of this country it became a no brainer that this is where we would finally be able to reunite. At the time, entry from third country nationals were allowed to enter for tourism. Easy, right? We booked the plane tickets, a month long stay in an Airbnb in the city of Split, and finally had a sense of relief that our plans were actually working out!

It’s funny that after all of the times my ‘plans’ have failed that I still keep a little hope in them, but I have also learned that most of the time…they never happen as you expect them to. I’ve also learned that every time they fail, it is truly for a reason and things really do happen as they’re supposed to. So when we received news that Croatia would be closing it’s borders for third country tourism in December did I freak out? A little. Did I pout and think that the world was against me and we wouldn’t be able to see each other again? Absolutely not. I am a determined little firecracker and once I set my mind to a goal, there’s no stopping me. You have to trust in the universe and know that every challenge that life throws at you, there is a lesson. So embrace it…all of it.

I started doing some digging into how I could still enter. It mentioned that you could enter from the US for business purposes…hmm. I also joined a Facebook page for Covid news in Croatia that offered an extremely helpful insight to how things were going. I messaged the administrator of the page and told him about my situation and the plan I was devising. The plan would be to come into the country under the business exemption as a property investor looking into real estate to turn into tourism accommodation.

Was I lying? Absofreakinglutely.

Did I feel bad about it? More than you could possibly know…but I had to find a way to make this work.

The administrator for the page said that it was actually a brilliant idea and that if I was coming into the country with a negative COVID test that I truly wasn’t doing any harm. The stories kept rolling in on other visitors and their experiences on entry in to Croatia. It seemed like a breeze to most as long as you had the negative test, so I took a few days to think about it and decided to go for it.

I messaged the Ministry of the Interior (a.k.a. Croatian Police) to ensure I was bringing the right documents and all was well, until 2 days before my planned departure on January 6th. We found news that my younger cousin had tested positive for COVID, whom I’d just spent Christmas holidays with. Now I freaked out. I isolated myself and kept an eye on my symptoms, and on January 4th, I lost my taste and smell. Thankfully it was the next day that I planned on paying $350 for a Rapid PCR test, so I cancelled my appointment, did a mail-in test, and Laurent and I both cancelled our flights to Croatia.

One of the entry exemptions for Croatia was that you could exempt the 48hr PCR test requirement if you could show proof of a positive test older than 14 days within the last 3 months.

Okay…check.

Then I realized that you could still test positive for 90 days after having COVID…another roadblock.

This would keep me from being able to transit in Amsterdam like I had previously planned, so I began searching for other flights. I found one through the Lufthansa airline that transited in Germany (who didn’t require a test for transit.)

Okay…things seem to be working out.

In the meantime, my grandparents had also tested positive and were having a hard time recovering. When I heard of their condition, I packed a bag and drove straight to Georgia to be by their side. I had already tested positive and was sure to not stop along the way to protect those I may have encountered. This was my reason for my trip being delayed. The universe has a quick way of reminding me to trust in the process and I immediately felt gratitude for things not going my way.

They both contracted pneumonia after COVID, and after about a week of medications and some much needed tender loving care they were back on their feet. I returned to North Carolina with 5 days to prep for my trip. I was packed and ready to go, began checking in online for my flight and hit another roadblock.

ARE YOU KIDDING MEEEEE?!

I had already searched if I needed a transit visa for my trip through Germany and found that Americans are on a list of countries exempted from needing it, but the fact that I had two transits in the country changed that rule. Okay…so how do I get a visa? Pretty simple, except that it takes up to five working days for them to be approved.

I was in a state of sweats and anxiety at this point. After everything that I had gone through to make this happen, I began to believe that I wasn’t going on this trip. I thought, ” Yep, this is karma. This is what I get for lying my way into the country.”

Those thoughts went into my head for a total of 2 minutes until I kicked my ass into gear and began searching for another way. I found a flight to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with only one transit. I called the customer service line for Lufthansa, had an absolute angel of a woman on the other side of the call who changed my flight, and all was right again.

When I was to board on my flight in JFK, I was shaking and nervous but it went super smooth. The same in Germany, and then arriving at the border in Croatia was an absolute breeze. He asked for my negative test, I showed him my old positive result and that I had actually tested negative again before leaving and he stamped my passport.

I may or may not have done an embarrassing dance to myself once I got past customs.

I actually freaking made it.

I took a 6 hr bus journey from Zagreb to Split, and Laurent and I were finally reunited that night. We picked up right where we left off, and we have been so extremely grateful to be together again. He is my best friend, and we’ve always said that no matter how hard life gets we’re happy to tough it out… as long as we’re together.

So just remember, that if you need to travel you can. Be safe and respect those around you and especially the country that you’re visiting.

Most of all, try to appreciate the difficult times that come your way in life. I know it’s easier said than done, but you will have so much more peace in your life knowing that things will truly work out in your favor.

Be Kind. Be Present. Spread Love. Travel Onward.