Kindred Spirits
Knowing that we’d be away from our friends and family for the next year was one of the hardest parts about leaving. While our year of COVID isolation gave us all practice in staying connected virtually, vaccinations and a reduction in cases allowed us to reconnect with many people in person over the summer. Just before our departure, we had a series of fabulous goodbye dinners, outdoor gatherings, and lake adventures that reminded us just how lucky we are to have so many wonderful people in our lives. We spent a lot of time convincing anyone we could to join us for different parts of this year and were excited to snag some takers before we left.
The first takers and group to enhance our trip were our dear friends Annie and Bill, Emma and Larry, and Lauren and Chad. After sending us off in the best way possible, they committed to joining us just one month in for Croatia. A trip to Croatia had long been on Annie and Bill's wish list (they had a plan to go in 2020) because Annie's sister, Julie has lived and worked in Dubrovnik for the past 5 years.
After so much work planning and plotting the logistics and details of our own trip and navigating the past 4 weeks abroad, we gladly turned all the planning for our 8 days in Croatia over to Annie and Julie – both of whom could be professional tour guides.
Annie and Julie
From a gorgeous hilltop villa with SEA (don’t call it the ocean) views in Mlini, Game of Thrones highlights through Dubrovnik, and a traditional meal under a bridge, to a private wine tour and late-night concert, the entire week was a dream. What I appreciated most though was sharing this adventure and experience with the friends in our life who have become like family. Kindred spirits who are similarly navigating professional/entrepreneurial careers, raising young children, looking for ways to help others and make our community and world better, and who – when given the opportunity or invitation – are willing to pack up and travel the world (if only for a week or two).
Sophia said it well after a day of island hopping and swimming: “this would have been fun if it was just our family, but it is even better with our friends here!" We all felt that way.
With our friends on their way back to the U.S., we made our way to Bosnia, where I was further reminded of the blessing of Kindred Spirits. Ben lived in Bosnia from 2003 to 2005 and this week has provided several opportunities for him to reconnect with old colleagues and friends. Without exception, they have each been welcoming, generous, and incredibly interesting.
We first had coffee with Dennis and his wife who quickly summoned their two children when they realized we had our kids with us. We talked for nearly 2 hours and hatched plans to meet in Singapore or Australia (COVID notwithstanding) and to do a joint RV trip through the U.S. in a few years. They were kindred spirits in so many ways. For example, they were actually moving the next day to Singapore and had not finished packing up their home or bags. They still had items to offload and family to say goodbye to. Those of you who know Ben and I well will recognize this type of crazy. If given the choice to finish packing our lives and home for a huge transition or meet up with a friend, especially one we haven’t seen in years, you know where we'd be.
Next was dinner with Ben's "Bosnian Mom'' Gordana. Gordana and Ben worked together at the World Bank and traveled much of Eastern Europe together. She invited us to her home in Zenica, about an hour outside Sarajevo. There she and her husband Mirse treated us to a delicious feast cooked on their outside grill. The food and wine were wonderful and the conversation robust, even though Mirse speaks very little English. We left with plans for Gordana and Mirse to visit us in the U.S. and to bring their grandson and daughter Tina (who is single and beautiful). We may have also made plans to introduce Tina to one of my single brothers, it’s a bit of a blur. 😉
Ben with his Bosnian Mom, Gordana, and her husband Mirse
We then received a very special invitation from Ben's friend Erik; again, someone he hasn’t seen in 16 years, to join him and his wife Emira and a few friends for his birthday dinner at the only winery in Sarajevo for an 8 course meal with wine pairing. The winery was on top of a mountain overlooking Sarajevo. The 3 other couples there were all expats from different backgrounds - British, Irish, Flemish, American, Bosnian - all doing incredibly interesting work across the world. I love the intrepid spirit of those who choose to make a new life somewhere else and how similar we all are when we connect in places far from our "homeland".
Erik and Emira’s generosity continued with an invitation to join them at their new vacation home on Korcula, a Croatian Island that we spent just an hour walking around the week previously with Julie and our Louisville “framily”. We decided the personal invite and the chance to spend a bit more time in the Adriatic Sea was too good to pass up; so, we are forgoing our plans to go to Kotor this weekend and heading to the birthplace of Marco Polo instead. (Side note: Korcula, though Croatian today, was a part of Italy in Marco Polo’s time).
The final friend Ben reconnected with here in Bosnia was Goran, who treated all 7 of us to a delicious lunch at Fit Bar, a recommendation from my new Flemish friend, who I met at dinner the night before. Goran has spent 20+ years working for the IFC, International Finance Corporation, and we all learned about the fascinating and critical work they are doing at the intersection of government and the private sector. The conversation was effortless and a great example of how special and enduring friendships can be. And while Bosnia is not the prettiest city we’ve been too, it will have a special place in my memory because of all the people we connected with here.
This has also been a great lesson for our children that people are people no matter where you go and if you do what makes you happy, you will inevitably find kindred spirits there.
We are so looking forward to the friends and family who will join us this year and also look forward to meeting new kindred spirits along the way.
