Today was a great last day in Croatia. I started it with a nice, healthy breakfast featuring several items that I bought at the market yesterday. A good breakfast is a must when traveling. Too many times I have opted out of searching for breakfast, and too many times my body has said, "What the hell do you think your doing. You might think you're going up that hill, but I am staying right here." So it was nice to have some granola, toast, and juice.
After breakfast I went on a 20km walk to the edge of Split and back. It was a stunning walk down the coastline to the Hotel Zagreb. On the map given to me by the hostel, this route was indicated by a red dotted line. I search for a while to find a key on the map to tell me what this dotted red line meant. For instance, could it have signified "don't go to this area unless you want to get shot" or "this is a bus route" or even "blasting zone for future high rise casino hotel." Well it did not appear that there was a legend on the map, so I hoped for the best and decided to make the walk. Most of the areas were public swimming zones with small rocky beaches. One area was a small marina with a lot of, what I considered, not-so-seaworthy boats, and the last stretch was a quite rocky grassland butting right up to the Adriatic. At one point in the walk I put my foot in the water, just so I could say I had been in the Adriatic Sea. I was careful not toslip all the way in like I did in Cinque Terra. It went so far as to set my bag down before attempting it so I wouldn't put my camera in jeopardy. (It really didn't appreciate the cold saltwater the first time).
While I was on the walk, I sat for a bit on a bench right on the water's edge in a quiet and seemingly deserted part. Since the weather wasn't so beautiful in the morning, most areas of the shore were pretty sparse as people were concerned…pigeons were a different story. I sat there for a while just taking in the sights and the sounds of the Croatian Coastline. I tried not to think about too much, although that was a difficult one, and just enjoy. When I started walking after the break, though, I noticed that as I walked, I always looked down at my feet, seeing exactly what each patch of ground looked like before I put my foot there. I noticed myself doing this for a while, just staring at the ground, occasionally looking up to see the sights. After about 10 minutes of just watching myself do this, I decided to look up, focus my attention not on the ground right in front of me, but enjoy the landscape all around me. I made a conscious effort not to look down, only notice the path ahead in my peripheral vision, and take heed of times when I might need to walk around a pile of dog poop. I began to notice how much more enjoyable and easier the walk was when I wasn't focusing on the immediate obstacles in my path. Sure the path was a bit rocky, but I could trust my feet to go, "Oh hey, that doesn't feel right, maybe you shouldn't put all of your weight down and try again with that step."I tried walking with my head up, aware of my posture and focus for the rest of the day. I would at times catch myself looking at my feet even on a beautifully smooth sidewalk, but I would just grow aware of my focus and change it.
I think I must have lived my life in such a state for quite some time. Only focused on the obstacles right in front of me, not enjoying the whole picture of life. And living in such a way I got very bogged down, because that pebble would turn into a rock which turned into a mound which turned into a hill which all of the sudden with no warning became a mountain. A mountain I was totally unprepared for. If I had just taken the time to change my focus, I would have seen Everest coming and been able to prepare myself for it. But alas, I just kept going, looking at my feet. The strange thing to me, though, was just changing where I looked quickly changed my mood. I went from being tired and doing the walk for the sake of doing thewalk, to energetic and wanting to walk more. All I had to do was look up.
Well I finished the afternoon by doing some research on Budapest, and getting some tips from fellow travelers on where to go and what to see. I have started keeping track of these things in the journal my friend, Jessica, gave to me. I noticed if I didn't write all of these suggestions down, I would quickly forget them. People are already giving me ideas about things to do in Australia and New Zealand, so I decided to have a pen and paper handy in order to keep track of the advice, good or bad. I think as I go along, I will create some sort of ratings scale in my book to denote the good advice from the bad. That way I will know what not to tell other travelers.
I ended the day with a couple of drinks with some friends in Split at a couple of pubs. It was a lot of fun, meeting new people and getting a little drunk, but I headed home early since I have a 7:30 train in the morning. Cheers.
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