Five minutes from where we sit, a Roman palace is filled with cafe’s selling octopus and sea bass cooked to perfection, Croatian wine and beer is being poured for under $3 a glass, and sweet smelling pastries still perfume the air outside the bakeries. Yet we sit, watching Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” – don’t judge, it’s funny and adorable and just try not to sway to that music. This afternoon, instead of driving over to an even more picturesque medieval city, we winded away our afternoon by reading Game of Thrones and permaculture books in the shade, instead of seeking out the city’s best black risotto, we cooked a fish that we bought at the street market this morning, and instead of adventuring through the city streets we went as far as watching a movie I had already seen, and I don’t regret it.

For the first twelve days of this trip I don’t know if I could have imagined watching a movie at all, especially during the daylight when we are in a new bustling city full of nooks and crannies to be explored. I mean here we are in worlds we have never seen. There is something new, and likely marked as a UNESCO World Heritage site around every corner. Yet, all I want to do is sit in this cozy, ideally located AirBNB apartment, and pause. I want to cuddle up on the couch with Oliver and be filled with joy and contentment. I want to watch him laugh way too hard at the over the top, cheesy jokes of an animated film. I want our not-so-perfectly cooked meal. After days and days of going non stop, trying to see or do as many things as we can, I want rest. Today marks two weeks into 15 of travel, and if today was the last day and I was flying home tomorrow, yeah I would totally regret it. But it’s not, this type of travel is more a lifestyle, and if there is one lifestyle I don’t want to have it’s the one where I must do everything. The one that sees taking time to pause, to be internal, and just “do you” for a moment as a momentous waste. I have been guilty of this and at times find I can’t rest unless I think it’s a “productive” rest. As in, it is necessary for me to continue to DO ALL THE THINGS without falling completely apart.  It’s not, its these moments that also allow me to go out and be so fully present and enjoy everything when I am out experiencing it.

I am a natural peace maker, I love harmony, and taking an evening from being in a bustle of crowds to cook dinner, laugh with my husband, and watch a movie, even if it’s in Croatia while on the experience of a lifetime, gives me some of that. But now that my balance is restored I must adventure a whole three minutes away for what looks to be delicious ice cream and eat it whilst overlooking a medieval city.